[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 23 (Monday, March 9, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S1658]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               LITTLE HEARTS DAY CARE: A COMMUNITY EFFORT

   Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, I rise today to call your 
attention to the Little Hearts Day Care in Estelline, South Dakota, and 
to the community leaders who rose to new heights to create a day care 
center amid a child care shortage.
  Late last year, Estelline experienced a devastating child care 
shortage when two of the local child care providers closed their doors 
to pursue other endeavors. While this rural community wishes the best 
for these providers, Estelline was left in a state of crisis: all of 
the remaining day care services were filled to capacity, and working 
parents had no place to bring their children.
  In this time of alarm, community leaders, the Estelline Area 
Development Corporation, and the city worked together to locate a 
building to operate a non-profit day care center. Soon after, Donna 
Thompson, Glenda Thompson, and Kim Ward incorporated the Little Hearts 
Day Care. If it were not for the massive volunteer effort to renovate 
the vacant building, the Little Hearts Day Care would be little more 
than a glimmering idea of hope. Thousands of dollars of materials and 
hundreds of hours of labor were donated to renovate the building and to 
make the day care center safe for children. Volunteers cleaned, 
painted, and some even provided professional services such as plumbing 
and carpentry. I applaud the community of Estelline for their hard work 
in filling this void in child care.
  Our nation's children are its greatest asset and our most precious 
treasure. It is vital that we help them get the right start, nurture 
their development and provide for their well-being. Having held 
numerous child care meetings with providers, parents, and concerned 
officials all around our state, I am more convinced than ever that 
providing high quality, affordable child care is one of the most 
important issues South Dakota and our nation faces. In our state, we 
have one of the highest ratios of working moms in the country, coupled 
with one of the lowest per capita income levels. As a consequence, too 
many of our child care providers are being asked to provide 
professional, loving care with very marginal compensation.
  While I do not believe in ``federalizing'' child care, I do think our 
nation needs a federal-state-local partnership designed to provide 
local child care providers and parents with better options. This 
cooperative effort should avoid the creation of new bureaucracies and 
inflexible mandatory rules, while providing greater financial resources 
for parents and the entire range of child care providers. Training, 
standards improvement, nutrition assistance and the promotion of 
employer incentives for child care strategies should also be part of 
our effort.
  I am pleased that child care issues are receiving the attention of 
Congress and the Administration. I am proud to have cosponsored the 
Creating Improved Delivery of Child Care: Affordable, Reliable and 
Educational (CIDCARE) bill. This measure will help working families 
afford child care and will provide parents incentives to choose higher 
quality care. I am pleased that the President's proposal will establish 
a Child Care Provider Scholarship Fund. This measure will enable states 
to provide scholarship funds to students working toward a degree in 
child care.
  Quality child care is the first step in ensuring that the children of 
working parents grow up in a healthy environment, and I am pleased that 
the community of Estelline answered the call for action.
  Mr. President, as I yield the floor, I hope other communities 
throughout the nation will look to the Little Hearts Day Care and the 
city of Estelline, and benefit from this prime example of civic 
cooperation.

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