Census data compiled by Joan Bernston with First Children’s Finance, which provides lows and business-development assistance to high-quality child care businesses serving low and moderate income families, shows there is a possible need of more than 300 childcare spots within a 20-mile radius of Crookston and more than 170 within Crookston itself. Bernston explains how the data was compiled. “What we look at is the potential need, so we compare the number of children in families where parents are working,” said Bernston. “So that’s either a two-parent family where both parents are working or a single-parent family where that parent is working. We compare that to the licensed slots for family childcare or childcare centers. There appears to be a need for 316 more slots within a 20-mile radius of Crookston.”
Those numbers are supported by the response Ericka Leckie received from a story earlier this month on a childcare center possibly going into the old Glenmore Building. “I was in shock, the very next day I didn’t know the articles had come out yet online,” said Leckie. “I got 22 phone calls the next day of people who wanted to be on the waiting list to attend the childcare center once it’s built. Since then I now have 32 children on the list who want to enroll in this center when it opens. I was thankful and surprised that we such a large number came out so quickly and so fast. That is just one month and who knows what could happen in the next six months to a year for how many more people could need it. And if Crookston receives more companies coming into town, there is just going to be more need for childcare. This was a great outcome.”
Mayor Guy Martin did, however, share that he received about a dozen calls from citizens who didn’t want to see the City of Crookston spending taxpayer dollars for a facility outside City limits. “I got several calls that they were opposed to spending tax dollars for a daycare outside of daily limits,” said Martin. “I’m not saying I’m totally opposed to it. I’m saying that this is a new problem that the City has that at least Don [Cavalier] and I weren’t aware of this problem.”
The group looking into a childcare center has said they have toured ten or so facilities within City limits that were either deficient for a childcare or were not economically feasible. They are compiling that list with deficiencies of each location for the Mayor upon his request.
According to a study in Roseau County, the cost of childcare and its availability have had an impact on family planning for 56 percent of Roseau County families. An additional concern is the cost of childcare which in the State ranges on average from $7,540 a year for a four-year-old in a Family Child Care to $18,096 for an infant in an accredited Child Care Center. In Crookston, the average costs of childcare are lower than the state average and range from $125 a week ($6,500 a year) to $197 a week ($10,244 a year). “It absolutely is a big chunk of money,” said Bernston. “This is one of the things we call our parent’s dilemma. Parents are paying a lot of money for childcare, but it also is a fact it is hard to make money as a family childcare provider or as a center. It is costly to provide that care.”
Costs to run a daycare are also going up. Polk County just raised the licensing rate from $50 to $100 for a new license and a renewal license. Licenses must be renewed every two years. Additionally, the State of Minnesota has taken over the background checks for child care and is including FBI fingerprinting in changing the rate from $25 per each resident of a home providing childcare every two years to $50 every five years for each resident of that childcare facility. “They are having us all be fingerprinted now so we can be in the FBI database,” said Erika Leckie. “We will do this every five years instead of every two years. There is a startup cost of $50, which we don’t know if that will be the cost every five years, as providers that’s something we’re looking into.”
Coming up with community solutions involving multiple stakeholders is becoming a much larger need especially in rural communities. “So to try to come up for some solutions where business, non-profits, maybe government units are coming together to help solve the problem can really have an impact going forward,” said Bernston. “There are some programs that lower-income families can look at through the county or the Childcare Aware Scholarship Programs. Those can help significantly reduce the out of pocket costs that families have for childcare.”
A bright side for providers is the Northwest Minnesota Foundation should be announcing a new low-interest loan program and loan forgiveness program for family child care providers in the area in the coming days.
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