Child care providers say leftover COVID-19 funding won’t fix long-term issues in SD
The South Dakota Department of Social Services (DSS) is holding multiple town hall meetings over the next two weeks for child care providers and families to provide input on how the state should spend $38 million in federal funds.
Roughly 35 child care providers weighed in during the first listening session, which was held Monday evening at Southeast Technical College in Sioux Falls.
But in the first meeting, providers raised concern that the funds, left over from one-time COVID-19 relief, won't solve the ongoing childcare crisis statewide long-term.
“You're talking about, 'We can make changes. We can do that,'" said Kris Johnson with Imagination Station in Hartford. "But the hard thing as employers is making a feasible long term decision. And we've had this situation multiple times now."
If providers were to receive funds to increase their employee wages, for example, that money wouldn’t last long.
The one-time discretionary funds comes from the American Rescue Plan Act, which was put in place last year. The funding must be spent by September 2024, and its use must meet federal requirements.
Earlier: Department of Social Services to hold listening sessions for child care funding
Providers also questioned how feasible it will be to receive the funds.
The concern is there isn’t enough staff at the state level who will be able to process the fund requests in time for them to be used, and that there will be too many hurdles to jump through to meet the requirements.
One provider, Lindsey Larson, said she knew many at-home providers who tried to become state certified to receive funding the first time around. The lack of staff at the state level meant home inspections were delayed, and many people missed the timeline to qualify, she said.
“We did everything in our power to do what we needed to do, and then we still got knocked down,” Larson said.
More: 'We're in a crisis,' childcare leaders warn as options remain unaffordable for many
The topic of state and city regulations came up regularly throughout the session.
Other providers mentioned how state regulations for the number of children a person can take as an in-home provider means the provider often can’t afford to hire more help, and families that need care don’t have as many options.
Other industry issues that came up at the meeting were a lack of support and funding for centers and families who “fall through the cracks,” a lack of resources for trauma training, not having mental health support for staff, a lack of support with networking and not having a statewide council that supports early learning development.
More: Study reveals $636M affordability gap for childcare in South Dakota and Sioux Falls
While raising concerns, the attendees also spent the two hours coming up with possible solutions to some of the industry's major issues, one of the largest being the ability to find and retain workers.
One idea for a solution was using the funds to create scholarships like the Build South Dakota program. This would help more people through school and child care training while keeping them in South Dakota for a few years after, the child care providers said.
DSS members did not provide any tangible solutions at the listening session, but rather observed and took notes on the ideas, questions and concerns the attendees raised.
Guidehouse, which is a consulting service, facilitated the discussion as a third party on behalf of the DSS.
The next listening session is from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Southeast Technical College in Sioux Falls for families and other community members. Those interested in attending should use this registration link.
A virtual session for child care providers and advocates will also be held from 6 to 8 p.m Wednesday. You can attend here.
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Childcare providers seek long term solutions at first DSS town hall
