Little Falls hospital, school district jump into the child care fray

The city, along with a local hospital, has been leading the efforts to reduce the costs for family child care providers, making it easier for them to stay afloat.

Jon Radermacher remembers searching around for child care as a first-time dad. He’s been through the process multiple times — and knows there’s something wrong.

He moved from Madison, Minnesota, where his family also faced difficulties finding child care for his son, to Little Falls in central Minnesota. Once he got to the Morrison County town of 9,100 people, he saw the ripple effects the shortage has presented for not only families, but for jobs and the economy.

“It became very evident to me that … child care was a huge issue that just wasn’t seen within the community very highly,” he said. “I would hear sentiments of, ‘Well, I don’t want to tell my employer that I’m having issues with child care because if they find out or they are worried about my attendance, they may not want to have me around.”

He came to Little Falls to take a job as city administrator in 2015. But because there was a child care shortage, his wife and child stayed behind until they could find child care in the area.

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