"Some North Dakotans are traveling 80 miles round trip to bring their kids to child care centers, according to Josh Kramer, head of the North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives. Kramer also said North Dakota – a so-called child care “desert – is in need of some 10,000 new child care slots to meet demand. To staff that number of slots requires at least 1,400 new workers in the industry. And again, that’s just in North Dakota.
Kramer’s comments were highlighted in a Forum News Service report last week that announced North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum has designed framework for legislation to help address the availability, affordability and quality of child care in the state. The governor said it will be refined in the coming weeks before it is introduced in the upcoming session of the Legislature, which will convene in January.
Burgum’s announcement is welcome news in a state that is greatly suffering from a growing crisis. The lack of child care – we believe, as do many others – is contributing to the state’s labor shortage, which in turn is inhibiting business growth in so many communities and business sectors."
Read the full editorial here.

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