July 4—MITCHELL — Finding quality, affordable child care in Mitchell is like finding a needle in a haystack for parent Harlee Claymore.
As a single parent of three and an aunt to an infant, Claymore says she has an unstable work history due to the difficulty of finding affordable and accessible childcare that meets her family’s needs. The high cost of childcare poses a major challenge, with childcare for the infant alone eating up nearly an entire paycheck each pay period.
Claymore is not alone. Families across the Mitchell area are facing a severe lack of options, forcing them to make difficult choices between work and raising children as the community grapples with the far-reaching economic fallout of this crisis.
Part of the problem, according to Mike Lauritsen, CEO of Mitchell Area Development Corporation (MACD), is a labor shortage. And childcare goes hand in hand with that. The lack of available childcare options has a significant impact on the availability of a reliable labor force, as many people struggle to balance work and family responsibilities.
“When families can’t find affordable or quality childcare, one of the parents often doesn’t work and stays home. Well, we need that person in the labor market too,” Lauritsen said.
Claymore has found herself at this crossroads before: choosing between a job or her children.
“I’ve never found good care that I could afford. One place that was within my budget left my youngest in the same diaper all day and didn’t clean her face after feeding,” Claymore said. “I hated leaving her there. I had to choose between a job and my kids. It’s a terrible ultimatum to face as a working mother.”
Recognizing the severity of the child care crisis, MADC has been working diligently to address this issue for the past several years. Their efforts have now culminated in securing a $100,000 grant from the South Dakota Community Foundation’s “Beyond Idea Grant” program, aimed at revitalizing the local child care landscape and providing hope to struggling families and providers.
This grant is part of a larger $1.2 million initiative from the South Dakota Community Foundation to support 13 nonprofits in the state. For Mitchell, the grant came at a pivotal time.
The closure of EmBe, one of the city’s few daycare centers, last November left a large hole in the childcare industry. EmBe had been providing childcare and educational programs in Mitchell since 2017. At the time of the closure, the organization’s leadership cited major challenges, including rising healthcare costs and a persistent labor shortage, as the main factors contributing to the decision to close.
“We knew for a while that we had a problem. The closure of EmBe really highlighted the need for us to try to do something to try to provide additional child care options for families in Mitchell,” Lauritsen said.
The closure of EmBe’s programs in Mitchell is part of a larger trend affecting child care services across South Dakota. In response to this growing crisis, MADC commissioned a study of child care services last year by Caroline Jens, CEO of Child Care Biz Help. The study revealed a 4.7 percent preschool attainment gap, affecting 1,153 children under the age of five, and showed a median household income of $52,644 within a 20-mile radius.
The MADC used the results of the study to create a proposal for the Governor’s Office of Economic Development aimed at addressing the pressing issues facing the Mitchell area. However, their proposal was not successful because other communities were found to have greater needs.
“GOED told us that our proposal was good, but they had other communities that had a greater need than Mitchell,” Lauritsen explained. “For example, Mobridge has one daycare in a 40-mile radius, and if that closes, what does that do to their community?”
Undeterred, Lauritsen restructured the proposal and applied for funding through the South Dakota Community Foundation. The BIG program supports community-based problem-solving efforts in South Dakota. Last week, MADC was notified that they had been selected to receive the grant. And Lauritsen says they plan to address the child care shortage in the community.
According to Lauritsen, the $100,000 grant will be split evenly, with $50,000 allocated to new and growing child care businesses and $50,000 designated as a one-time bonus for 50 individuals working in the child care sector.
The first part of MADC’s plan involves a child care start-up fund, in which the company will provide financing to up to five new or expanding child care facilities. Companies that commit to a two-year term will receive a forgivable $10,000 loan.
“We want to encourage a long-term commitment,” Lauritsent said. “We want to support sustainability in the childcare sector.”
The remaining $50,000 will be spent on employee retention through an employee bonus program. The program offers a one-time bonus of $1,000 per employee to incentivize and retain dedicated child care professionals.
“We can’t give salary increases with lump sum money,” Lauritsen said. “But we can give everyone who is in the industry a bonus in principle.”
While the exact parameters have not yet been determined, Lauritsen plans to accept applications from any child care provider, whether it’s a center or a home daycare. Registration with the state likely won’t be a requirement either. However, Lauritsen expects it will be a competitive pool of applicants and that state registration will help in choosing recipients for the cash incentives.
Mitchell currently has approximately 20 registered childcare centres, including centres and home-based facilities. However, demand for childcare remains high and operating margins are tight.
According to Lauritsen, the core of the challenge lies in the economics of the childcare sector itself. Childcare workers, who provide such essential services, often struggle due to the lack of profit margin in the field. Providers are reluctant to raise rates for parents, knowing that many families are already struggling to pay current costs.
“Childcare providers don’t want to raise rates for parents because they know they can’t afford to,” Lauritsen said. “This delicate balance leaves little room for providers to adequately compensate their staff while keeping services accessible.”
While the grant is a welcome boost, child care providers in Mitchell face ongoing challenges. Kayla Lux, program director for Little Learners LLC, highlighted the impact of inflation on the sector.
“The cost of everything is rising at an alarming rate,” Lux said.
Lux also noted the challenge of balancing rising costs with the need to keep child care affordable for families.
“Most of our expenses have nearly tripled in the past year, yet our own employee wages and program expenses have not increased to meet that demand,” Lux said.
Mitchell resident and daycare leader Rosemary Menning stressed the need for expanded support for childcare workers.
“We need help to keep the costs affordable for parents and at the same time give care providers the opportunity to make money from it, so that people want to practice the profession,” says Menning.
Menning also advocated for encouraging education and registration to maintain quality standards in child care services. Another concern for Menning was the need for a food program that pays fairly for children’s food, noting that the current two-tiered program is not working.
“We have programs to help low-income families pay for care, but there are no programs to help caregivers with their needs,” Menning said.
Both Lauritsen and local providers acknowledge that the subsidy is not a complete solution to the complex challenges facing the sector. Lauritsen hopes that these initiatives will alleviate the need for childcare by providing more childcare places and keeping workers in the sector.
“I don’t have a one-size-fits-all solution to this problem. There’s no simple solution to this,” Lauritsen said. “This grant money is not a long-term solution. But if we can help offset some of the start-up costs, it can make a new provider sustainable. Or if there’s a daycare that wants to expand, we can offset some of those costs. That’s why we’re doing this, to try to get some more options on the market.”
