Beware, proposed licensing standards will drive family childcare providers out of business
Family Child Care or home-based childcare provides a crucial lifeline to Minnesota parents who can’t afford center-based care. Unlike daycare centers, family childcare settings are also usually small, have flexible hours, and are more culturally responsive. So, they provide much-needed diversity in the childcare industry.
Unfortunately, under the notion of modernization, the Department of Human Services (DHS) is proposing licensing standards that will likely drive family childcare providers out of business. This will raise parents’ costs and make it harder for them to find childcare. The results will be especially acute for parents in Greater Minnesota, who are more reliant on family childcare than their Twin Cities Metro counterparts.
According to ChildCare Aware, it cost 21 percent of the state household median income to send an infant to a licensed daycare center in 2022, making Minnesota the sixth most expensive state — California not included. For single parents, infant center-based care took nearly half of the median income.
Figure 1: Annual cost of center-based infant care as a percent of median household income, 2022
Family childcare, on the other hand, cost 11 percent of the state median household income for infants in 2022, making Minnesota the seventh most affordable state for home-based infant care —California not included. Single-parent households also spent only half as much on home-based infant care as they did on center-based infant care — 23 percent of median household income. The latest data from ChildCare Aware show that while center-based infant care costs nearly $400 per week in Minnesota (nearly $1,600 a month), home-based childcare costs roughly half that.
Figure 2: Estimated weekly average cost of childcare in Minnesota
Sadly, this affordable option might be going away. Here is why.
What the DHS is proposing
From dictating the number of toys, to how often providers should clean their fridges, the DHS is leaving little, if any, breathing room in how family childcare should conduct their business.
Here is a look at some of the proposed new rules
Cleaning rules
Previously Minnesota statute only stated that childcare providers must keep their homes clean. New proposed rules, however, dictate what cleaning products can and cannot be used, how cleaning should be done, and how often such cleaning should be done.
For instance,
(1) Food preparation areas, tables and chairs, high chairs, and food service counters, must becleaned and sanitized before and after each meal and snack with single use paper towels, onetime use wiping cloths, or microfiber cloths;
(2) Eating utensils, bottles, drinking equipment, and dishes, must be cleaned and sanitized prior to next use. If a parent is bringing a bottle from home, the bottle does not need to be cleanedby the license holder upon arrival;……
(5) Refrigerators must be cleaned and sanitized monthly or more often as needed;
(6) Freezers must be cleaned and sanitized quarterly or more often as needed;
Similar cleaning directions are in place for toys, bedding, toileting areas, furniture, machine-washable clothes, floors, and rugs. Certain sanitizers and certain materials, like aerosols, can’t be used by providers.
Toys and equipment
Previously, outside of an infant chair, and sleeping materials, in-home childcare providers were only required to provide enough age-appropriate materials for children.
With the new standards, however, that has changed. If passed, providers have been given an itemized list of what toys and materials they need for each child. For infants, for example, in addition to a chair, and a sleeping bed or bag, providers must have the following:
(c) Blocks and dramatic play equipment including, but not limited to:
(1) Blocks of various sizes;
(2) Soft dolls to grasp and squeeze;
(3) Soft washable animals;
(4) Play telephone;
(5) Non-breakable mirror located at eye level for crawling infants;
(6) Various pots and pans; and
(7) Play materials that represent a diversity of cultural and ethnic groups.(d) Books and literacy materials, including, but not limited to:
(1) Board, cloth, or plastic books;
(2) Simple story books with one picture per page;
(3) Activity books; and
(4) Pictures and books that reflect the different cultures and background of children and families served by the program.(e) Gross motor activity equipment and areas, including but not limited to:
(1) Small push and pull toys;
(2) Riding toys;
(3) Balls;
(4) Use of equipment such as bouncers or swings limited to less than 30 minutes per day; and
(5) Safe, open space in the room to encourage movement; extending arms and legs, sitting,rolling, crawling, and walking with supports.(f) Fine motor activity materials, including but not limited to:
(1) Rattles with different noises, shapes, colors, and textures;
(2) Easy fit together toys, such as large building block toy sets;
(3) Hanging items for infants to grasp or bat;
(4) Pop-up or activity boxes;
(5) Teething toys; and
(6) Soft toys to grasp.
