In an effort to combat a shortage of child care services, Basin Electric, Sanford Health and CHI St. Alexius Health are partnering with the YMCA to create a child care facility with designated spots for their employees.
The Missouri Valley YMCA announced Thursday a partnership with the three Bismarck-Mandan businesses to expand child care services to a new location at the former Rasmussen College building on East Century Avenue.
"We have a shared commitment to invest in the potential of the little people," said Bill Bauman, executive director and CEO of the Missouri Valley YMCA. "This will increase the kids we are giving daily care to."
While the YMCA's current child care services at the North Washington Street facility serves about 198 children in the infants through preschool group and 60 school-age kids in the after-school program, as well as two off-site classrooms, it still isn't enough, according to Carmen Traeholt, the YMCA's Youth Development Center director.
"There's always been a shortage," she said. "There's a lot of pressure on care providers."
The shortage of day care has increased in the past few years since the oil boom drew more people into North Dakota, according to Traeholt.
Child Care Aware North Dakota reported in its Child Care Profile 2014 for Burleigh County that the potential number of children in need of child care was 11,750, but there were only 4,412 licensed childcare programs.
"It has been an issue," said Mike Eggl, senior vice president of Basin Electric. "It's this kind of unique structure that has helped."
The pressure of child care
When her twins were born in February of 2014, Kristen Zent, a teacher for the Bismarck Public School District, didn't think finding day care would be a struggle.
She decided to use the YMCA's Youth Development Center and almost had it set up when the program filled with infants who had siblings already in the center.
"I didn't have any luck finding child care," Zent said. "I could have possibly got the twins in separate home child care, but that wasn't an option that I was willing to pursue."
Zent spent five months searching for day care, moving from child care programs, such as the YMCA, to home day care. The YMCA's child care services have 400 children on a waiting list, and, for parents who have never used the YMCA, they have to wait behind those who have. People can be on the waiting list from the time they're expecting to the time the child turns 5, according to Traeholt.
"Nobody had two infant openings," she said. "Centers almost laughed at you. It's tough trying to find child care for one infant, let alone two."
Zent was able to make a decision not open to all parents: She took the school year off.
"We were fortunate that I was able to take a leave of absence," she said. "Thankfully, I have a good employer and my husband was able to provide for us."
That option doesn't work for everybody, and Zent's family isn't alone in the struggle to find child care.
"It makes it very stressful," she said. "They don't understand sometimes. There's a lot of child care in town, but they want quality child care."
According to Traeholt, quality is driving the shortage along with population because parents want certified and licensed child care providers, as well as programs and activities, such as the YMCA's swimming lessons, sports and other lessons.
The most important part of quality, she said, is quality staff, which is hard to come by because other professions and jobs pay more.
"We're trying to keep our quality up," Traeholt said. "It's tough. Parents are paying for quality care, and we need to provide it."
The new YMCA facility will be facing that problem as it must hire 90 new employees by February.
"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't concerned," Bauman said. "It's quite a lot of staff, and we all know the climate we're living in right now."
Bauman said that a team, including members from the YMCA and the three partners, are working on a marketing plan to attract applicants.
Kirk Cristy, chief financial officer at Sanford Health, said the new program is a step in the right direction.
"This is a way to respond to our rapidly growing community," he said.
The new facility
The 18,000-square-foot facility, the YMCA Youth Development Center North, will be able to hold 240 children to age 5, with 200 spots designated to employees of the three partners.
The partners in exchange will be responsible for renovation costs and operation expenses not covered by the existing YMCA fee structure. Their employees will be responsible for child care costs.
"Every working parent strives to achieve a balance," said Kurt Schley, CHI St. Alexius Health's new president. "A lack of child care can affect that balance. We see this going hand-in-hand with our mission to promote a healthier community."
Children at the new location will have access to the same services as children at the Washington Street facility, including swimming lessons, and will be bused to and from Washington Street for the activities.
Operation hours will be the same as the main facility, and the fee structure will also be the same.
Renovation for the Rasmussen College building will begin in the fall and the facility is scheduled to open in February.
By Karee Magee
The Bismarck Tribune