EXCERPT: “Human Services Assistant Commissioner Jim Koppel visited Cedar Mountain Cougar Childcare Center in Franklin, Minn., to emphasize the importance of quality child care, and highlight businesses and communities coming together to address the need for child care. ‘Without consistent, quality child care, children often struggle and are not prepared to enter kindergarten, and parents often are unable to go to school or work as a result,’ said Koppel. ‘We need to help ensure children are well cared for and educated in safe, stable, nurturing learning environments’ . . . Across the state, the number of providers is declining – there were 12,449 licensed child care providers in 2012 and 10,599 in 2016 – making it difficult for families, particularly in Greater Minnesota, to find care. Cedar Mountain Cougar Childcare Center is filling that need. The center’s Executive Director Jody Rose, who operated a family child care business for two decades, echoed that, stating challenges in providing quality child care include difficulty in hiring qualified teachers, struggles for families with low incomes to pay for child care expenses, and need for scholarships and other financial supports for families.” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2ubAIH4
