The proposed bill aims to establish a child care workforce recruitment and retention program in North Dakota to address workforce shortages in early childhood services. The program will provide monthly incentive payments to licensed early childhood services providers based on the number of children they are licensed to care for. Specifically, providers will receive $50 for each infant, $30 for each toddler, and $15 for each school-aged child. To qualify for these payments, providers must submit quarterly reports on their average enrollment and must not have received a corrective action order in the previous three months.

Additionally, the bill mandates that each provider receiving incentive payments must submit an annual report detailing how the funds were utilized to improve salaries and benefits for child care workers. The department has the authority to suspend payments if a provider's average enrollment decreases by 25% or more from the previous reporting period. This initiative is designed to enhance the stability and quality of child care services in the state by incentivizing providers to maintain and improve their workforce.