For the last three years, Missy Okeson has served on the Great Start for All Minnesota Children Task Force, working with legislators and state officials to develop a state plan to provide Minnesota families access to high-quality child care and education.
This fits brilliantly within Missy’s expertise and her work as the program officer leading the Child Care program at Northwest Minnesota Foundation, which is is committed growing the availability of quality child care throughout Northwest Minnesota.
“Early childhood care and education is essential for not only our region but for everyone throughout our state,” Missy said. “I have appreciated the opportunity to help imagine a system for Minnesota that addresses affordability, access, and compensation for those who provide these necessary services for our families.”
The state task force was formed in 2021 through bipartisanship legislation to accomplish an established goal: All Minnesota families have access to affordable, high-quality early care and education that enriches, nurtures, and supports children and their families.
The task force has met monthly, and at its January meeting voted to approve its final recommendations to be sent to Gov. Tim Walz.
Recommendations adopted by the task force and sent to Gov. Walz included:
- Create a family benefits system that provides affordable access for all families, with no family paying more than 7% of income for services. This would include a new “Great Start Minnesota Program” that would utilize existing federal and state funding streams along with additional funding. Under this program, all families would be eligible to participate.
- Provide early childhood programs with adequate funding to deliver effective services for children and families. This recommendation states that programs would be paid based on the true cost of services, determined through cost modeling. Current rates are limited by the prices families are able to pay, rather than a rate that would cover the full cost of care and allow for fair workforce compensation.
- Pay the early care and education workforce a living wage. This recommendation speaks to a compensation framework that pays early care educators at least a living wage and increases wages aligned with experience and education. The task force also recommends increased benefits including time off and health insurance.
- Invest in increasing access to effective programs. The task force advocates for consistent and equitable standards and growth-oriented accountability systems; a healthy business environment and clear, consistently-applied regulations; and a cohesive, high functioning infrastructure and ecosystem.
Details on these recommendations, as well as the full report, can be found online at https://mn.gov/mmb/childrens-cabinet/great-start-childrens-task-force
With this, the task force has concluded its ongoing monthly meetings.
“Our work as an organized task force is done but once the Governor reads through and aligns the recommendations with his budget, our work will continue through our own efforts,” Missy said.
