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Childcare providers share problems with EDA

NEW ULM — Childcare was the focus of a special meeting of the New Ulm Economic Development Authority (EDA), Wednesday.

Childcare shortages are a major economic concern in New Ulm and across the nation. The lack of childcare has prevented some families from returning to the workforce.

Since the childcare shortages impact the economy, the EDA is seeking methods to grow the number of providers. Seeking input, the board invited people connected to childcare in New Ulm to discuss any and all issues about daycare providers.

City Manager Chris Dalton said this meeting was intended as an open dialogue. He said the EDA could develop programs to help providers, but they needed to know what issues providers were facing.

Dalton said the EDA has a $10,000 grant available for daycare centers or home daycares to help cover startup costs. This is a grant and does not need to be paid back. The EDA also has a low-interest loan to help daycares remodel or expand. Anyone interested in this program can contact Dalton or Housing Coordinator Heather Bregel.

Kathy Grausam was the first to speak at the meeting. Grausam has 45 years of experience with daycare. Her top issue was with licensing. She said some daycare licensors were great and would work with her and help her comply with daycare regulations, but others nitpicked minor infractions.

She said on one occasion licensors came to her home on Good Friday, when she was not watching any children because of the holiday and wrote her up for having a water temperature that was off by four degrees. Grausam said she warns new providers that some licensors are too strict.

Cumbersome daycare regulations were a common thread among providers attending the meeting. Some of the regulations made sense, but others were simply frustrating. Gerane Spurgin, a longtime daycare provider, said she understood the responsibility of licensing and the importance of child safety, but the regulations created by the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) were too hard to comply. She believes DHS is making these regulations without visiting an actual daycare.

In addition, the continual training a provider needs is redundant. Currently, providers need 16 hours of training each year. In order to attend training, a provider might be required to attend a class out of town. Much of this training is not new. Longtime providers already know this information but are required to hear it again year after year during special evening classes.

The amount of paperwork and documentation is also a burden.

Spurgin said storm drills, fire drills and crib checks have to be documented every month. The paperwork must be ready at all times because licensors could make an unannounced visit to conduct a compliance check.

Little Rascals Learning Center chief executive officer Jennifer Eckstein commented that it was frustrating that if experienced home providers like Grausam and Spurgin decided to come work for the center, they would only qualify as aids because they don’t have 12 college credits. Through a quirk of daycare center licensing, a provider with decades of experience could be outranked by a 19-year-old with only three months of a college education.

Insurance was a common problem for all providers. Daycare providers are self-employed, meaning they need to provide their own insurance.

The EDA had discussed the option of creating an insurance consortium for local daycare providers. EDA Board member Les Schultz suggested the insurance consortium again and there was a unanimous agreement that it would be a benefit.

Another issue was the high demand for daycare. Former daycare provider Megan Zabel said she quit in April but continues to receive three to four calls a week from families trying to fill infant spots. In-home childcare licenses allow for 12 kids in the home, and three can be under the age of two.

“There are more babies being born than there are daycare providers,” Zabel said. “The real need is for infant and toddler spots.”

Zabel later joked she was more of a family planner than a daycare provider, because if parents wanted to have a baby within the next three years, they had better contact her first to see if there was an opening.

Kid’s Xcel board member Jeff Boettger confirmed there is a nine-month waiting list for infants spots. He said many people have to apply before the pregnancy begins.

Zabel said another issue she ran into was parents thinking providers were babysitters. She said many don’t understand the number of activities and education training done at daycare. Zabel has a Master’s Degree in Education and was teaching.

Dalton agrees. Later in the meeting, he said “you are legitimate businesses and need to be treated like businesses. This means proper compensation.”

Eckstein said there is a limit to how much a center can charge in this region. Little Rascals charges $145 a week for an infant and that includes food, diapers and wipes.

“I essentially make zero income off of babies, and we have 20 of them,” she said.

Dalton said when he was living in California, childcare cost $125 a day without food and diapers included. In New Ulm, providers were on average receiving $5 an hour for one child.

“That’s not sustainable,” Dalton said. “Every one of you is a business owner. You are not just a babysitter doing this for fun.”

EDA board member Andrea Boettger said when living on the east coast she paid $200 a week for daycare, but that was 15 years ago. She asked if it was possible to educate parents further on the true costs of daycare.

Eckstein said she was uncertain this region could afford $200 a week for daycare.

Schultz thanked all the providers who attended the meeting. He assured them the EDA would take on this issue and it would be a big topic over the next six months.

“I am going to work hard, that we don’t just talk about it, we do something about it,” he said.

The New Ulm EDA meets at 8 a.m. on the second Tuesday of the month in the New Ulm Council Chambers.

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