Regional Child Care Initiative Heralded by U of M
Region V+ Family Child Care Licensing Collaboration receives award
STAPLES, Minn. (26 November 2018) - A regional collaborative designed to help create system-wide consistency and, ultimately, assist families in finding and securing quality childcare has been given top honors by the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota.
The Region V+ Family Child Care Licensing Collaboration received the first place Local Government Innovation Award, County category. The initiative, sponsored by Sourcewell, has created an innovative solution for family childcare licensing by combining the licensing roles of seven counties into three regional licensors. This collaborative effort addresses a workforce shortage, creates consistency in the application of regulations across the counties, and eliminates the duplication of efforts within its counties at a crucial time when the availability of family childcare is hitting a crisis point. Region 5 counties involved include Cass, Crow Wing, Morrison, Todd, and Wadena. Becker and Douglas counties are also part of the collaborative.
Sourcewell Manager of City and County Services Anna Gruber says she is humbled by the honor and grateful to the partners who have made it possible.
“Being a recipient of the Local Government Innovator Award is not only an honor, but a privilege. We are fortunate to have great partners in our Region Five-plus counties to help promote innovation that's having a regional and statewide impact. This award recognizes not only the service, creativity, and collaboration of our region, but also the hard work and perseverance. We can't wait to see the long-term, positive impact this has on our family child care providers!”
The awards program is organized by the University of Minnesota Humphrey School of Public Affairs' Public and Nonprofit Leadership Center (PNLC), in partnership with the Bush Foundation and its Native Nation Building Initiative; and co-sponsored by the League of Minnesota Cities, the Association of Minnesota Counties, the Minnesota Association of Townships and the Minnesota School Boards Association. The awards recognize projects in up to five different categories, and name up to one Leading Innovator in each: cities, counties, schools, townships and Native nations, which recognizes collaborations between tribes and a local government entity.
To learn more about the Region V+ Family Child Care Licensing Collaboration, as well as Sourcewell's involvement in child care support, visit sourcewell.co/childcare.
Sourcewell (formerly National Joint Powers Alliance) is a self-supporting government organization, partnering with education, government, and nonprofits to boost student and community success. Created in 1978 as one of Minnesota's nine service cooperatives, we offer training and shared services to our central-Minnesota members. Throughout North America, we offer a cooperative purchasing program with over 300 awarded vendors on contract. Sourcewell is driven by service and the ability to strategically reinvest in member communities.