By Kelly Fluharty
Vice president of Early Childhood
Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation
February 26, 2026 – Across our region, many families are carrying more stress than usual. For some, federal enforcement pressures have introduced fear into everyday routines. Even when children do not have the words for it, they feel it in the tension around them, they notice the disrupted plans or sudden changes in who is available to care for them.
In moments like this, child care is more than a convenience. It is a stabilizing force, one of the few places where a child can count on adults, consistent routines and a sense of belonging. For parents and caregivers, reliable child care is what makes it possible to keep a job, attend a training, take a shift at the hospital or show up for a family business.
We should talk about child care the way we talk about roads, broadband and housing: as essential infrastructure for vibrant rural economies.
Many communities in southern Minnesota are child care deserts, places where the supply of licensed care falls far short of what families need. In practice, that can mean waiting lists for infant care that stretch longer than infancy, households patching together care from relatives and neighbors and employers watching talented workers reduce hours or leave the workforce because there is nowhere accessible or affordable for their children to go. Providers face rising costs, staffing shortages and a business model where tuition alone often cannot cover what quality care costs.
When child care is scarce, the impacts ripple outward. Schools, clinics and Main Street businesses feel it. Economic development efforts feel it. Communities working hard to retain and attract young families feel it.
This is why First Children’s Finance created the Rural Child Care Innovation Program (RCCIP), a community driven approach that helps rural places identify the true scope of their child care gaps and build solutions that fit local reality. With regional support for technical assistance and the RCCIP, Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (SMIF) has helped communities across our region move from concern to coordinated action. Over 18 to 24 months, the RCCIP process brings together leaders, providers, employers and parents to move from knowing there is a problem to building a shared plan and practical strategies for sustainable change. Last month, I was grateful to onboard with the core team for First Children’s Finance’s most recent RCCIP effort in Fillmore County. I look forward to seeing how this team will help gather the ideas and information necessary to help communities across the county align resources, reduce barriers for providers and expand options for families in ways that make sense locally.
SMIF’s support for community-driven efforts like these are anchored to our belief that investing in our youngest generation is one of the smartest investments our region can make, and we back that belief through partnerships, training, grants and support for technical assistance. In this moment, we also need a shared commitment to protecting the everyday conditions that help families stay rooted here, like welcoming communities, reliable care for young children and practical pathways for providers to stay open and grow. Working alongside communities and partners such as First Children’s Finance, we can treat child care as an economic development priority, not an afterthought.
We cannot control every pressure families are facing right now. But we can strengthen the local systems that hold people up, so children experience steady and high-quality care, households remain financially stable and rural communities can keep building a future where families want to stay.
If your community is experiencing a child care gap, please reach out to SMIF for connections to partners like First Children’s Finance, and urge your local and State decision-makers to invest in systems that help keep these businesses viable. If we want vibrant economies in southern Minnesota, we have to make it possible to raise a family here, and that starts with child care.
I welcome your comments and questions. You can reach me at kellyf@smifoundation.org or 507-214-7012.
About Kelly Fluharty
Kelly Fluharty joined Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation as vice president of Early Childhood in 2025, bringing expertise from public health and rural healthcare sectors. Working at the intersection of public health, healthcare and social services, Kelly led initiatives to build more inclusive and resilient systems of care delivery.
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