Affordable, Quality Child Care Campaign

Child Care Aware® of America’s Affordable, Quality Child Care Campaign

We’re building a nationwide movement, a campaign to expand access to affordable, quality child care.  Every week, nearly 11 million children are in some type of child care setting – on average for about 35 hours.  Our studies show that the quality of child care varies greatly, not just between states but also within states – among different types of child care settings.  Children should be safe while their parents work.  Child care should offer an environment that promotes the healthy development of children.  Policymakers at the state and federal levels call for all children to start school ready to learn. They call for reducing the achievement gap among low income and other children as well as between children of different races. They call for strategies to better meet the challenges faced by children with special needs.  Most also call for increasing the high school graduation rate.

All of these goals have merit.  But, to reach them, we simply can’t ignore a child’s earliest years and the settings young children are in.  There is no magic wand to reduce the achievement gap and increase high school graduation rates.  However, we can strengthen child care settings to ensure that more children start school ready to succeed.

The cost of child care is unaffordable for most families.  If we are going to strengthen the quality of care, we need to design a better system to finance child care in this country.

Below are the top 10 reasons to join our movement.  Any one of them alone is enough to unite. But, together, they paint a picture policymakers can no longer ignore.  Join us and together we can make a difference!

Top 10 List

1)      The annual cost of center-based infant care exceeds the cost of college in 36 states.

2)      Eight states license or regulate child care without first conducting an on-site inspection.

3)      Only 13 states require comprehensive background checks on staff hired to work in a child care center.  A comprehensive background check includes a fingerprint check against state and federal records, a check of the child abuse registry and a check of the sex offender registry.

4)      Only 11 states require a comprehensive background check on family child care home providers before granting a license.

5)      Only 33 states meet all 10 health and safety standards in child care centers recommended by pediatric experts. Only 15 states meet them for family child care homes.

6)      Fewer than half the states require child care providers to have training in early childhood development.  In fact, training requirements vary greatly among the states and most states have weak minimum training and education requirements for child care providers.

7)      Many states do not require child care providers to have a written emergency plan – either to evacuate when necessary or shelter-in-place (or “lock-down”) in emergencies.

8)      Many states do not conduct routine inspections of child care programs. In fact, California inspects child care centers only once every 5 years. Montana and Iowa inspect family child care homes only once every 5 years; Pennsylvania once every 6 years.  Michigan only inspects family child care homes once every 10 years!

9)      Only one out of every six children eligible for a child care subsidy receives assistance. And, nearly one-fifth of those children (about 322,000) are in unlicensed care (which has no training required and no minimum health and safety protections for children).

10)   Eight states do not license small family child care homes (i.e, providers do not need a license until more than six children are cared for in the home).  In South Dakota, 12 children can be cared for in a home before a license is required with the 13^th child.

It’s time for Members of Congress and State lawmakers to hear your voice. Join with us!  If you  have not yet signed up for Child Care Aware® Parent Network to receive our newsletters and connect with others in your state who want to make a difference, sign up today!

Safe Child Care: Violence Prevention

Nearly 11 million children under age 5 are in some type of child care setting every week – on average for 35 hours.  The recent tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, is a reminder that we need to review our nation’s child care policies and practices to ensure that children are safe in child care settings.

• Emergency Plans:  Does your child care provider have an emergency plan, which includes some type of shelter-in-place or “lock-down” procedure in case a violent or unauthorized intruder tries to gain entry?  Currently, only 15 states require such plans for child care centers.  For family child care homes, does your provider keep outside doors locked when caring for children?

• Access to Guns:  Are guns allowed in your child care program? If so, are they required to be stored unloaded and locked away from children with ammunition stored separately?  Currently, 26 states prohibit guns in child care centers. Another 13 states require controlled access (i.e., guns must be stored in a locked cabinet or stored unloaded with ammunition in a different location), and 12 states have no regulation pertaining to firearms in child care centers.  With regard to family child care homes, 4 states prohibit guns, 41 states have controlled access, and 6 states have no regulation pertaining to guns in such homes.

The Newtown, Connecticut tragedy is also a reminder that the early years in a child’s life are critical to healthy development (including a child’s social and emotional development).  One key component to community safety is the availability and provision of mental health services, even in the youngest years. The early identification of those who could benefit from early intervention services (particularly mental health services) could make a difference in their future overall development, with life-long consequences. There is still much we do not know about events and conditions that might have spurred the violence in Newtown, but what we do know is that child care settings should be safe and that early intervention in children’s lives, especially those with challenges, can make a difference.

• Early childhood developmental screening:  Does your state require early screening of children before entry into elementary school to see if they could benefit from early intervention?  (For example, is their vision ok? Is their hearing ok? Is their speech developing appropriately? Are there any indications of a developmental delay or behaviors that would indicate the need for mental health services)?

• Training for Child Care Providers:  Does your state require that child care providers have education or training in early childhood development?  Or, training in meeting the needs of children after a traumatic event?

• Background Checks for Child Care Providers: Does your state require a comprehensive background check for staff in child care centers and those who want to operate a child care program in their home?  A comprehensive check includes a fingerprint check against state and federal records, a check of the child abuse registry and a check of the sex offender registry.  Only 9 states currently require a comprehensive check for both employment in centers and family child care home licensing.  Screening out those with a violent history helps ensure that children are safe in child care.

The Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), which sets the framework for state child care laws, does not require that any of these issues be addressed.  As a result, state laws to protect children while they are in child care vary greatly.

