The providers of Bemidji Area show support for “day without childcare”

Bemidji – Childcare providers in Minnesota stood solidarity on Monday when they were looking for non -partisan support and solutions for problems that plague the childcare industry.

Many providers of “A day without childcare” closed to combat access to childcare, the compensation of the providers and the affordability of providers and affordability for the day. Provider in the Bemidji region shared their support during a press conference at the Northwest Technical College.

“The purpose of a day without childcare is to highlight the incredible importance of childcare for our communities and organize for changes,” said Pine Pals director Lydia Pietruszewski. “We all have the same goal: affordable and accessible, high -quality childcare for families and wages for teachers and providers who enable them to stay in childcare.”

Pietruszewski has created a survey that was sent to around 80 providers in Bemidji and in the area and were asked about the type of care and the company for which their respective families have worked and were asked about the type of care. In view of a relatively short resolution, she received 32 answers.

“The families of these providers work on 136 different companies. If these child supervisors disappear and were no longer taken care of, not only children and families would be affected. We are all, ”added Pietruszewski. “If 32 providers have families in 136 different companies, we can assume that 80 providers have families in a few hundred different companies.”

Several providers and families spoke about their own experiences to access to childcare and the diverse effects when access is limited. The owner of Bemidji Brewing, Tina Kaney, noticed the difficulty of running a business while she initiated her most precious freight.

“If you are the person with whom the money stops, you can't just call or scare your work. The staff needs answers and direction. My co -founders and I all have numerous working days and meet our children in tow. We are lucky enough to have this flexibility, but now that our children are mobile and climber, a brewery is not really an option to “take your child to work,” said Kaney carefree.

“Without reliable childcare, we cannot drive our company in a way that reacts quickly to the constantly changing business landscape.”

Megan Steigauf, Chief Human Resources Officer at Sanford Health, mentioned a number of problems associated with the hiring process that tightened the accessibility of childcare.

“We hear an increased number of employees who are unable to accept vacancies that we do because they do not find childcare,” said Steigauf. “Our leaders at the front hear in the daily newspaper that people cannot come to work due to childcare on this day or that they cannot even return from a vacation because there is no safety care available.”

Rebecca Katz praised the welfare that the family receives while pointing out the expense that was associated with this care.

“We bring many victims to pay for our childcare. Although we are both well-paid specialists-we are not extras, use coupons and we follow a strict budget-our childcare costs for just one child cost around 16,000 per year, ”said Katz. “That is 18 to 20% of our payment to take away.

“We understand that high -quality childcare is expensive and should probably be more so that the teachers can make a living for a long time, but it is impossible for many other parents to cover the costs comfortably.”

In the attempt to cover the costs, the legislator in Minnesota for the Great Start -Start -Start -Start -Filthraft Scholarship program has undertaken that there is an upper limit for childcare, so that no family would have to pay more than 7% of their annual income in order to receive access to high -quality childcare.

This percentage was determined by analyzing the necessary expenses, with which families with small children are confronted and what would be a “reasonable” amount for these families.

Earlier suggestions for the legislator have rejected a greater lack of availability of care providers for infants and toddlers. During the efforts, the current age categories for toddlers were changed from 12 to 24 months to 12 to 18 months. The elderly age category would adapt from 24 months to 5 years to 18 months to 4 years.

Children of school age are defined as those aged 4 to 11 and 5 to 11 aged 4 to 11. These changes aimed at releasing the care slots for these age groups.

Pietruskewski also shared a letter of support from House 2a Rep. Bidal Duran with the inscription: “I write to express my strong support for day care centers throughout Minnesota and to highlight the invaluable role that you play in our communities. High -quality childcare is a cornerstone of a flourishing economy and a brilliant future for our state – and offers children environmentally friendly environments that promote learning, social development and trust.

“By supporting the day, we invest in the future of Minnesota, strengthen families, strengthen companies and enrich our communities.”

Pietrussewski emphasized the cross -party nature of childcare and added: “It affects all of us, no matter how we coordinated. It is not a red problem or a blue problem. It's a purple problem. “

The press conference on Monday offered additional opportunities to reflect on progress in the area of ​​Bemidji in relation to access to childcare, since the local stakeholders commit themselves to further improvements. Such a recent development included the reinterpretation of the office of the Sanford Health Lake region as Pine Pals Nest, which opened its doors in autumn 2024.

Pine Pals Nest offers Sanford Health employees open slots before they are offered to the community as a whole.

“We hope to continue to alleviate the problem of childcare in our community and to believe that it is our duty as the greatest employer to do this,” left Steigauf, “but we all need it.”