Request for Comments

Many of you are probably aware that I have taken a strong position on the tragic accident at a child care ministry involving two-year old Vanessa Porter. My op-ed in The Indianapolis Star, “Unregulated often means unsafe for children,” which ran on Nov. 21, and Jeremy Brilliant’s recent report on WTHR in which he interviewed me and exposed the glaring differences between licensed and unlicensed child care centers brought significant local attention to this issue. However, much more needs to be done.

As tragic as Vanessa Porter’s story is, it provides an excellent opportunity for the larger community; that is, the residents of the state of Indiana, to move beyond mere discussion toward taking active steps to protecting children.

Child care is among the most critical decisions a parent must make. The government’s role should be to enact manageable, common-sense health and safety standards that apply to all child care facilities, including unlicensed ministries. Hundreds of thousands of Hoosier children are in child care situations every day. Let’s look at the current numbers:

Working Families Need:

· Number of children under 6 according to Census Data 2004 501,792

· Number of children with parents in the workforce 300,000

· In areas without full day kindergarten, that number would be rise to 400,000


Capacity to Meet the Need:

· Number of licensed child care centers 507 = 62,684 spaces

· Number of licensed child care homes 3,071 = 37,928 spaces

· Number of child care ministries 707 = 42,692 est. spaces


Voucher Program to assist low income families:

There are approximately 50,000 children on the federal child care voucher program

· There are 384 ministries with capacity of 25,000

· 25% of voucher children are in ministries = est. 6,250

Given what we know about the needs of working parents in Indiana and what we’ve learned about the dangers of unlicensed care, I suggest a vigorous debate on the following three items:

* Voluntary Certification for Child Care Ministries. The Voluntary Certification Program offers the tools, information and assistance necessary to attain health and safety standards. Ministries needing financial assistance can apply for funds. The goal for voluntary certification should be completion within four years. The Bureau of Child Care is pleased to announce that the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) has met the scoring requirements, and is considered an officially recognized accrediting body for child care providers in Indiana effective October 1, 2008. Child care providers meeting ACSI standards may be eligible for a 10% above market rate reimbursement for CCDF voucher children.

· Voluntary Certification Participation Requirement for Federal Vouchers. Parents are always free to choose unlicensed or ministry care if that is their wish; however, as taxpayers and citizens, we should hold our government accountable for the type of child care we fund with our tax dollars. In order to receive federal child care vouchers, ministries should be required to verify participation in the Voluntary Certification Program.

· Marketing and Parent Education. Many parents assume ministry child care is safe because it is provided in churches. These parents may not be aware of the differences between licensed and unlicensed care, and that unlicensed facilities do not meet the minimal health and safety regulations. An aggressive marketing campaign aimed at the education of parents, grandparents and businesses as to what constitutes quality care and how to find it should be developed. Such a campaign could include a video component for birth mothers and their families that can be viewed on in-room hospital networks. Healthy Families Indiana (HFI) could be leveraged for support.

These issue are open for comment. The first deadline for comments is December 16th and the second deadline is Jan. 15, 2009.

On December 19, lawmakers will be considering legislation for the coming session. Public input will be crucial in their decision to move forward. It is very important that I receive your comments. On Jan. 16, I will be meeting with a group of providers from across the state, as well as some political opponents of licensing for child care ministries.

Let’s finally take the step and say all child care facilities must meet minimal health and safety standards and that ministries receiving federal funds must meet health and safety standards as outlined in the Voluntary Certification Program.

Please take a few moments to respond about my suggestions above, or to offer your own thoughts. I can be contacted at the following email addresses: steingroup89@gmail.com and steingroup@comcast.net

Thank you so much for your help.

Carole

Child Care Supports Economic Development

According to recent studies, 90% of parents using full-service child care centers say that access to a work-site center positively impacts their ability to be productive at work. Moreover, 96% of back-up child care users say that employer-sponsored back-up care would be important if they were to change jobs.

