Committee adopts amendment to HF 2617 aiming to narrow child-care licensing to health and safety

Representative Coulter moved House File 2617 and the DE1 amendment, which the committee adopted by voice vote. The bill would narrow state child-care licensing to core health and safety requirements while encouraging accreditation or professional standards to address program quality.

The measure, described by Representative Coulter as “a game changer,” drew testimony from three child-care directors who told the committee that the current licensing system often penalizes providers for administrative or cosmetic technicalities unrelated to child safety. Kayley Spencer, director of Lakeside Early Learning in Duluth, said her center received a citation for a clerical omission on a staff orientation record even though the staff member had completed required training. “The current licensing system often distracts us from this mission by focusing on technicalities that have little to no impact on child safety,” Spencer said.

Karen Swenson, executive director of Meadow Park Preschool and Child Care Center in Rochester, recounted being cited because an emergency-preparedness plan was temporarily out of its indexed binder during an inspection and for omitting a filled-in time box indicating 30 minutes of abusive head trauma…