Kotzebue’s children’s care center shut down about 10 years ago and the town hasn’t had one since. Tracey Schaeffer and her daughter Bailey are attempting to make a difference. They’re exempt from tribal law as child care providers under the Maniilaq Association of northwestern tribes and would be able to supervise four children. However, they’ve been trying to obtain a state-issued license, which could expand their capacity to 12 children since November, but haven’t received the certificate they require for their business to start.
“If we have 12 children and 12 parents, they all have on their way to work” Schaeffer said. “So I’m sure that does not seem like a massive amount. However, it’s a good beginning, right?”
Schaeffer has been employed within the Northwest Arctic School District and in early learning for a long time and estimates that there are around 150 children in Kotzebue that could be in a child care facility. However, she noted that the licensing process for the state is difficult to navigate with rules which are almost impossible to achieve in remote areas within the state.
For instance, her Internet connection was a hindrance to having her background check cleared. She estimated she worked 40 hours in addition to her duties in the school district complete the background check on her own.
“You must fight to get this job done,” she said. “This job is not necessarily financially compensated for. But, I’m not trying to become a lawyer, am I?”
Schaeffer is one of the potential child care providers from remote regions of Alaska who claim they are unable to be licensed due to the requirements of the state, which are that are based on federal regulations and others that aren’t adapted to the specifics of where they reside. This means that there’s none or just inadequate childcare to meet demands, which keeps parents from working and also disenfranchises remote communities as well as their largely Alaska Native populations.
“The tension of it is felt throughout the community, and affects all of us,” Shaeffer said. “Everyone is affected by a lack of children’s care. Everyone is affected by the absence of early childhood programs for children throughout the neighborhood. Everyone.”
Fingerprints, fire extinguishers and fingerprints
About 600 miles to the south of Kotzebue near Dillingham villages are also facing similar challenges. Anne Shade, Bristol Bay Native Association’s department of child development director, has been involved in the area of child care for many years. “It’s an absolute disaster in this area,” she said. “Child take care of deserts is what they call it.”
Although even cities can be impacted by an insufficient number of childcare providers, the issue is much more acute in rural regions. In 2021, a study by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation found that over 60 percent of Alaskans reside in a”child care desert or a community that isn’t able to have easy access to childcare within the distance of a reasonable distance.
Bristol Bay Native Association serves 31 villages in Southwest Alaska. Four of them offer Head Start school readiness programs: New Stuyahok, Manokotak, Togiak and Dillingham. Only Dillingham, the community that is hub to Dillingham has licensed child care centers. The entire region is more than four thousand square miles.
“It’s horrendous and the villages aren’t able to be able to meet the standards of a child care center. Therefore, it’s not even possible,” Shade said.
She suggested that the region could need “dozens” more childcare centers or child care providers however — along with the costs that even urban centers face They are also stuck by licensing rules.
To become a state-licensed home-based child care provider, Shade explained that everyone at home should have fingerprints recorded on the file. However, there’s not a lot of fingerprinting machines in the bush Alaska and potential providers from villages must pay for expensive flights for travel to Dillingham. Shade has fingerprinting equipment as well as an internet connection that’s reliable that the Schaeffers faced in Kotzebue However, she added that the expense of travel is an issue.
“Some of these communities are like an airplane ride of $1500,” she said. “So we either send a person down to take everyone’s print across the whole home and then we take everyone up and it does not make much sense at all.”
She also said that if a person older than 16 lives in the home such as an older student who is returning from school for the summer or family members who are coming to stay for a fish camp — they’ll have to sign their names on the their file.
She noted that it’s simpler to get a tribal license in rural Alaska to obtain the tribal license than a state license, however, state licenses permit caregivers to take care of more kids.
“The federal government has been willing to work with us in the area of performing name checks instead of fingerprints, since we’re unable to follow,” she said. “But we are in a bind because they’re unable to grant the same flexibility as the federal authorities have. So there’s no way for the state to be licensed in remote areas at all.”
Another issue is extinguishers for fire. In order to obtain an official tribal or state license the providers must have these. However, they aren’t able to be shipped typically, as they’re considered to be a risky substance. Fire extinguishers are generally required to be transported by air, but this isn’t an option for communities that aren’t able to access roads. They must be transported on a charter flight with no other passengers.
