Duluth day care closing leaves parents scrambling

It's already hard to find infant day care in Duluth, and it's about to get harder.

Last week, the Benedictine Health System told parents they'll be shutting down their infant and toddler center in mid-June.

For many of the parents, the closure announcement came as a shock.

"All the families involved are totally devastated by this," said parent Matt Munger. "We don't know what we're going to do. In the whole city of Duluth there's not a single infant spot for a year."

Munger and his wife have a three-month-old enrolled in the center. And with only two months to find a new day care, they're worried: Most other centers have a year-long waiting list. Munger said their next likely step is to shell out for a nanny, or ask his mother-in-law to come up from Shakopee, five days a week, to help care for the baby.

Benedictine Health Systems officials said in a statement that they're closing the day care because the building that houses it has become too expensive to maintain. It's in an old church, and needs repairs the company couldn't afford. They tried to find a newer facility, and came up empty.

Many of the toddlers affected will end up at St. Michael's Lakeside Early Learning Center across town. Center director Chris McMahon said he's hired staff and opened a whole new toddler room just to fill the gap. All ten slots filled in less than a week.

"Duluth, like everywhere else, has a shortage of child care," McMahon said. "Even with what we're doing, we're barely making a dent."

Research from the Center for Rural Policy and Development shows the day care industry in northeastern Minnesota would have to expand by at least fifty percent just to meet current needs. Instead, it's shrinking.

McMahon said the Benedictine Health center is the second Duluth day care to close in the last six months. Last fall, the YMCA shut down its infant and toddler program. St. Michael's took all 15 of the toddlers there, but couldn't accommodate the infants. It doesn't have the right state licenses.

"I can't tell you how many times a week we get a call from families looking for infant care, that we have to turn away," he said. "And that's on top of these programs that are closing."

With the Benedictine Health day care closing, Matt Munger called McMahon to ask what it would take to bring his facility up to code, in order to start an infant program. But St. Michael's is also in an old building. It would need an elevator, ramps, and more than $200,000 in state-mandated updates. Right now, McMahon said, that's out of reach.