Yes, we need to change how we do childcare licensing in Minnesota - Our leaders are deep into that work. AND, we also need to #FundChildCare so providers can make upgrades when necessary! https://www.mprnews.org/story/2025/09/24/child-care-providers-in-minnesota-want-to-change-strict-rules

The headline! It is absolutely a CHOICE to have childcare be this terrible. https://www.minnpost.com/community-voices/2025/09/child-care-doesnt-have-to-be-this-terrible/

"Child care is infrastructure that benefits everyone." Full stop. #FundChildCare https://www.startribune.com/mn-childcare-cost-stay-at-home-mothers/601476978?utm_source=gift

It's Monday! And we want to introduce you to our Monday leader shoutout, Faith Warner, the director of @CreativeKidsAcademyAnoka. See all those people that turned out for our roundtable last week with Rep. Zack Stephenson - Faith turned them out! #childcareprovider

THIS IS NOT SUSTAINABLE... "I've been in the classroom for two years straight because we can't hire teachers. I work all day Saturday and all day Sunday." (To do her actual job as director.) There is a better way - #FundChildCare #mnleg

September 22 is fast approaching! Metro area childcare providers - have you signed up to join us for a listening session with DCYF? This is a great opportunity to share your concerns directly with Inspector General Randy Keys and Assistant Commissioner of Early Childhood Dianne Haulcy.

💡 Imagine a Minnesota where every family has #UniversalChildcare and early educators are paid what they deserve. 🎉 New Mexico just proved it’s possible. Now it’s our turn! #mnleg 👉 Join the movement to make it happen: kidscountonus.com/take-action

How awesome is this? Representative Zack Stephenson is barely a week into his job as DFL Caucus leader, and we got him for an hour and a half of talking about childcare and why we need to fund it. Lots of stories that we'll be sharing, but here's a bit of a photo dump.

FULL house of grownups who all care deeply about kids and childcare meeting with new DFL Caucus Leader @Representative Zack Stephenson!

Monday leader shoutout to some amazing parents who stepped up to share their stories about how the cost of childcare makes it impossible to afford their lives - Sofia Shorter, Katie Engevik, Dara Jones, and Angel Peluso spoke at the Northland Affordability Summit.The main takeaway - #FundChildCare!

Pretty sure every childcare provider and teacher has heard this song and dance before… 👀😂 #Childcare #EarlyChildhoodEducation #EarlyChildhoodEducator #Daycare #TeacherLife

If you are in northeastern MN, join us and elected leaders on Saturday for the Northland Affordability Summit. People should be able to afford their lives, and right now, they can't. Let's change that! Register here: https://secure.everyaction.com/Ff9zST4fZ0OqFsCEFsVnzw2

So, we've got Monday leader shoutouts, we're going to rollout "Tuesday Take Action"! Today you get to call for Head Start funding to keep up with rising costs! Super easy! #ProtectHeadStart https://nhsa.org/take-action/?vvsrc=%2fCampaigns%2f129824%2fRespond%3fvvsn%3dBAAAAADCBCgsfAT2PUg7FAA

Happy Monday. We aim to be the highlight of your day with our Monday leader shoutout. This week it is Ifrah Nur from South Metro Childcare Academy! She is one of our go-tos for speaking with the media and the legislature because she is so good at not only childcare,

Working parent math is just as hard as childcare provider math. #FundChildCare www.instagram.com/reel/DOODGda...

From our parent survey... Turns out childcare providers, teachers, and parents all want the same thing! #FundChildCare

We know how to fix this! #FundChildCare We don't have these conversations about K-12. It is free for parents and teachers make living (mostly) wages because we value it as a public good. Childcare is a public good! https://www.mprnews.org/story/2025/09/04/minnesota-losing-more-child-care-providers

“You can’t compete with free,” said Ifrah Nur, director of South Metro Child Care in Bloomington. While more free pre-K spots are great for families, they leave childcare providers struggling in a broken system that relies (not willingly!) on preschoolers to help offset costs for infants.

