Minnesota should take a lesson from Missouri on child care regulation during the pandemic

Lack of childcare is one of the issues that parents are facing in this pandemic. Daycares across the nation are closing mostly for safety reasons. Other states, like Missouri, have decided to make things easier for centers that choose to continue to operate during the pandemic. The state has allowed licensed centers to use emergency school closing rules. This means they can take in enrolled-school age children.

The state is furthermore,

  1. letting providers exceed the license capacity of their location by 1/3 during this time
  2. making available short-term 45-day licenses that can be renewed
  3. Loosening some regulations for record keeping and allowing providers to extend hours.

All these allowances will allow providers in the state to meet the increased demand for childcare that has come about due to the pandemic.

The pandemic is certainly a unique occurrence and it has called for loosened regulation in different industries. From the trucking industry, to health services, a lot of burdensome rules have been suspended to enable an effective response to the virus. But what this ultimately shows is that if all these rules can be suspended without endangering lives, then they do not need to exist.

Childcare in most states has been facing increased costs and shortage. The big reason for that is increased and changing regulations. Loosening regulations, not only during the pandemic but also after, go a long way in alleviating the crisis.  Minnesota should draw lessons from Missouri on this.