BROOKINGS — South Dakota needs more child care providers, and SDSU Extension is part of a growing collaboration to meet that need.

A 2024 Committee for Economic Development Child Care in State Economies report said 45% of South Dakota’s young children are in paid child care and that South Dakota has one of the highest female labor forces in the nation. With a high rate of both parents working and a scarcity of child care in rural communities, parents have to travel farther to make it work.

In her role as an SDSU Extension early childhood field specialist, Audrey Rider has long championed the benefits of child care in rural communities. In addition to the economic benefits, Rider said quality child care is a vital part of early childhood education and formation.

“Child care is an important profession that we need to build our future generations. It is not babysitting,” Rider said. “I see it as such a rewarding career with lifelong benefits to communities and families.”

She and fellow SDSU Extension experts recently surveyed three rural communities to assess their child care needs: Beresford, Lead/Deadwood and Webster. Once the survey data has been analyzed, SDSU Extension will work with those three communities to address their unique child care needs.

In Highmore, a dedicated group of volunteers secured a $300,000 grant in March from the Governor’s Office of Economic Development as part of Gov. Kristi Noem’s Investment Plan for Child Care.

To prepare to submit the grant, the committee completed SDSU Extension’s Building Highly Effective Boards and strategic planning programs. The 10-person committee completed approximately 20 hours of training and leveraged that into securing the second, much larger grant. SDSU Extension community vitality field specialists Kara Harders and Kellie Kolb said they provided education and resources, and the community did the rest.

"We did not write their grant for them; we are in the business of equipping leaders and communities to do great things," Kolb said. “It’s about that education piece, because education is lifelong and ongoing.”

Harders and Kolb praised the Highmore committee as extraordinarily dedicated, selfless and eager to learn. Several committee members didn’t need child care themselves, they simply want their town’s families to be happy, healthy and safe.

“They had an incredible group of people,” Harders said. “It was amazing to see how many things were able to be addressed by the people in the room.”

For more information and child care resources, visit the Childcare Needs page or email Rider. For more information on Community Vitality’s training options, visit the program page on the SDSU Extension website or email Harders at kara.harders@sdstate.edu or Kolb at kellie.kolb@sdstate.edu.