As centers risk closing, council says direct support for childcare a ‘hard sell’

Megan Raposa -

Simplified: Without direct funding to support families or providers, the ongoing childcare crisis in Sioux Falls will remain an issue, EmBe CEO Kerri Tietgen told the City Council on Tuesday afternoon. But that’s going to be a “hard sell” for the community, Councilor Curt Soehl noted. 

Why it matters: 

  • The city has supported research into the childcare crisis and potential solutions for the last two years – first with support for a six-month study from the Sioux Falls Childcare Collaborative, and more recently by hiring local attorney Justin Smith to research the issue for a price tag of $75,000. 
  • A cumulative 120+ pages of data, research and solutions have been presented from those research efforts – many of which were duplicated – but the council has yet to seriously discuss direct funding. Both the childcare collaborative report and Smith's research include discussion of directly assisting parents with childcare costs.
  • For Tietgen, it’s analogous to showing up at the scene of an injury car accident and offering a blanket, a pillow, hot soup – all while refusing to offer actual medical care. 
“(You're saying,) 'We are here to help you in any possible way,'” she said. “'But we won't give you funding … We won’t give you the main thing that’s necessary.'” 

Back it up, what’s the childcare crisis? 

Oh yeah, if you’re new here, you can catch up:

Why is helping families access childcare such a 'hard sell'? 

Councilor Rich Merkouris said the response he’s heard from constituents is about 50/50. 

  • Half of the people he talks to can’t believe the council is still talking about the childcare crisis and not doing more to act. 
  • The other half can’t believe the council is talking about childcare in the first place, saying, “We don’t want you (i.e. local government) to be involved in this.” 

Merkouris added that despite research showing the economic impact of not having available or affordable childcare, he’s not sure the community agrees there’s actually a negative economic impact. 

“We’ve had a hard time building strong community support (for childcare),” Merkouris said. 

Soehl added that any kind of direct subsidy for childcare is going to be a "hard sell" in the community – adding that he'd rather focus on incentivizing more in-home care providers with things like tax credits.

"I don't believe a lot of people are gonna jump up and down about a direct subsidy," Soehl said.

What has the council done so far?

The council has already agreed to help provide $450,000 in scholarships to help attract more people to the early childhood profession.

  • It's a good thing, certainly, childcare provider Karen Rieck said. But she said it's hard to see professional development prioritized when there are so many families who can't afford care.
"I'm all about professional development," Rieck added. "(But) why can't we also invest in our children that are currently right now needing (childcare) spots ... Where do we find the middle ground?"

The city is also waiting for more research from Smith on whether the business community would be interested in participating in a "tri-share model" in which businesses pay one-third of childcare costs, the city pays one-third and the parents pay the remaining third.

  • That's expected to be presented mid-October, Smith said.

Additionally, Smith is looking at any potential changes in state law the city could advocate for in order to could benefit providers and ease regulations that might be keeping people from opening childcare facilities.

What happens next?

Smith will present more research to the council in October and November.

Meanwhile, existing providers will continue to do the best they can, but there's always risk of more closures, Tietgen noted.

“We’ve done a lot of studying as a community," she said. "And it's time to put action together”