Burgum proposes investment to improve North Dakota's child care system

C.S. Hagen, Fargo Forum (Read full article on the Fargo Forum's website)

"Hoping to improve the current “crisis” in child care, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum has announced a framework for legislation on Tuesday, Sept. 13, promising an “injection” of financial help to address the availability, affordability and quality of child care services across the state...

Last May, the North Dakota Child Care Alliance , a statewide grassroots coalition, began a yearlong campaign to address the issue of what they called “child care deserts,” saying that the state legislature needed to get involved. The main issues related to the “statewide crisis” were outlined then and focused on the affordability of child care, a worker shortage with low pay of about $11 an hour and a lack of available child care centers.

Erin Laverdure, of the North Dakota Child Care Alliance, who is also a child care provider, said Burgum’s proposal shines a spotlight on the dilemma but was missing a key ingredient. “Child care is a labor issue that is unique in that it affects all other workforces,” Laverdure said.

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