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 112th 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.
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!