American businesses lose $3 billion in productivity annually due to breakdowns in child care - when their employees are not able to come to work because school is canceled or caregivers are ill among many other interruptions in meeting her work demands.

As Indiana strives to attract business to the state, we can look at what is being done in other cities. Indiana needs to support and recognize that an increase of available high-quality child care is a critical amenity that will help attract more young qualified workers to the area. Therefore it is a challenge for Indiana to meet this very basic need.

As Morton Marcus and I traveled the state on our "Economic Dimensions of the Child Care Industry" tour, we listened to business and community development leaders tell us that there is a shortage of young skilled workers to meet their workforce needs. We also heard from parents that there isn't adequate high quality child care for their very young children. We heard from Chamber of Commerce leadership in some counties that there is an interest and need for high-quality centers developed in the area where families work. And families won't be the only ones to benefit as companies realize the strategic benefits of sponsoring child care with increased productivity, retention of key employees, and improved recruitment of top candidates.

Indiana needs to recognize child care as an integral component of economic development.

Carole Stein

Where are the Children - Are they Safe?

The Story of Vanessa Porter - a Casualty

Two year-old Vanessa Porter was known for her bright eyes and sweet smile, two things that will never again be the same because while she was in the care of an unlicensed child care ministry, her face was crushed by a 40 pound television.

After the staff at St. Mary’s Playhouse Daycare in Greensburg pulled that television off the injured child, they phoned her mother instead of calling 911. When Vanessa was later examined at Riley Hospital for Children after being airlifted there, it was discovered that her injuries included a broken nose, broken cheek bones, a broken jaw and eye sockets that had been crushed.

Tragic stories like this get repeated all too often, because Indiana fails to regulate health and safety at taxpayer-funded, unlicensed child-care ministries such as St. Mary’s in the same way that it regulates licensed facilities. In fact, Indiana Code §12 17.2 6 provides an exemption to child care ministries from licensing.

The only thing state law requires of these ministries is that they “provide notice” to the parents of each child who attends daycare at their facilities stating that the ministry does not have the same level of fire safety protection as a licensed child care center. That’s it.

Typically, buildings used for ministry daycare are old and were not designed, nor are they inspected, with preschoolers in mind. Often these buildings lack proper safety exits and fire escapes, making fire the number one safety issue for their young inhabitants. In addition, old buildings often have deteriorating lead paint that children can ingest by breathing the lead dust or by eating paint chips. Lead poisoning, which can cause delayed development, stunted growth, hearing loss and nervous system damage, can have long-range and serious implications for a child’s ability to learn and live a normal life.

Another very troublesome safety issue with unlicensed daycare is the unspecified ratio of caregivers to children and the lack of education requirements for caregivers. Often in these situations there are too many children and too few properly trained caregivers, another prescription for disaster.

As taxpayers, you and I are paying for preschoolers to attend these substandard, unlicensed facilities. Twenty percent of federal child care voucher funds that come to Indiana are distributed to unlicensed child care ministries. An estimated 25 percent of the 50,000 children on the federal child care voucher program in Indiana attend these ministries.

As a community of caring citizens and as taxpayers, we need to raise our voice to reform the way our state regulates and licenses child care facilities. Indiana is one of only 10 states that supports child care without regulating health and safety.

All of our children deserve to be protected. Let’s finally take the step and demand that government funds flow only into licensed child care facilities. Parents are always free to choose unlicensed or ministry care if that is their wish. But we should hold our government accountable for the type of child care we fund with our tax dollars. If we had taken this step months ago, Vanessa Porter, and her family, would probably still be smiling.

Vision for Child Care

Dear Colleagues,

Please read and review and comment on components. What can we do in Indiana to help move this important Vision forward. Indiana was one of the first states to receive the original Act for Better Child Care funds - Child Care Development Block Grant. And, now we have a chance to jump in and speak up.

http://www.naccrra.org/policy/docs/ChildCareReauthorizationVision.pdf

Please feel free to comment and I will forward your comments.

