Child Care Workforce Fund

In early 2022 the North Dakota Child Care Action Alliance (NDCCAA) was formed to connect parents, providers and business into seeking long-term solutions to the state’s child care crisis. From May to September 2022, NDCCAA hosted six listening sessions to hear how the child care crisis has impacted the state’s families, child care workers and providers, and local businesses. The listening sessions found a unique consensus: child care workers are essential to our economy; they deserve respect and fair pay, the cost of which cannot be passed on to families. 

NDCCAA is releasing its policy recommendation calling for development of a Child Care Workforce Fund to provide supplemental wages and support for continuing education and training in the field of child development for teachers, teacher’s assistants, or family child care home professionals caring for children. Increased worker pay through state-supplemented wages in the child care workforce ensures North Dakota can maintain and expand access to child care across the state. Improving child care is a common-sense, bipartisan solution and is essential for strong families and a strong economy in North Dakota and is a critical step toward increasing access to affordable, quality child care. 

The full policy concept is outlined below, and this policy concept is intended to provide guidance for a path forward out of the child care crisis.