House legislators push for mandatory child care center video surveillance

Rep. Nolan West (R-Blaine) shares a very personal and very sad connection with some testifiers he brought to the State Capitol Thursday.

Janice DeGonda shared the story of her 5-month-old daughter who suffered physical abuse at a Blaine child care center in July 2024.

West’s daughter was also abused at the center.

DeGonda and her husband thought video cameras at the center would provide reassurance that the children would be secure and safe. “Having cameras was a big factor for us,” she said.

But those cameras did nothing to prevent the bruises, abrasions and scratches her daughter came home with. And the video proved to be less helpful than DeGonda thought it would be in proving the abuse in court.

Because the center deletes video footage after one week, investigators saw evidence of some abuse but not as much as was alleged by DeGonda and the more than a dozen families.

“This is highly unacceptable,” she said. “There would be more charges, more families with questions answered and more families getting justice for their children.”

West sponsors HF1915 that would require licensed child care centers to install and maintain video security cameras to monitor and record the infants and toddlers in the center by Jan. 1, 2026.

The House Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Committee approved the bill, as amended, and sent it to the House Children and Families Finance and Policy Committee.

Centers would have to retain the footage for 60 days. It would be longer if the center has been notified by law enforcement that footage is needed as part of an investigation of a suspected crime committed against a child at the center.

A parent or legal guardian could review, but not obtain a copy of, a video security camera recording if they provide documentation of visible marks on a child, such as bruises or swelling that has persisted for more than 24 hours, or documentation from a physician of a child’s physical injury.

Centers would also have to ensure the recordings are only accessible to people whose work assignments reasonably require access.

No one testified against the bill, but the Minnesota Child Care Association submitted a letter stating the bill is “a new and very expensive licensing regulation that offers only passive and after-the-fact verification, not prevention, of child abuse.”

The letter also states the bill would not protect “a huge portion” of children.

“Why is family child care left out of this bill? In a family child care program there is often a single adult alone with children, whereas in a center there are many adults present. It seems that it would be equally if not more important to have video surveillance in family child care due to this fact alone.”

An ongoing annual appropriation of $250,000 would be provided to the Department of Children, Youth, and Families to assist licensed child care centers with equipment and training costs needed to comply with bill requirements.