Childcare Ranking

Group gives Indiana mixed reviews on child care

March 1, 2007 04:30 PM

Tom Walker/Eyewitness News

Washington, DC - Child care is a daily fact of life for millions of working Americans. But who's keeping an eye on the caregivers? For the first time, a national group surveyed states, and it says what it found is disturbing. Indiana got a mixed verdict.

The statistics say 12 million children under 5 are in the care of someone other than their parents each week. Child care advocates say there's a common assumption.

"Most parents believe that programs are regulated, that they're visited frequently," said Marsha Thompson, Indiana Child Care networker.

Thompson runs a child care referral network in Indianapolis. She helped unveil a report that says parents' assumptions may well be wrong.

While a few kids do get the highest quality care, it says much of the child care in the US remains unregulated, uninspected and most of the workforce is untrained, too often with no criminal history checks.

The report faults Indiana for not licensing all day care where a fee is involved, for requiring inspections only once a year and for not requiring operators to have college degrees.

The report ranked Indiana 18th, but it said all states could learn from the Defense Department which ranked at the top, partly for the extensive background checks it requires of the workers at its daycare facilities. The department requires daycare workers to go through an FBI fingerprint check, a state criminal history record check and a local agency check as well.

Child care advocates hope this report will help focus attention on making the system better. "On getting providers licensed, helping them meet the standards and get the training," said Thompson.

Activists are lobbying on Capitol Hill, saying they don't want Washington to dictate standards for day care.. but they do want states to set higher standards, then be forced by the federal government to live by them.

The report graded Indiana higher than many states, partly due to health and safety training required of day care center staff.

Comment: Problem one: Few people including public officials believe the job of caring for children is important or real work. Secondly, few parents can afford good childcare. Third, few people want or "can" do the job, and lastly, employers of people who do the job don't want to pay them. Pulling childcare from the dustbin will take more than a few bills in congress. It will take a complete overhaul. It begins not with getting money from taxpayers; it begins with understanding the child and what he needs and rebuilding early childhood places to serve the child first and the investors last.