Provider Resources

Providers, we're here to support you!

What are our goals?

In fall of 2023, we polled local child care providers of different types. Some of the challenges they identified include:

• Lack of healthcare, dental and vision benefits
• Low wages (in 2023, the average child care worker made $11.97 an hour)
• No temporary substitute options
• Rising food and supply costs
• Help with initial licensure and staying in compliance
• Lack of grants and other supports for unregistered family day cares

We don't have all the solutions to all these problems, especially when most area families struggle to pay their current child care costs, but we do believe that working together with current and future child care providers to address these challenges is the best way forward. Some of the things we are working on include: 

• Creating a pre-vetted substitute pool for child care providers
• Bulk food purchasing options and free, in-town fingerprinting services at Lake Oahe Learning Academy
• New in-home child care activity bins and 6-child strollers available for check-out at A.H. Brown Public Library
• 0% interest Health and Safety Loans from MEDCO for unregistered family day care providers in Mobridge

If you are a prospective or current provider struggling with one or more of these issues, have an idea on how to solve one of these issues, or have a different challenge you think we might be able to help tackle, please reach out to us at W3CAssociation@gmail.com. If you are a current provider and want a free membership to the Association (and all the great resources that come with it--including a listing on our Find a Provider webpage), please click here.

Looking at child care as a future career? 

We would love to help you pursue a career in child care. Whether its accessing internships to satisfy a CTE program requirement, pursing your Child Development Associate certification, or shadowing a child care provider for a day, we'd love to help. 

Want to license or register a new or existing child care business in Mobridge?

We realize that becoming a regulated child care program takes extra steps, and we want to help reduce the burden of licensure for individual providers that want to be able to accept SD Child Care Assistance and benefit from state-wide grant funding opportunities, like the state's popular Child Care Health and Safety Grant. Our start-up packets, located at the MEDCO Office, include:

• How to get listed and/or registered on the state website
• Requirements for licensing and who to call for licensing questions
• Tips on how to correctly fill out your application packet for the state
• Information about available state and local grants to help with star-up and ongoing costs
• Information about the CACFP program (who to contact, how to get started, estimated time to get approved)
• Howe to get signed up to accept Child Care Assistance and the process for getting reimbursed
• An example program budget for an in-home daycare, in excel so a person can plug and play with their own numbers
• A child care substitute program directory and a contact list for other area providers
• How to access the SD Health and Safety grant to complete health and safety modifications required for regulation
• Free professional development opportunities and CPR training through Sanford Child Services for regulated providers