Burgum unveils plan for ND child care

In order to help address workforce needs Governor Doug Burgum will ask the legislature to spend up to $80 million dollars on a child care package.
Burgum says the funding will help address three key areas: affordability…availability…and quality.
he plan includes expanding the current Child Care Assistance Program and providing a state child care tax credit – similar to the federal Child and Dependent Care credit.

Burgum says it really is an economic development issue for the state.  “Our ability to keep growing is going to come back to workforce and workforce tied to child care.  I am very optimistic about the future but we will cap our future potential if we don’t solve this problem.”

The package would also incentivize providers to deliver child care for infants and toddlers by increasing the rate paid by the state for those families who receive child care assistance.

Affordability

• Expanding the current Child Care Assistance Program to increase the number of families with children ages 0 to 3 who receive help paying for child care.
• Providing a state child care tax credit, similar to the federal Child and Dependent Care credit, to assist low, moderate and middle income working families cover the cost of child care.
• Expanding the model of public-private partnerships to help more employers offer their employees a child care benefit with matching investment from the state.

Availability

• Incentivizing providers to deliver child care for infants and toddlers by increasing the rate paid by the state for those families who receive child care assistance.
• Partnering with career and technical education programs, K-12 and higher education to offer students interested in early childhood careers more on-the-job training and certification opportunities in partnership with local child care programs.
• Partnering with employers to identify creative availability solutions for families who work nontypical hours or whose jobs require nontraditional child care solutions.
• Supporting a more sustainable, stable child care sector through grants, incentives, training and shared service resources.
• Providing child care business solutions, facility grants and resources to create environments for children with special needs.

Quality

• Ensuring every child whose family is interested has access to a “Best in Class” experience the year before kindergarten.
• Expanding parental choice for working families by creating quality-based payment tiers in the Child Care Assistance Program.
• Providing incentives for child care providers who take the necessary steps to meet quality standards.
• Offer scholarships and grants for additional learning/training opportunities to individuals already in the early childhood profession.