Carole Stein

WHAT WOMEN WANT AND NEED

These poll findings are very relevant and critical as we are moving into some unchartered waters for employment and for women raising families. Please read and connect when possible.

What Women Want Poll Findings: Women Are Worried About the Future and Believe Government Must Act According to a recent poll by the National Women's Law Center, women feel the impact of economic insecurity and rising food, energy, education, and health care costs more deeply than men – and see government as a key to the solution. Women want: A better health care system An end to the wage gap Affordable birth control, comprehensive sex education, and protection for Roe v. Wade Access to high-quality child care Improved economic security for women and their families A solution to the dropout crisis A fair and independent judiciary For more details on the poll, read NWLC's press release, the fact sheet, or the complete Interested Parties memo on the poll results. A Platform for Progress The National Women's Law Center also released A Platform for Progress – an agenda to address the unmet needs of women and their families in the areas of education, employment, economic security, health, and legal rights. What's Your Take? What's your take on the issues addressed by this poll? Tell us what you think. Media Coverage The polling data has been featured in: Huffington Post Politico Womenstake.org

EDUCATION - an election issue

The Long Thompson approach to education reform:

Jill Long Thomson, a former college professor brings a unique commitment to improving the state's education system. In order to grow Indiana's economy and keep businesses here, I feel it is crucial that Indiana reforms its education policy to better equip the workforce for the future.
I have encouraged Jill Long Thompson to establish a priority of early childhood education. That is where it starts.

Jill Long Thompson has a plan but I am suggesting that another priority be established within her framework and it recognizing the value of high quality early childhood to allow women to enter the workforce and support their young families.

• Early Childhood Education and Care: The child care needs of American women and their families have increased dramatically as women with children have entered the paid workforce in unprecedented numbers. Yet high-quality child care is too often unaffordable or simply not available. Women and their families thus have a tremendous stake in public policies that will help make high-quality child care available and affordable to those who need it. That is why I am working together with the National Women's Law Center to improve the quality, affordability, and accessibility of child care, with a special emphasis on ways to expand public and private financing of the changes needed to achieve these goals.

The Long Thompson administration will do the following:

• Create a public private partnership to offer free books to all Hoosier children from birth through age five: Modeled after Tennessee's partnership with Dolly Paarton's "Imagination Library." Children who enter kindergarten with the skills and love of reading are far more likely to graduate from high school and become productive and successful in the workforce.
• Reduce the high school dropout rate by putting more flexibility into our schools and personalizing education: Jill Long's approach will restructure the high school experience, provide more options and opportunities so that more students, including special education students, graduate with the ability to succeed in future endeavors.
• Improve access to higher education and lifelong learning opportunities by creating a seamless education system that allows easier transfer of credits and courses: Jill believes we need to make college level courses for credit more available to students in their junior and senior years of high school and transferable to any public post-secondary institution in Indiana, at no additional cost to the students or families.
• Expand the 21st Century Scholars Program: Jill will seek to expand the program to embrace a large percentage of lower and middle income families. She will research new ways of accessing college funding mechanisms.
• Create a Higher Education Fund for additional 21st Century Scholarships. She will immediately work to create its own higher education foundation to tap billions of dollars available in philanthropic aid just as other municipalities have done, and use these funds to pay for expanding the Scholars program so more deserving students can attend college.

• Please log on to http://www.collegeloanmarket.com/for new and innovative ways to assist families access lending for college.

There is much to do - and with some ingenuity, we will prevail.

Carole Stein

New Child Care Agenda - National Women's Law Center

October 8, 2008

Dear Friend of Child Care,

Over the past several months, a group of national and state organizations has been working to craft a shared agenda or “blueprint” for the future of child care, and we are now asking national, state, and local organizations to endorse this agenda. This historic collaboration has been a comprehensive process that has engaged a broad group of voices across the country. Most importantly, it has produced a solid framework for guiding the reauthorization of the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) and other opportunities for child care improvements in the new Administration and new Congress that take office next year.

