Tag: child care

Interconnected: An update on Minnesota’s child care challenges

The Center for Rural Policy & Development and the Citizens League are excited to continue our discussions on topics important to both rural and urban audiences. In February 2021, the Center for Rural Policy & Development released a report looking at the state of child care in Greater Minnesota. That report examined why it’s harder to ...

What’s Happening in Greater Minnesota? – Part 2: Child care shortages

The Center for Rural Policy and Development partnered with Sourcewell to produce short videos discussing our most recent research. In Part 2, Marnie Werner discusses the challenges facing child care in rural Minnesota and provides a brief overview of some of the solutions being developed by local organizations.  

Season 3, Episode 7: Legislative preview with Scott McMahon

The 2023 Legislative session is in full swing so Julie checks in with Scott McMahon, the Executive Director of the Greater Minnesota Partnership. They discuss what the session may hold for various rural issues such as child care, housing, and broadband.

Season 3, Episode 1: Childcare Solutions with Initiative Foundation

In September, the Center for Rural Policy and Development released the results of an environmental scan of child care initiatives taking place across rural Minnesota. In this episode, Vice President of Research, Marnie Werner, interviews Don Hickman, the Vice President for Community and Workforce Development at the Initiative Foundation in Little Falls, MN. As an ...
child painting on a table

Doing it yourself

by Marnie Werner, Vice President, Research Earlier this week I spoke to a group of business owners and childcare professionals in St. Cloud, where it’s not breaking news to them—or anyone else for that matter—that childcare’s 20-year downward spiral is now a major factor exacerbating the growing worker shortage.  As the pandemic upended all aspects ...

Webinar: Rural child care solutions, from the ground up

We know there’s a child care shortage, especially in rural areas. The question now is, “What do we do about it?” In our September 2022 webinar, we review the results of a survey conducted by the Center for Rural Policy & Development looking at a sample of the initiatives going on around Minnesota to address ...

Developments in child care policy at the MN Department of Human Services

By Marnie Werner, Vice President, Research & Operations Click here to read the main article, “Rural Child Care Solutions: From the Ground Up.” While communities have been learning how to get together and figure out solutions for their local child care needs, at the state level, the MN Department of Human Services has also been ...

The value of a regional overview for developing child care

By Marnie Werner, Vice President, Research & Operations Click here to read the main article, “Rural Child Care Solutions: From the Ground Up.” One factor that has been helpful in the rural childcare arena is the involvement of organizations with a regional perspective, operating in a wider area than a county but more focused—with greater ...
Four cute babies sitting in a row

Rural Child Care Solutions: From the Ground Up

By Marnie Werner, Vice President, Research & Operations Click here for a printable version of this report. For a quick summary of this report, click here. Click here for more on what the MN Department of Human Services is doing to help with the child care shortage. Click here for more on the value of ...