Local Childcare Providers Strained by Shutdown

A local childcare provider with 15 employees faces serious financial peril due to prolonged effects of the state government shutdown.

JoNell Olson, director of Little Acorns Childcare in Long Lake, said the shutdown has directly resulted in a weekly revenue loss of about $2,000. As the shutdown enters Day 11, Olson said Little Acorns would “only last another week” before she has to take drastic actions.

“We’re a really small business, and we just can’t afford to really have that happen,” she said. “At that point, I’m not really sure what we’re going to do. We’ve already cut hours as much as we can.”

The families of seven full-time preschoolers who attend Little Acorns rely on state childcare reimbursements to help pay for Monday-Friday care. The reimbursements stopped flowing June 24 and won’t resume until a budget deal is reached. Even once government is back up and running, Little Acorns hasn’t been told whether it will receive back pay from the state for care provided during the shutdown. With no significant progress being reported in St. Paul, Olson is planning for a worst-case scenario.

“The letter we received said it was a possibility that we would be paid for what, right now, is free care, but they were not going to guarantee that,” she said.  “We’re having a hard time paying our staff, but we need those kids back here.”

Olson represents Little Acorns on a local quality provider’s network that recently met to discuss the state shutdown effects. All, she said, were dealing in some respects with the shutdown.

“Every center that I’ve talked to has been affected somehow,” Olson said.

Shoreline Early Childhood Development Center in Wayzata isn’t as dependent on state reimbursements, but staff there have been frustrated and backed up since the government shut down. Teri Esposito, director of Shoreline Early Childhood Development Center, said processing staff paperwork has so far been the biggest inconvenience.

“The one thing that has primarily affected us is the inability to hire staff until the state reinstated the background checks on Friday,” she said. “Now we can go ahead and submit the background checks.”

Shoreline Early Childhood Development Center was still able to submit June numbers for its food program, which, for now, goes on unaffected.

“If it goes longer, it will definitely have more of an impact,” Esposito said.

Ramsey County Judge Kathleen Gearin acknowledged that defunding child-care assistance and other similar programs could “cause extreme hardship, force low-income parents to leave their jobs, and increase the amount of people out of work."

Follow the latest shutdown developments on Lake Minnetonka Patch:

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July 7: 

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July 7: 

July 6: 

July 6: State Likely to Continue Funding Counties During Shutdown

July 5: Doepke Wants Compromise Without Tax Hike

July 5: Committee Tasked With Finding 'Third Solution' to Budget Crisis

July 3: Zoo Open, Canterbury Still Closed as Talks Take Holiday Break

July 1: Buses Still Stopping at Local Park-and-Rides—For Now

July 1: A first: DNR Ceases Most Activity

July 1: No Deal: State Government Goes Dark

June 30: (Update) The Latest From St. Paul as Deadline Nears

June 30: Local Clinics Await Their Fate

June 30: Locals React to Approaching Shutdown

June 29: Judge Rules What's Essential During Shutdown

June 29: Hennepin County Battens Down Hatches as Shutdown Nears

June 28: Invasive Species Inspections Continue as Shutdown Nears

June 25: Local Nonprofits, Hospitals Brace for Shutdown    

June 23: Shutdown Shouldn't Hurt Minnehaha Watershed District      

June 22: State Shutdown Would Freeze DNR