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Committee begins work on Minot childcare issues
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A new Minot Committee on Childcare laid out its agenda at an organizational meeting Thursday in Minot City Hall.
The city-appointed committee, chaired by council member Scott Burlingame, will be looking at ways to increase childcare services and will make recommendations to the Minot City Council.
"There's a lot of heavy lifting to be done. The issue around childcare is extraordinarily complex," Burlingame said.
The committee intends to work with a similar childcare task force at Minot Air Force Base and will be investigating innovative programs in other communities, including Watford City, Williston and Warren, Minnesota.
There is interest on the committee for additional childcare provider training assistance. There also is interest in helping existing childcare providers expand their businesses.
"We have a waiting list for two years. We could have another 200 daycare kids," said committee member Kevin Cross, a childcare provider. "We want staff. As much as we want to solve this problem, that's what it's going to boil down to."
John Coughlin of Minot mentioned various childcare groups statewide that could be resources for the committee, including providing help in drafting surveys of businesses and parents to assess the existing childcare situation and needs.
A member of the Trinity Health board of directors, Coughlin said Trinity is willing to help, including offering space downtown when it vacates some of its buildings to move to southwest Minot this spring.
"The Trinity hospital building is up to code," Coughlin said. "The building is rock solid." He added the building also has features, such as a cafeteria that would lend it to become a childcare facility.
The committee's tentative schedule calls for meetings at City Hall about twice a month, on either a Wednesday or Thursday at either 1:30 p.m. or 4:30 p.m. Tentative April meetings are April 5 at 4:30 p.m. on childcare licensing and April 20 at 1:30 p.m. on the childcare challenges at Minot AFB. The meeting set for May 3 at 4:30 p.m. would occur in the new city hall and would feature discussion on state legislation.
Other future topics are local regulation and zoning affecting childcare facilities, innovative practices in other communities, and perspectives of providers, employers and parents. As the discussion goes into July, the committee expects to hold discussion on leveraging economic development funds for childcare.
The committee's meetings will be posted in the agenda center at minotnd.gov, and public participation is encouraged.
Members of the committee are city council members Burlingame and Lisa Olson; city principal planner John Van Dyke; childcare providers Cross and Becca Oswill; childcare licensing expert Amy Jenkins; parents Rianne Kuhn and Heather Cymbaluk; employer representative Terry Schmalz, senior human resources manager at Hess Corp.; Keli Rosselli-Sullivan, workforce development specialist at Minot Area Chamber EDC; and Minot City Manager Harold Stewart.
State to host chat on new child care program
The North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services will host a free Main Street Initiative community chat on the new Working Parent Child Care Relief pilot program on March 28 from 1-2 p.m. The new employer-led cost-sharing program aims to help employers attract and retain employees, specifically parents with low-to-moderate incomes who may be experiencing challenges due to the high infant and toddler care cost.
Questions should be submitted in advance to communitydevelopment@nd.gov.
Register at eventbrite.com under MSI Community Chat: Child Care Relief Pilot Program.