Childcare providers plead for help as industry, families face crisis

Officials asked to examine staffing rations, barriers for assistance

Families in need of childcare are increasingly unable to afford the level of costs providers must charge to keep their doors open in South Dakota.

It’s a catch-22 that’s been on display of late, particularly in Sioux Falls where at least four daycare centers and three in-home providers recently plan to shutter.

And while public officials and childcare industry representatives alike agree the problem is reaching crisis, there’s no consensus about what can or should be done about it.

NEWS: Sioux Falls to use $5.8M, private partners to address 'extremely low-income' housing shortage

From more public assistance to easing regulatory burdens, the Sioux Falls City Council’s Regulatory Oversight Committee Tuesday heard potential options for addressing the crunch that childcare providers and the families they serve are facing.

“Unfortunately, it comes down to funding,” said Karen Rieck, telling councilors that rising property taxes, food costs, and general inflation in recent years have drastically increased expenses incurred by both her business and family.

That reality is forcing many childcare professionals to raise rates. But with wages for childcare providers lagging behind almost every other profession in South Dakota, recruiting a workforce to the industry is also creating challenges for providers to maintain staffing levels that allow their operations to operate at full capacity.