Minnesota delays overhaul of child-care licensing rules after backlash

Minnesota is delaying a massive update to its child-care regulations after an uproar from providers, some of whom feared the changes could prompt closures.

The Minnesota Department of Human Services announced this week that it is going to hold off for a year on proposing new standards after “extensive feedback from the child-care community,” which wanted more time to weigh in on the rules.

The latest 97-page draft of regulations for home-based family child-care providers was filled with requirements that many said would be unworkable, from ensuring areas are free of pet hair to following detailed cleaning demands to potentially getting their soil tested.

State officials had planned to gather feedback on those standards this summer and publish revisions this fall, aiming to have lawmakers pass the new rules in the upcoming 2025 session. But small-business owners in the field called for the state to slow down.

“DHS, and the legislators, too, I think, are recognizing how important it is to include the people that are affected by changes,” said Lisa Thompson, the state’s ombudsperson for family child-care providers. “They are the experts in their work, and they want to be a part of developing the best practices and regulations.”

Now the agency plans to wait until 2026 to suggest new standards to legislators.

“DHS’s goal is to ensure that all perspectives are included and that the child-care community has time to weigh in on additional drafts of the licensing standards before they are proposed to the Legislature,” according to the department’s announcement Monday that it would hold off on the revision.

Providers have been worried about the scale of potential changes and said they would cause “administrative overload” and additional expenses.

The pause on the rules is “mission accomplished,” said child-care provider Cyndi Cunningham, a member of advocacy group Lead and Care that petitioned DHS to delay the standards. She said the fear of losing more family child-care providers brought various groups together to raise concerns.

“In particular in rural Minnesota, they can’t survive with losing any more,” she said.

More than 1,000 people weighed in on the draft standards through an online survey, and people shared nearly 2.500 ideas or pieces of feedback during 23 listening sessions around the state, according to DHS.

Thompson, who was at some of the listening sessions on the rules, said parents, as well as providers, were stressing the importance of family child-care workers and their impact on child development and the parents’ ability to go to work.

“Those were the most powerful voices at these listening sessions, was the parents talking about how they chose their provider because of their interactions with their child, not how sanitized their kitchen floor was,” Thompson said.

DHS is updating its regulations for family providers as well as bigger child-care centers, and a spokesman said they are delaying both efforts.

The agency said its next steps will be to recap key themes from the public response and publish revised drafts of the standards later this year for more feedback. It will also submit a progress report to the Legislature this year on its broad efforts to modernize child-care regulations, of which the licensing standards is just one piece.

“To all of the providers, partners and community members who took the time to engage with us, thank you,” Human Services Commissioner Jodi Harpstead said in a statement Tuesday. “We look forward to reviewing your ideas and suggestions to continue to improve the child-care licensing standards to protect and serve Minnesota children. I am proud of our Office of Inspector General who took a step back to regroup and take more time to work with community to get this right.”

However, Minnesota Association of Child Care Professionals President Hollee Saville said she is still on “high alert” and watching closely to see whether DHS incorporates the expertise of those in her industry as they revise the proposed standards.

“I can’t even say [I’m] cautiously optimistic,” Saville said. “I just hope they feel the pressure to involve family child-care providers.”