A Likely Story

I was powerless this morning after the storm, so I couldn't post this. But here it is now. Hope you enjoy it.

One of the major sources of discontent in childcare is brought up by the Savannah Morning News. Savannah is not different from any city or region in America. Right here in the Evansville Area, this same problem exists.

Family day care is the greatest source of childcare outside the home. More than fifty percent of children who are in childcare are in childcare in family homes, and that's a good thing especially for very young children - infants through the toddler years.

I know about family childcare. I provided it in my own home for eight years back before a lot of you were born. I was also a family day care home monitor for the Federal Government's food program for over ten years. I believe in family childcare because infants and toddlers need to be in a home because it is the home that teaches values we must live.

I monitored forty family homes across the southern counties in Indiana, and every licensed day care provider I knew said the same thing this article says: It is hard to get a family license, hart to maintain it, and at the same time there are too many really poor, unlicensed, unmonitored family childcares that continue to run and even under the worst circumstances go ignored by the state officials until somebody gets hurt.

[My comments are bracketed.]

Hunting for Good Day Care

By Dana Clark Felty

Finding quality day care would be easier if Pat Edwards could just post a sign announcing, "Family Child Care Done Right" in the yards of good providers. But it's not that easy, Edwards and other day-care advocates say. Many of Chatham County's low- to moderate-income families end up turning to cheaper, unlicensed day-care programs.

[Unlicensed childcare will often promise a "serve as you come" deal that allows nearly anything and will take just about any kind of abuse from parents and then dish it back to the kids.]

They're up to 65 percent cheaper than licensed programs, and they're easy to find.

[Look for a little outdoor playground with no fence and you will probably find a childcare.]

"If you ride through any community, you'll probably see someone dropping kids off at a home. And the chances are good that home doesn't have a child-care license," said Edwards, a Lutheran Services of Georgia manager. "Those mostly see day care as a baby-sitting service."

[Babysitting is a nighttime service that is a once in a while thing. Day care is an every day thing that goes on outside a child's regular family home.]

That view might have been acceptable a generation ago, but not anymore.

Many studies within the last decade have shown that human brain development is most active within the first five years of life.

Nationally, the proportion of children ages 3 to 5 enrolled in pre-primary education rose from 42 percent in 1990 to 61 percent in 2000, an increase of 19 percentage points, according to the federal study America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being 2003.

Georgia had the largest increase - from 41 percent in 1990 to 67 percent in 2000.

Still, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, children from poor families are less likely to participate in preschool education.

[And sadly, poor families are so consumed by putting a meal on the table, clothing children, and doing something as right as they can on a limited budget, education across the board is neglected; there simply isn't time.]

Edwards oversees the Satellite Child Care Quality Improvement Program, a local effort by the Lutheran Services to help those struggling to find jobs become licensed, quality child care providers. Her program also helps parents find good care.

Since the program's beginnings in 1999, Edwards has helped 75 small day care providers exceed state requirements to receive higher levels of training and equipment.

All the while, she and four full-time staff keep tabs on those providers, dropping by the home facilities at least three times a quarter.

"We make sure they're doing it the right way and doing it safely," she said.

[Which is more than the state is able to do. Apparently it is a matter of choice to license or not to license in some states. Even with the rules on the books, little if anything is done to stop day cares with too many kids, crowded dirty conditions, and horrible nightmare care. The State just turns its head because there isn't time in the day.

That's because there is no agency to deal with the mess. Overworked caseworkers from the Welfare Department govern day care homes. When a caseworker has as many as 600 cases, the family day care homes on her list of to dos are the last 25 lines of her list.

Most people don't want to be inspected anyway, to take classes or to live up to a lot of standards that might cost money. They simply want to an easy income so they "take a few kids." And reasonably speaking, the Welfare Deaprtment couldn't care less.

But at the same time, registered, licensed, skilled providers who are diligent about doing the job right are often treated like criminals by the same people who turn a blind eye on the awful providers two houses down. Licensed providers are held up for ridicule and rule evasion which often becomes an expensive battle and often amounts to harassment. I can't tell you how many women I know who have spectacular little learning centers at home who are crucified for a slow sink, or a gap in the fence, or one child over their limit, when the gal down the street couldn't pass an inspection to save her life.]

[in Savannah] Lutheran Services standards exceed those of the state's day care licensing agency, Bright from the Start: Department of Early Care and Learning. State guidelines only require an inspection about once every five years for small caregivers.

The agency regulates 574 licensed providers in Chatham County. Among them, 75 percent are licensed to care for no more than six children for pay at a time.

The average day-care program costs between $75-$100 a week, depending on the age and special needs of the child, Edwards and other providers say.

But for households earning just up to two times the poverty level, that's about the same as a house payment.

It's no wonder, Edwards said, that many turn to cheaper day care programs.

"If you're making minimum wage and have six kids and get no subsidy to pay for your child care, it could take your entire paycheck," Edwards said. "These are not bad parents. You just take the day care you can pay for, not the day care you'd like to have."

Unlicensed home day care facilities charge anywhere between $35-$50 a week per child, Edwards said. But many don't meet even the minimum state standards.

[Check links for standards.]

Some advocates suggest government loopholes encourage poor quality day care.
The Child and Parent Services (CAPS) reimburse low-income families for child care expenses based on their income. Families who qualify are responsible for choosing their child care provider, which can be a "an informal provider" like a relative, neighbor, or friend.

"One of the disturbing policies to me is that unlicensed home day care centers can receive state subsidies through the CAPS program," said Julie Gerbsch, former president and CEO of Parent & Child Development Services.

"The state has no access to unlicensed homes and making sure the quality of care is being provided yet state dollars are being given to that day care provider."

[Why not? If State money is dispersed, then a home or provider should pass certain tests for quality; we are talking about a child's day, month, and sometimes the first five years of his life, not boarding a dog for a weekend.]

[How come nearly any family provider can list ten to fifteen unlicensed day cares in her neighborhood and the State hasn't a clue?]

Edwards said the answer for reducing unlicensed day care programs is to provide more parents with day care subsidies.

[That or closing them down with a summons and a fine.]

But the need outweighs the availability.

The Chatham County Department of Family and Children's Services spent $5.7 million in the 2004-2005 fiscal year on subsidies for 3,860 children.

However, the latest U.S. Census figures show over 6,000 Chatham County households earning up to two times the poverty level with children under 5.

In May, 474 families were on a DFCS waiting list for subsidized child care, said Charlotte Rehmert. who added that number was down from 947 in January.

"I think this is a huge underground issue in our community and it needs to be brought to light," Gerbsch said.

"We need to do more than we're doing for our children."