Duluth in ‘near-crisis’ with child care shortage, task force says

DULUTH — A child care task force convened a year ago by former Mayor Emily Larson unveiled its recommendations at a news conference Tuesday, to address what the group deemed a “near-crisis.”

Three child care centers here will close this year and four closed last year, with only one center opening. The task force report says the city has just slightly over 3,000 child care slots but 4,200 kids who are 6 or younger with parents who are part of the workforce. Of the options available, nearly 30% don’t take infants.

“There are no fast or easy answers” for a profession that needs to be elevated in importance, said April Westman, owner of Aunty’s Child Care in eastern Duluth.

“Even through a broken and unsustainable model, child care has long survived due mainly to women doing invisible work for less money, less respect and less trust than they deserve,” she said.

Other problems include low wages, licensing and regulation barriers, staff-to-child ratios, facility standards and educational qualifications. Without adequate staff, facilities can’t operate, providers said, and many are lost to higher wages elsewhere.

The problems mean parents are pulling out of the workforce or choosing to live elsewhere, Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce President Matt Baumgartner said.

The task force, led by Northspan’s Elissa Hansen and the Northland Foundation’s Tony Sertich, recommends that the city create a marketing campaign that prioritizes the child care sector as critical to the economy; fully fund or expand a child care training program; and advocate for policies that help with development of new facilities for centers and for grants and assistance to lessen the burden on providers and parents.

Mayor Roger Reinert said that even those not personally impacted by the issue should care, because future growth depends on an inviting environment for families.

The city has limited ability to address societal issues like child care, he said, but there are things it can do related to permits for facilities and advocacy to lawmakers.