Detroit Lakes, Minn. (KFGO/KDLM)- Minnesota state Sen. Rob Kupec and two other members of the legislature attended a child care listening session with more than 25 providers, parents and community leaders at Laker Prep in Detroit Lakes this week.
The event, hosted by Laker Prep and Kids Count On Us – a statewide coalition of child care providers, parents and teachers – was geared toward having the lawmakers listen to concerns from attendees about what they are seeing in their own care facilities and in the lives of parents and teachers.
Mary Rotter, owner/operator of Laker Prep and a member of the Detroit Lakes School Board, said providers want to spend more time caring for children and less time doing regulatory, administrative paperwork that may be outdated.
“I think the people that we have listening recognize that we aren’t against policies and procedures, we just want them to be reasonable,” said Rotter. “Because we want our time spent on children and working with families instead of paperwork, or something that maybe has been there for a long time, but may not be relevant anymore. So, we’re all about health and safety, just what’s reasonable.”
Much of the discussion during the event centered around required certification elements and how to increase slots providers can fill.
According to Kids Count On Us, about 700 kids in Becker County need some form of early child care, but can’t find openings at facilities in the lakes area.
Attendees also told the legislators that some colleges have begun to drop their early childhood education programs, which can make it more difficult to find quality teachers.
State Democratic Sen. Nicole Mitchell of Woodbury said these child care listening sessions are important because they get to hear from the providers directly and brainstorm possible solutions together.
“I really enjoyed hearing how the local community has banded together to try and help each other solve the problem, working collaboratively instead of competitively” said Mitchell. “If more communities could model that, we definitely need to fix it at the county and the state levels … but collaborative is always the best way to go. I love seeing that the community has already taken that initiative.”
During the session, Kupec said he knows investing in kids early pays off the most later on because starting their educational and social experiences at an early-childhood age can give them an advantage when they enter the K-12 school system.
“That whole zero to five range, that success by six, is a lot of what we talk about and if you can get kids on the right track, by that age, you are going to solve a whole bunch of society’s problems later on,” said Kupec. “Unfortunately, this is the area where we are not investing the most amount of money in. You get the most bang for your buck when you invest in early childhood.”
Kupec also said the upcoming legislative session will be policy focused and he expects they will be trying to address early childhood education concerns.
Kupec, Mitchell and Democratic Rep. Samantha Sencer-Mura of Minneapolis told the attendees, or anyone with child care concerns, to reach out to their offices directly by phone or email, if any additional questions arise after the listening session.
The Minnesota Legislature will reconvene on Feb. 12, 2024.
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