Last month,  President Obama asked Vice President Biden to lead an Administration initiative to reduce gun violence in our communities. The Vice President asked for recommendations from agencies throughout the Administration, the advocacy and research community, and others.  Likely there will be some discussion about the safety of children in schools.  Any initiative to promote the safety of children should include measures to ensure that children in child care are safe.  Child care settings should not exist in a separate silo.

To read Child Care Aware® of America’s recommendations to the Vice President, click here.  In related news, on Friday, House Democrats formed a legislative task force to make recommendations for Congress to consider.  As we learn more, we will let you know.

If you have policy ideas to promote children’s safety and healthy development in child care settings, please share them with us!  Email Grace.Reef@usa.childcareaware.org and we will incorporate them into our recommendations for Congress.

Progress Toward Quality Child Care

The Year in Review

Child Care Aware®of America’s quality child care campaign kicks off another year today on the journey for affordable, safe, quality child care for all children.  How are we doing? What markers have we achieved to date?

The Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), the federal law that allocates funds to states to help families afford child care and to assist states in improving the quality of child care, marked another year without reauthorization (the enactment of legislation that reviews current law and makes improvements where necessary).  It’s been 16 years since the last reauthorization. That’s too long. Hopefully, 2013 will ring the reauthorization bell.  Noteworthy for sure:  The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Subcommittee on Children and Families held three child care hearings in the 112^th Congress:

• (July 2012) CCDBG Reauthorization: Helping to Meet the Child Care Needs of American Families. You can watch the webcast and read the testimony here.
• (September 2011) Examining Quality and Safety in Child Care: Giving Working Families Security, Confidence and Peace of Mind. You can watch the webcast and read the testimony here.
• (June 2011) Getting the Most Bang for the Buck: Quality Early Education and Care. You can watch the webcast and read the testimony here.

Hearings lay the groundwork for reauthorization.  Thank you Senate HELP Committee Senators and staff for the work that you do.  Thank you also to the many parents, advocates, child care providers, and early childhood experts for your dedication and commitment to quality child care that helped make Senate hearings possible in our nation’s capital.

Short of national legislation, much progress has been made throughout the states.  Child Care Aware® of America has released six child care licensing studies since 2007.  The “We Can Do Better” series, which scores and ranks states based on their state child care center laws and regulations, was first released in March of 2007 and updated in 2009 and 2011. The report will be updated again in April of 2013. The “Leaving Children to Chance” series, which scores and ranks states based on their state small family child care home laws and regulations, was first released in March of 2008 and updated in 2010 and 2012. In reviewing our most recent reports with the initial reports when we first began on this journey, it is clear that states are making strides to improve the quality of child care.

• Background Checks:  Screening out those who have a violent history of offenses (such as assault and battery, sex offenses, homicide, etc.) is key to promoting the safety of children in child care.  When we began our studies, only a handful of states required a comprehensive background check: a check of federal and state records using fingerprints, a check of the state child abuse registry and a check of the sex offender registry. Today, 13 states require a comprehensive background check for those working in child care centers (AK, CO, HI, ID, IL, MS, NH, NJ, NC, SC, SD, TN and WA).  In addition, 11 states require a comprehensive background check for small family child care home providers (AK, CO, FL, HI, IL, NH, NC, SC, TN, WA and WV).

• Health & Safety Requirements: When we began looking at state health and safety requirements for child care, only 8 states met each of 10 health and safety requirements recommended by pediatric experts. Today, 33 states met all 10 health and safety standards recommended by pediatric experts for child care centers.  Also notable for child care centers, an additional 10 states met 9 of 10 health and safety standards. Far fewer, but still progress when measured against our first report, 15 states met all 10 health and safety standards recommended by pediatric experts for small family child care homes. Also notable for small family child care homes, 34 states met 9 of 10 health standards and 32 states met 9 of 10 safety standards.

• Child Development: When we began looking at state required activities compared to developmental domains (i.e., social, emotional, physical, language/literacy, cognitive and cultural domains), only 13 states required activities in child care centers within each of the domains; 10 states had no requirements for activities in child care centers related to developmental domains. Today, 22 states require activities in child care centers within all 6 developmental domains; 3 states have no required activities in child care centers related to developmental domains (AL, CA, ID).  For small family child care homes, today 8 states require activities in all developmental domains (AZ, DE, GA, KS, MI, TN, WA and WV).

• Inspections: When we began looking at state monitoring or oversight practices, only a handful of states conducted regular inspections and few posted inspection results on the internet for easy parent access. Today, 5 states conduct inspections of child care centers less than once per year (AL, CA, ID, MN, and VT).  Progress has been made but still too many states – 24 – conduct inspections of small family child care homes less than once per year. More than half the states post inspection reports on the internet so that parents can make informed decisions when selecting child care.

To review a table of progress made against key benchmarks on the roadmap for quality child care, click here.

Progress has been made. Numerous states have made important improvements to ensure that children are safe and in child care settings that promote their healthy development. However, much work remains at the national level to enact CCDBG reauthorization and within the states.

Thank you state child care administrators, parents, advocates, child care providers, child care experts and all those who work every day to ensure that progress toward quality child care is being made. We’re on the road, we’ve had some success.

With the start of 2013, our campaign continues. Keep up the good work. Progress can’t be made without you – and, together we can make a difference.  Nearly 11 million children in child care are depending upon you. Make 2013 a banner year!