On this Labor Day, our Monday leader shoutout goes to the amazing staff at @PinePals IntergenerationalLearningChildCareandPreschool who were OPEN today and to all the other childcare centers that were open today to ensure that those who serve in jobs that do not stop on federal holidays,

“I speak out in northern Minnesota and in St. Paul because we want the people elected to serve our communities to understand the realities we face, be inspired by our stories, and use their legislative power to support this critical industry. These are our children. What better investment is there?

It's been a hard day Minnesota. Sending love to all the teachers who care for and love our kids from 0 to forever really. Every kid they teach becomes one of "their" kids. Kids COUNT on Us, to protect them, guide them, and love them. They deserve nothing less.

🧵 Across race, place, and faith, every parent wants peace of mind sending their kids to school — not fear. Children should be able to focus on learning, growing, and playing on the playground, not hiding from active shooters. (1/3)

Hey Everybody! Meet Julie (in the Kids Count on Us t-shirt!). She's our Monday leader shoutout. She is organizing parents with great passion and energy. She hosted Rep. Matt Norris and lots of parents and a few grandparents last week for a Parent Meet Up to talk about what is happening in childcare.

Tune into @mprnews.org RIGHT now to listen to (and participate in!) a conversation about childcare with @angeladavis and Angie Clair of @WilderChildDevelopmentCenter

Touting the few childcare provisions in this bill as "wins" is incredibly misleading. https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/5461915-child-care-crisis-continues/?fbclid=IwY2xjawMUkDFleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHqETU7_4DE7GtHKyC-aJbNKYqBiTBMfGYDZUCkuLMsO_l8c_5R-Fe9MxPXkC_aem_gEHVwpCIMn4r0TOWv2NjBA

We are thrilled to be connecting with parents and caregivers to build power to win a childcare system that works for everyone. Families cannot afford childcare and childcare providers and teachers cannot afford their lives. We're coming together to get #mnleg to #FundChildcare!

Hey Minnesota Parents and Caregivers! We'd love it if you'd take our survey so we can learn more about your childcare challenges. Look what we've learned already... This is not ok by the way. #FundChildCare Take the survey here: https://forms.gle/7C14QmrZ4DLenPLTA Please share!

It's Monday! Our leader shoutout this week is Mary Solheim of Playschool Child Care. She runs the most amazing outdoor summer program filled with all of the things for kids to explore. Yes that's a cicada exiting its exoskeleton which was later discovered! Playschool lets kids be kids!

“If I raise tuition, will I lose too many families to stay afloat? If I don’t raise tuition, will I be able to stay afloat?” says Meghann Carrasco, the founder and executive director of Seedlings to Sunflowers, a nonprofit childcare provider. https://time.com/7309693/daycare-centers-closing/

Some #highqualitychildcare going on right here for both the kids AND the frogs (who return to nature at the end of the day, just like kids return to their families!) Amazing things happen when we #LetKidsBeKids #FundChildCare

Why we need to #FundChildCare... https://www.pinejournal.com/news/local/cloquet-area-group-seeks-to-solve-child-care-shortage?fbclid=IwY2xjawMK-dBleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHtojPSWpfIX2tdL0HtBn6a-O_Mh-cfXJK0Uz57LHfPtDzjTQfOFIuyakQZ14_aem_TsEoSXa3DltVcCSzoesDtg&__vfz=medium%3Dsharebar

We're sharing this fantastic video featuring Sophia again because she is our Monday Leader Shoutout! She is great at her job, but she shouldn't have to have found her way into childcare because she couldn't find or afford childcare for her child! bsky.app/profile/isai...

Something to celebrate! Childcare teachers can receive $5,000 per child towards their own children's childcare costs! This will keep teachers in the classroom and lower costs for childcare providers (which helps keep tuition rates from rising). Thanks #mnleg!

