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
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6 comments:
why are you only worried about tv's in childcare settings? If you want to protect the children I think you should go a HUGE step further and find a way to educate parents about this threat at home as well, with these new tv's coming out, they are very tippable (I chose to mount mine on the wall for this reason) but I know many people who use the stand, which is not acceptable. I however do not need the government stepping in and telling me what I see as common sense. But I do see a need for some education across the board. (I am not a ministry). I remember as a child seeing TV ads about tippable TV's and dressers and such.
As a licenced home child care provider I was once asked to care for children of parents of a ministry while they were holding a meeting, while there I noticed a tv on top of a very wobbly kitchen cart. I pointed this out at once to the administrater and it was taken care of. common sence. while these problems need to be taken care of I to agree with momof3 . Education is the answer to all parents. But again what about unlicenced providers who skirt state regs and get by with everything? Why doesn't our state invest money toward getting them licenced or closed?
The issue is not TVs in childcare settings. The issue is PUBLIC TAX DOLLARS funding operations that are not licensed, not regulated and do not meet basic health and safety standards. If our tax dollars no longer funded these child care operations unless they met standards, they would either have to come up to standard or shut down. It's a win-win. More children will be protected from unsafe environments.
Besides, the reasons these unlicensed ministries escape regulation is purely political. Another fabulous reason to get them under control.
you are right about the PUBLIC TAX DOLLARS. But if we don't educate ALL parents you can bet that it will be Public tax dollars funding the medical bills via Medicaid. there are also MANY forms of childcare (grandparents, friends, under 5 children and parents that don't work) I am just saying that I am looking at the big picture not just one corner that will only protect a few children. I just don't think that one area should be in the spotlight, any where this has the potential to happen you have the potential of wasting public tax dollars on a preventable accident.
Carole Stein said..
I agree with the last two comments about public dollars - that is what this post was about. It is almost impossible to protect children for accidents.
But the public dollar issue is a major one. Why would we put public dollars in unsafe and unregulated care when the income eligibility to be able to receive child care assistance is so limited due to 25% of all voucher dollars going to ministries. This is the question we as taxpayers should be asked.
public citizen
I do agree that the ministries do need to come up to where homes and centers are on licesing. I also agree that if they are willing to receive Govt funding then they need to step it up a notch. But I do have to ask: where will it end? You cannot expect Licensed Homes, Centers, and Ministries to all operate under one general set of regulations when they are all so different. As a Licensed Home provider, there is no way my home could be set up like a Center. That is the one thing that makes Homes unique and inviting to some parents: we are a more relaxed atmosphere and make the kids feel like they are home.
Sure we can all use more education, but at what cost? The "local" CCR&R office only has 1 or 2 workshops in my area each quarter and there is not enough time for me to travel to other counties for workshops. I did get my CDA in 2002 and my daycare parents had no clue what it was. Many parents still do not know or do not care. Plus the fact the state cannot decide if you should have it renewed or not. I tried to get an answer and all I got was "you will be taken care of".
There is just so much I can go on and on about. I would like to know how you are choosing which providers to meet and talk to in the future.
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