“So suddenly, you’re paying an $3,000 charter to bring an extinguisher for fire down to Chignik and then it’s going need to be maintained within a one year time,” Shade said. She added that the Bristol Bay Native Association is working with school districts to attempt and coordinate inspections for fire extinguishers in order to reduce expenses.
“Everything is difficult there,” she said. “Everything.”
One size doesn’t fit all
Bridie Trainor is the child care program director of Kawerak Inc., a regional tribal group that is located in Nome she said that the state’s requirements for universal coverage don’t work in to the Bering Strait region.
Access to child care is available in Nome However, Trainor stated that there are no villages in the area that are equipped with it. the obstacles to licensure, as well as the financial difficulties of operating in the region, prevent individuals from opening childcare centers even if they are open.
The area encompasses more than 20 communities and 20,000 miles however, only Nome has licensed state-licensed childcare choices. In addition, there are Head Start classrooms in 11 of the communities.
There’s a chance to become licensed however it’s not accessible or affordable to those who reside there. State requirements for heating and plumbing aren’t appropriate in the area she added.
“The state should make new regulations that allow it to defer to tribal standards and ensure the ability to access state funds. Tribes must be given the option of licence in a manner that is appropriate for the particular locality,” she said.
Trainor explained that the expense that living costs in this region implies that, once a child care center is established the state’s reimbursements don’t accurately reflect the actual cost of care and this needs to change. “If we want childcare to be a possibility which providers are able to pay for, reimbursement amounts must reflect the cost of care,” she said.
The issue is affecting families too, as their income might be higher than the amount that is needed to qualify for state aid, but the funds don’t go to the same extent in Bering Strait, which the costs are considerably higher than those in urban regions. She added that state income requirements must reflect the costs of living.
Trainor is a member of the task force for child care which met for the very for the first time last week. Trainor said she’s hopeful that the issues are ones that the state can tackle.
“We need to find a solution”
The State’s Department of Health didn’t agree to an interview regarding licensing challenges or the ways in which it helps those in remote areas to navigate these issues However, they did send a reply via email.
It acknowledged that requirements for fingerprints and fire extinguishers are in question however, it said that it doesn’t have the power to exempt them, since these are federal laws.
The department also stated that state licensing professionals are able to direct communities to solutions or resources that have been successful elsewhere, and are in the process of collaborating the communities in order to “help to provide information about licensing, address questions, and solicit feedback.”
Staci Collier is a child care licensure specialist with the state said that “Helping people to understand and meet the technical requirements go far in helping those who are applying for a license.”
Some lawmakers are worried about the limited availability of licensing. Rep. Jennie Armstrong, D-Anchorage, as well as Rep. Julie Coulombe, of Anchorage, both have declared child care to be one of their legislative priority areas. Coulombe serves as the liaison for the Legislature on the governor’s child care task team which Dunleavy announced in April and had their first session on Wednesday..
This past May Armstrong claimed that two lawmakers had a meeting together with Department of Health Commissioner Heidi Hedberg to discuss barriers to licensure, particularly for remote regions, and to insist on for the agency to “think in a creative way” in terms of solutions.
“We must solve this,” Armstrong said then. “One of the biggest problems is that all departments are spread out across the entire department. Therefore, children’s care is in a the middle of a crisis, and so are the other 10 issues the department is tackling.”
“This is now becoming a major public health emergency,” she said, noting the importance of the first 2,000 hours of development in the brain as an essential moment for early educational opportunities.
“Everything starts with child-care and that’s the reason this one unimportant thing — licencing feels so vital,” she said.
Not only an economic issue
The state pays approximately 165 millions in direct costs to employers and taxes each year because there’s not enough childcare in many regions, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. However, in Kotzebue there are other problems. Tracey Shaeffer said lack of childcare also restricts how long children are allowed to stay in the community. This is why she’s trying so to create the center.
“It’s our wish that it allows certain foster families here to have kids younger,” she said. “And it’s a great wish — for these children to remain in the area closer to their parents.”
It took her seven months to open the center to complete the process, but a state inspector went to her daughter’s house this week. If everything goes as planned it’ll be the first licensed childcare center to start operations in Kotzebue for more than 10 years.
This article was originally published in Alaska Beacon and is republished here with permission.