Similarly, for toddlers, preschoolers, and school-age children, providers must have certain types of toys and equipment. In addition to specifying the type of equipment, proposed laws specify the number of toys for some ages.
Temperature and looking after infants
While previously, providers had to keep their homes at a minimum temperature of 62 degrees, new rules require a temperature range between 68 degrees and 82 degrees.
Providers must check on sleeping infants after every 15 minutes, down from 30.
Paperwork and documentation
Providers will have to document more things now, including, but not exclusive to, using pesticides. Specifically, providers must notify parents what pesticides will be used and where they will be applied.
Overall, the list of things providers must have documented to show parents, as well as the DHS Commissioner, has grown from 16 to over 25. Going forward, for example, providers must have a written behavior guidance and discipline policy on hand. Other new additions include:
a written policy on screen time that includes caregiver education and screen time use.
situations that may require disenrollment of a child, if applicable, including termination and expulsion notice procedures.
A policy on parental access to the program that states an enrolled child’s parent must be allowed access to the parent’s child inside the program at any time while the child is in care
New environmental rules
A new environmental section has also been added whereby providers must
- Cover any bare soil to protect kids from lead
- Test water for contaminants
- Use a water filter or provide bottled water if water is not tested.
- Complete radon testing before initial licensure and once every 5 years or once every two calendar years if a radon mitigation system is installed
- Notify the DHS Commissioner when their facility was first built
Likely impact: shortages and higher costs
Not only are family childcare providers an important source of affordable care, but in Greater Minnesota, they are usually the only option. Centers generally need to enroll a high number of students to recoup their investment. Greater Minnesota, however, lacks the density that is necessary for high enrollment. Parents in Greater Minnesota, moreover, have low incomes. So, centers are much less financially feasible in Greater Minnesota compared to the Metro region.
Whether new rules will improve safety or quality, as the DHS claims, is a questionable stance. What’s likely to happen, however, is that providers will spend a lot of time and money to comply with the proposed rules. Providers will have to either raise costs for parents or go out of business. The effects of these new rules will be especially acute in Greater Minnesota.
Even if providers stay in business, chances are they will spend a lot of time cleaning and filling out paperwork than looking after children. Consequently, new rules could worsen, not improve, childcare safety and quality.
Family childcare providers are already leaving the industry
The number and share of family childcare providers in Minnesota have been dwindling over the years. According to DHS data, while Minnesota had nearly 160,000 family childcare slots in 2000, that number was down to 82,000 in 2021. In 2000, family providers made up nearly two-thirds of the total childcare capacity, but in 2021, their share was down to about one-third.
While in the Metro region family providers have been replaced with centers, that hasn’t happened in Greater Minnesota. Ergo, total childcare capacity has been on a downward trend since 2000. The Star Tribune recently reported that in 2024 Minnesota had 148,900 center-based slots and 71,200 family childcare slots for a total of about 220,000. This is over 20,000 fewer slots than the state had in 2000.
Figure 3: Childcare capacity by type of care, 2000-2021
Certainly, demographics are partly to blame for this trend. However, providers have also cited an unfriendly regulatory environment as a contributing factor. It should be concerning, therefore, that instead of addressing the crisis, the DHS is proposing rules that will worsen this trend. Given the numerous regulations that providers follow, adding new rules is the least logical next step. That is unless the aim is to kill home childcare providers.
What can you do
Currently, the DHS is hearing comments from providers and the public on the proposed draft. The draft will be revised after July 15th, the last day for which anyone can make comments. The final draft will be presented to the legislature in the 2025 legislative session, and lawmakers will decide whether to implement these standards or not.
As a businessperson, parent, or concerned Minnesotan, you can take a survey or send an email to [email protected] to let the DHS know that Minnesota cannot afford to lose family childcare providers.
Family childcare providers are essential to the childcare industry, especially in Greater Minnesota. They provide an important option to families who can’t afford centers. The DHS needs to make the job of family childcare providers easier, not harder.