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Lawmakers press new agency on childcare closures, provider pay and electronic attendance records
Summary
Committee members pressed DCYF leaders about a wave of childcare closures, the Great Start Compensation program, efforts to recruit new providers and a bill to require electronic attendance records for better program integrity and faster detection of payment anomalies.
Assistant Commissioner Diane Halsey, who leads DCYF’s Early Childhood Administration, told the committee the department is aware of facility and family‑childcare closures across Minnesota and cited two targeted efforts funded in recent sessions: the Great Start Compensation Support Payment Program and a “Grow Your Own” initiative to recruit and develop new early‑care professionals.
Halsey described the Great Start program as “compensation” grants intended to raise provider pay; the department presented the program at about $176,000,000 in fiscal year 2026 to support over 6,000 childcare providers. She said Grow…
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