A little reminder of why we're organizing to transform the childcare system into the one that we all deserve. You can watch our 30-minute documentary, Labor of Love, by going to our website, www.kidscountonus.com . #FundChildCare

Read this OpEd by Angie Clair - our Monday leader shoutout! https://minnesotareformer.com/2025/08/01/from-crisis-to-collapse-the-attack-on-head-start-is-another-blow-to-child-care/?emci=d92cfd29-3c6f-f011-8dc9-6045bda9d96b&emdi=03c28b95-a06f-f011-8dc9-6045bda9d96b&ceid=646267

A mid-week, mid-summer reminder that we have a lovely website where we post all upcoming events, like this one on Tuesday! You should visit regularly - www.kidscountonus.com - and click on "Events."

Jessica Kremer, who we shouted out yesterday, had her powerful OpEd published today in the Rochester Post Bulletin. Read it all! #FundChildCare https://www.postbulletin.com/opinion/columns/jessica-kremer-child-care-relied-on-me-to-make-it-work-it-couldnt-last?nvep=&hmac=

It's Monday! Jessica Kremer of Leo Augusta in Blooming Prairie is our Monday leader shoutout. Sadly, the center closed! https://www.southernminn.com/owatonna_peoples_press/news/blooming-prairies-leo-augusta-childrens-academy-to-close-after-3-years/article_aa3f2526-26c7-4db1-a027-31ab4e9288a6.html

1/ Something is fundamentally wrong when families are spending MORE on childcare than a mortgage or rent. Childcare is a textbook example of a broken market, failing parents, providers, and kids alike.

Ok, this is a lot of info in one graphic (you can find the whole article here: https://augustafreepress.com/news/kaine-scott-introduce-bill-to-ease-americas-child-care-crisis/), BUT, it is a comprehensive look at what is included in the Child Care for Working Families Act. #FundChildCare

Do not get in the way of a childcare provider with a plan! Angie and Celeste were making serious plans tonight with a group of passionate people who know what childcare CAN be and are not stopping until they make it so. #FundChildCare

Death by paper cuts....a reminder that removing support for even a few children means less money for a center, which leads to financial instability, and often, closure. #FundChildCare https://www.chalkbeat.org/2025/07/16/advocates-fight-trump-policy-barring-undocumented-children-from-head-start/

There's still time to join tonight's Northern Minnesota Parent Power Launch in Duluth. For more info and to learn more about what it's all about, take a listen to this piece on The North 103.3. Go here to sign up: https://secure.everyaction.com/lyYGbQuxfUChu-bpg97xsw2

Did you know the Trump administration has terminated the Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela Parole Program? MN childcare centers are losing teachers... https://www.startribune.com/twin-cities-day-cares-lose-workers-after-trump-administration-cancels-immigration-program/601384942?utm_source=gift

This image greeted our childcare providers when they went to visit Senator Tina Smith's office in D.C. Grateful for the leadership of Rep. Melissa Hortman and the amazing funding she passed for childcare in 2023 and grateful to see her and her husband, Mark, honored.

Our crew visited Rep Brad Finstad's office to help him understand how the reconciliation bill will be devastating for families and children. We're looking forward to him visiting southern Minnesota childcare centers to learn from the EXPERTS why we need to #FundChildCare.

We're sad to share of another childcare center closure. This is a thorough article that describes all of the reasons why childcare centers, like Leo Augusta, which are desperately needed in their communities, are closing.

More photos of providers visiting the MN Congressional delegation in D.C. to share. They visited Rep Pete Stauber's office to highlight for him how the reconciliation bill he supported will harm families and children, particularly in his district. #FundChildCare

While Kids Count on Us leaders were visiting with Rep. Angie Craig's staffers in Washington, D.C. she was visiting Iron Range Tykes in Mountain Iron! We are not exaggerating when we say these providers are bringing it and demanding that their voices are heard and legislators #FundChildCare!

Bringing you some rays of sunshine from the Capitol mall. Monique, These childcare providers are enjoying the sun, but are clear on how the Big Ugly Bill will be devastating for the families they serve, and they are not shy about telling their representatives and senators! #FundChildCare