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Monday, July 10, 2006

Home Day-Care Reform Sought

By Leann Holt
Copyright © 2006 Albuquerque Journal; Journal Staff Writer
    Every day in New Mexico, one-third of children under the age of 6 spend most of their day in someone else's home, according to an Annie E. Casey Foundation study.
    Many working parents take their children to home day cares when child-care centers can't accommodate irregular work hours or infants.

State of N.M. Child Care

[+] Click for photos from week Eddie Moore/Journal

Eva Ortega-Rivera plays with 3-year-old Ilaiana Jaurequi outside her home-based day care in Las Vegas, N.M. Ortega-Rivera says she has learned a lot through being licensed by the state but acknowledges that the regulations and paperwork are stressful. State Helps Home Day Cares Get Better more Photos from this week's ABQjournal.com Journal Photos

    Or when they can't afford center care, which is typically $30 to $40 a week more than home care.
    Or because they simply feel more comfortable with their children in a home environment.
    But the 8,117 registered child-care homes where New Mexico's children spend their days are largely unregulated, leaving state officials and national child advocates to wonder about the quality of care the children are getting.
    The Casey foundation, a national child-advocacy group, recently released a report calling for more training and supervision of home-care providers. The foundation points to new brain research that illustrates how early-care practices lay the groundwork for children's future academic and social successes or failures.
    One new report recommends that all children be in a structured pre-K setting, starting at age 3.
    "We know how important it is to get good developmental care at young ages, but we're not sure they're getting it in those settings," said Ruth Mayden, of the foundation.
    "Many providers don't see themselves as child-development experts or teachers. They see themselves as doing someone a favor by looking after their children."
    The Children, Youth and Families Department, which oversees child care in New Mexico, has a "carrot and stick" approach to home-care regulation, said Dorian Dodson, secretary of CYFD. The department uses financial incentives to encourage home providers to adhere to high quality standards.
    If the volunteer strategy fails to bring more homes under state standards, the department may consider mandated regulation, she said.
   
N.M. breakdown
    Home providers fall under two levels of regulation: licensed homes and registered homes.
    Licensed homes have the highest level of oversight and quality requirements and receive the highest level of reimbursement for low-income children whose care is subsidized by the state. Licensed providers are also eligible for financial and technical assistance from the state.
    Only 370 home providers in New Mexico are licensed.
    The more than 8,000 registered homes have minimal health and safety requirements and receive less reimbursement for low-income children than licensed providers.
    Registered providers receive food subsidies in exchange for basic safety monitoring and nutritional counseling four times a year. CYFD workers use that foot-in-the-door to encourage providers to increase the quality of their programs, Dodson said.
    Besides the registered and licensed home day-care providers in New Mexico, there are untold numbers of others that operate without CYFD's knowledge.
    These informal arrangements often involve grandparents or family friends who sometimes care for children without being paid.
    The homes that fly under CYFD's radar might be some of the most dangerous.
    "I hear so many horror stories about babies being left in cribs in back rooms," said Geraldine Montaño, a licensed provider. "When you're not registered, you're doing whatever you want."
    Carol Rapisardi, director of the Covenant Schools child-care centers, said she has had two children come to her far Northeast Heights center in the past three years who were sexually abused by relatives of home-care providers.
    One incident occurred in a registered home; the other was unregistered.
    Families often can't afford center care for their children, Rapisardi said, which is about $500 a month per child. She knows of children who are sent to rundown homes where they play in backyards full of holes and beer bottles.
    "It's unfortunate that some people have to settle for unqualified adults to watch their children while they work," Rapisardi said.
   
Stringent requirements
    The low number of home providers who are licensed may be due to CYFD's stringent requirements in the areas of training, curriculum, play areas and materials, which many home providers say are difficult to incorporate into a home setting.
    Mountains of paperwork, micromanagement by CYFD and exhaustive inspections are not worth the extra income, they say.
    Providers receive between $20 and $100 more per subsidized child per month after they become licensed.
    Lisa Chavez, who has a degree in early-childhood education, said she recently relinquished her day-care license because of wrenching state inspections.
    "No matter what we do, we can't please them," she said.
    Chavez will continue to operate as a registered home-care provider.
    Licensed providers talk about being "written up" by state inspectors because of a spoon in the sink or a stain on the carpet or lint behind the dryer. Licensing requirements demand large play spaces and lots of materials that homes can't always accommodate, they say.
    "The state is pushing us to shut down because they are requiring us to become like child-care centers," Montaño said. "If parents wanted that, they would have gone there."
    Kathi Carroll, director of early-childhood training programs for the state, said the problem isn't with the requirements but with providers who are not willing to improve their programs.
    "It's not nit-picking," Carroll said of the state's requirements. "You really have to improve the programs. That takes time and effort."
    Dodson said the department is in the process of looking at what child-care licensing regulations can be relaxed.
    "We would like to expand our ability to regulate child care as much as possible within reasonable bounds," Dodson said. "If a grandmother is caring for a grandchild, we don't want to invade into the family structure, but we would like to ensure health and safety for all children."
   
State requirements
    Some requirements to be state licensed:
   

Fingerprint clearance for every adult in the home
   

Zoning approval
   

State fire marshal approval
   

Environmental health authority approval
   

A description of activities and schedules
   

Mission and philosophy statement
   

Parent handbook
   

45 hours of initial early childhood training, plus 12 hours a year after three years
   

Designated learning centers using shelves and furniture
   

Outdoor play equipment with a 4-foot high fence
   

No television, video or videogames for more than one hour a day