We are pleased to share the product of this historic collaboration -- Developing America’s Potential: an Agenda for Affordable, High-Quality Child Care. The Agenda recognizes that high-quality child care helps children, families and communities prosper. It helps children learn and develop skills they need to succeed in school and in life. It gives parents the support and peace of mind they need to be productive at work. It also helps our nation stay competitive, by producing a stronger workforce now and in the future. But for many families – especially, but not only, low-income families – high-quality child care is unaffordable or unattainable. This Agenda for Affordable, High-Quality Child Care proposes comprehensive reforms to ensure safe, healthy and affordable child care that promotes early learning. It has five key objectives and proposes increased federal funding to meet these objectives:

· Children will be in healthy and safe child care settings.

o States will develop specific minimum health and safety standards for all child care providers caring for children not related to the provider for a fee on a regular basis.

o States will require these providers to have comprehensive background checks that include an FBI fingerprint check, participate in 40 hours of appropriate health and safety pre-service training and 24 hours of annual training.

o States will inspect child care settings at least twice a year, once on an unannounced basis.

· Children will be in child care settings that promote early learning.

o States will develop a Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS). The QRIS will rate providers on the quality of care they offer, beginning at the level of quality needed for providers to become licensed and regulated, and increasing to nationally recognized high standards.

o States will make grants available to help programs achieve and maintain the higher standards of the QRIS, including to assist providers in obtaining training, credentials, and degrees, as well as to increase providers’ compensation commensurate with their education. Programs and providers serving low-income children will receive priority for these grants.

o Grants and loans will be available for facility renovation and construction, with a specific focus on providers in low-income areas.

· High-quality child care for infants and toddlers will be expanded.

o States will administer grants to top-level QRIS providers to provide high-quality, comprehensive child care and development services.

o States will support organizations that operate family child care networks and provide technical assistance to other infant and toddler providers in their communities, including relative caregivers.

o States will support a statewide network of specialists to provide training and consultation on high-quality infant and toddler care.

· More families will have help paying for child care.

o States will double the number of children in low-income families who currently receive child care assistance.

o States will set a one-year, assistance-eligibility period for families.

o States will reimburse providers who serve children receiving assistance at no less than the 75^th percentile of currently valid market rates; and will develop strategies to increase the supply of care for underserved children including, such as children with disabilities and other special needs, children in limited- English-speaking families, and children whose parents work non-standard hours.

o The Dependent Care Tax Credit will be made refundable to help low-income families, the sliding scale for determining the amount of the credit will be expanded to help middle-income families, and the credit will be indexed for inflation to preserve its value to all families.

· A strong infrastructure will provide both research to guide policy development and technical assistance to states to improve the quality of care.

o States will conduct studies on compensation and other characteristics of the child care workforce.

o Technical assistance will be provided to states on conducting valid market-rate surveys and developing QRIS.

o Collaboration will be encouraged across early childhood programs.

The Agenda provides concrete policy proposals to achieve these objectives.

Your support is important to our success.

As many important issues compete for attention in the new Administration and a new Congress, a strong, collective voice will be a key component to our success. To strengthen the call to action on child care, we are asking our partners across the country to show their support for this comprehensive Agenda. (A list of the partners that have already endorsed the Agenda is attached.)

We are hosting a webinar on Monday, October 27^th at 2 pm EST to discuss the content of the Agenda and its relationship to new legislation. Future webinars and conference calls will focus on strategies for moving the Agenda forward in the coming months.

To join the growing list of local, state, and national organizations supporting Developing America’s Potential: an Agenda for Affordable, High-Quality Child Care, please register your support at our website. Your endorsement is an important contribution to making child care a top priority for policymakers.

We are eager to work with you, and your endorsement is the first important step in this shared campaign to make the Agenda a reality for children and families.

If you have any questions, please contact me at hblank@nwlc.org or (202) 319-3036.

Carole Stein, The Stein Group and Helen Blank, NWLC