Nebraska child care advocates on defense as providers struggle and legislative fixes languish - Flatwater Free Press

Nebraska child care advocates on defense as providers struggle and legislative fixes languish - Flatwater Free Press

As strong winds and heavy snow battered Lincoln, Shannon Hampson’s house was unusually quiet – absent the dozen kids who fill her in-home child care with laughter, cries and questions. Between snow and sicknesses that week, Hampson said she’d be out $540. She’d have to rebudget: maybe she’d buy beans instead of chicken breasts, skip a field trip. If the kids’ families paid full tuition themselves, absences wouldn’t affect her bottom line. But Ha…