Councilor suggests 'immediate action' in childcare

Simplified: Several Sioux Falls City Council members on Tuesday voiced support for funding a full-time position dedicated to focusing on childcare and other early childhood issues in the city.

Why it matters

• The council's regulatory oversight committee has met several times this month to discuss Sioux Falls' ongoing childcare crisis – including a meeting last week when they heard from several providers just how challenging things are for them right now.
• Councilor Alex Jensen – the chair of the committee – suggested on Tuesday that the group was ready to take "immediate action" to help by creating a dedicated, full-time position working day-to-day to coordinate further childcare solutions.
• It's too soon to say if this full-time person would be a city employee, or if perhaps they would work for an outside organization receiving some funding from the city. But councilors are expected to have a job description ready for review within a couple of weeks.

"If you look at some of the research that has already been done ... the office of a childcare coordinator, or whatever you want to call it, is necessary," Jensen said. "We can do better, and we should do better, from my perspective."

What happens next?

Councilors Greg Neitzert and Rich Merkouris have been tasked with coming up with a job description.

Next, the council will need to decide where to house this new position.

"I don't think it necessarily has to be a city employee," Neitzert said. "But I'd definitely take the lead in funding it."

Want more context on the childcare crisis?

Here you go: