moorhead business news

Nancy Edmonds Hanson

It’s a business opportunity that never seems to dim: operating a home-based licensed child care.

“We’re always in need of more providers – particularly infant spots,” Karen Hellem says. “Our rural areas in particular are really struggling.”

Karen and her colleague Julie Klier work with home-based, usually one-person child-care providers in Moorhead, Barnesville, Hawley and the rest of Clay County. Between them, the two licensors employed by Clay County Social Services currently work with a total of 143 home day cares. Day-care centers are licensed and regulated separately by the state.

In state terms, a family home day care is defined as one that includes youngsters from more than one family in addition to the provider’s own offspring. Karen and Julie not only provide information and normally recruit their mostly female caregivers to the enterprise; they conduct regular inspections, home studies, background checks, and evaluations of prospective licensees, following the state’s guidelines to (according to its website) maintain “a healthy and safe environment, provided by qualified people, that meets the developmental needs of all children in care.”

Julie points out that although the Covid-19 pandemic has drawn attention to the urgent need for quality care, “it has been a steady, ongoing need even before Covid.” She adds, “We’re really proud of our providers. Most of them have been up and running throughout the pandemic despite all the challenges,” noting that the number of applicants aspiring to be licensed has increased as it wears on. Among them are several who had been in the work force but have returned home to care for others’ children along with their own.

Supervisor Jessica Mickelson says that the pandemic has made it more difficult to recruit new providers by cutting off the in-person contacts where her staff normally promotes the profession. “It’s been hard to get the word out and answer prospective providers’ questions,” she acknowledges. “Not having community events happening has been a huge barrier.”

Licensure is mandatory for caregivers who want to bring more than one other family’s kids into their homes. They must complete 16 hours of on-line or in-person training in developmentally appropriate behavior, safety, pediatric CPR, first aid, SUID (sudden unexpected infant death), AHT (abusive health trauma) and child passenger restraint. After receiving their licenses, they need another 16 hours annually. Most providers now complete the training online, but in-person classes are also offered periodically.

The state sets limits for the number of children who one provider may care for, depending on the ages of kids under their care. In general, that number is 12, though capacity varies according to the children’s ages.

Who’s a typical candidate for operating a family day care? They run the gamut, the women agree, from as young as 20 to grandmothers in their 60s. While the office does not offer advice on setting fees and other business practices, they suggest that, in general, home child care can offer a “pretty good” living, especially for those who have a good head for business.. The main qualification, though, is a love of young children.

Karen reflects that she works with a number of people who got into the field because of their own struggle to find quality child care: “We see a lot of new moms who decide they want to stay home with their own kids.”

Others , Julie explains, welcome the opportunity to spend their days working in their own homes, keeping their own hours and being their own boss.

Despite the number of applications the agency currently has in the pipeline, the women agree, the need for more licensed day-care providers is not going to diminish at any time in the foreseeable future. Julie says, “It’s important for the whole community to get involved with supporting child care. We need to welcome these providers as an important resource and give them respect as independent business owners.

Intrigued by the possibilities? Karen and Julie welcome calls or invitations to come to community events to tell the profession’s story. “We’ll walk them through the process, step by step,” Karen promises.

Jessica adds that she and the licensors always welcome providers’ questions. “Every profession has gone through so much over the last couple years. Providers have been inundated with information by the federal government and the state. We don’t want anyone ever to hesitate to call us.”

To reach licensor Karen Hellem, call 218-299-7062; for Julie Klier, call 218-299-7118.