SMIF gets creative to curb child-care costs

Aug. 08--Child-care providers will have to get creative to address growing need and rising costs, strategists suggested to community leaders Tuesday.

The Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation hosted the forum at the Wood Lake Meeting Center. Child-care capacity in the SMIF 20-county region falls short by an estimated 8,600 children. That's according to an analysis by First Children's Finance based on Minnesota Department of Human Services, census data, numbers from the American Community Survey, and other sources.

As experts and strategists suggested some unique solutions, some solutions sounded familiar to Christina Valdez, director of Listos Preschool and Child Care, a bilingual center.

The school has partnered with Peace United Church of Christ. The church provides low rent and gave the school a no-interest loan.

"Just their overall support has been really helpful," Valdez said.

That partnership was the sort of strategy keynote presenter Jeff Andrews, development manager of First Children's Finance, suggested.

Religious organizations can help fledgling centers find space or full centers spill over. Often religious building space is empty much of the day on weekdays.

"There's lots of space that, in some ways, has been designed for children," he said.

Religious organizations might find it beneficial too, he added.

"It brings families into their community," Andrews said.

That was just one suggestion Andrews and other speakers discussed. Some employers have established their own childcare in the workplace. Some senior living facilities have provided the service to attract and retain staff and later found benefits in holding intergenerational learning programs.

"What we're seeing is a lot of creative approaches," Andrews said.

Lack of child care isn't just a personal family problem, but has repercussions throughout the community and local economy, Andrews said. Some parents, unable to afford or find early child care, drop out of the work force.

That fact highlights needs for possible public investment in early childhood care.

"Early child-care providers are responsible for getting people to work each day," said Elizabeth Mangan, program director of Child Care Aware.

Mangan also discussed the rapid brain development of young children and their need for stimulation and learning.

"Those who teach young children aren't babysitters," she said. "They're brain builders."

Finding ways to provide care is important, but quality should always be the goal, Mangan added.

"Quality can't be an afterthought," she said. "It needs to be a necessity."

Whatever strategies or partnerships providers or officials build, current providers need to be heard and served as well, Andrews said.

"Your biggest win is to ensure people who are already doing this are positioned to be successful," he said.

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