We CAN Do Better: 2009 Update. NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulation and Oversight by Child Care Aware® of America

We Can Do Better: 2009 Update NACCRRAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

March 2009

About NACCRRA

NACCRRA, the National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies, is our nation’s leading voice for child care. We work with more than 700 state and local Child Care Resource and Referral agencies nationwide. These agencies help ensure that families in 99 percent of all populated ZIP codes in the United States have access to high-quality, affordable child care. To achieve our mission, we lead projects that increase the quality and availability of child care professionals, undertake research, and advocate child care policies that positively impact the lives of children and families. To learn more about NACCRRA and how you can join us in ensuring access to high-quality child care for all families, visit us at www.naccrra.org. Acknowledgements

NACCRRA deeply appreciates the State Child Care administrators and licensing staff who completed the survey about licensing regulations and offered information and comments. Many NACCRRA staff contributed to this project. Dr. Beverly Schmalzried conducted the initial literature review; drafted the initial benchmarks; helped code, verify and analyze the data; and provided expertise and guidance in the development of the report. Mousumi Sarkar helped collect and analyze the data and assisted with the writing. Dr. Rosemary Kendall wrote the final report. Grace Reef provided policy guidance. Linda K. Smith provided review and general guidance. Ayanna Wiggins edited the report, and Patricia Sadiq completed the report’s layout and graphic design.

NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

Table of Contents Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Child Care Center Oversight and Regulations . . Quality and Safety Are Important . . . . . . . Child Care Oversight and Regulation . . . . . Child Care Oversight . . . . . . . . . . . . Child Care Regulations . . . . . . . . . . . Federal Funding For Child Care - CCDBG . NACCRRA’s State Score Card . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . .

6 7 7 7 8 8 8

Overall Combined Ranking Of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight . . . . 9 Ranking Of State Child Care Center Oversight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Ranking Of State Child Care Center Regulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 NACCRRA’s Scoring System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Rationales and Reality For NACCRRA’s Benchmarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 NACCRRA’s Benchmarks On Oversight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 NACCRRA’s Benchmarks On Regulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Summary and Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Appendix A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight In Individual States . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Appendix B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

List Of Figures And Tables

Table 1.1 Report Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Table 2.1 - Ranking of States’ Combined Scores for Child Care Center Oversight and Regulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Table 2.2 - Middle 32 States’ Combined Scores for Child Care Center Oversight and Regulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Table 2.3 - Child Care Center Combined Scores for Oversight and Regulation - Alphabetical Listing of States . . . . . . . . . . 12 Table 2.4 - All Scores for Individual States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Table 3.1 - Ranking of States’ Scores for Child Care Center Oversight . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Table 3.2 - Middle States for Child Care Center Oversight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Table 3.3 - Child Care Center Oversight - Alphabetical Listing of States . . . . . . . . . 17 Table 4.1 - Ranking of States’ Scores for Child Care Center Regulation . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Table 4.2 - Middle 32 States for Child Care Center Regulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Table 4.3 - Child Care Center Regulation - Alphabetical Listing of States . . . . . . . . . 21 Table 6.1 - Licensed Child Care Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Table 6.2 - Frequency of Monitoring Visits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Table 6.3 - Licensing Staff Caseload . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Table 6.4 - Licensing Staff Qualification Requirement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Table 6.5 - Online Reports of Inspections and Complaints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Table 6.6 - NAEYC Staff-Child Ratio Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

iii

Table 6.7 - States That Meet NAEYC Staff: Child Ratio Requirements for Specific Age Groupings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Table 6.8 – Number of Age Groupings that States Require to Meet NAEYC Requirements for Staff-Child Ratios . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Table 6.9 - NAEYC Group Size Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Table 6.10 - States That Meet NAEYC Group Size Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Table 6.11 - Number of Age Groupings that States Require to Meet NAEYC Requirements for Maximum Group Size . . . . . . . . . . 31 Table 6.12 - Director Qualifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Table 6.13 - Lead Teacher Qualifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Table 6.14 - Pre-service/Orientation Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Table 6.15 - Annual Training Hours Required . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Table 6.16 - Background Check Items Required by States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Table 6.17 - Number of Domains That States Require Child Care Centers to Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Table 6.18 - Domains That States Require Child Care Centers to Address . . . . . . . . . 35 Table 6.19 - Health and Safety Practices Required by States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Table 6.20 - Number of Health and Safety Practices Required by States . . . . . . . . . . 38 Table 6.21 - State Requirements for Parent Involvement, Communication with Parents and/or Parental Access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Table 6.22 - Number of Required Parent Strategies: (Parent Involvement, Communication with Parents and/or Parental Access) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Table 7.1 – Report Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

Executive Summary In 2007, our report, We Can Do Better: NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Child Care Standards and Oversight, concluded that states fell short in meeting basic requirements needed to protect the health and safety of children in child care centers and to promote children’s development and learning. NACCRRA called attention to the fact that monitoring of the centers by state licensing offices was generally insufficient to guarantee that minimum regulations were being observed. How are states doing two years later? In this report, NACCRRA updates the scores and rankings of the 50 states, the District of Columbia and the Department of Defense (DoD) based on their current child care center licensing regulations and oversight. Consistent with NACCRRA’s previous report, both the District of Columbia and DoD are referred to as states for the purpose of this report. Although states have made some progress, our children deserve more, much more. This report scores the states on selected aspects of regulations and oversight of child care centers in late 2008. These scores were used to develop three rankings for each state: child care center oversight, child care center regulations and overall rank combining both of these scores. Overall, some scores have shown modest improvement since the last report. The average score has risen from 70 to 83 out of 150 possible points. While the improved scores are encouraging, the overall picture is still alarming. States were scored on basic elements of health and safety, and an overall score of 83 means states are still not providing regulations and oversight that provide adequate health, safety and learning opportunities. A score of 83 converts to 55 percent or the equivalent of an F. Using a standard grading scale, no state

earned an A. One state (DoD) earned a B, and one state (District of Columbia) earned a C. Two-thirds of the states (33 states) earned a failing grade, and 16 states (30 percent) only earned a D. The following bulleted information details changes since the last report. ■■

Thirty-six states require orientation/preservice training that includes fire safety, other health and safety issues for child care center staff. They also require at least one staff person to be on-site who has been trained in first-aid and CPR. This is a significant improvement from six states in 2007.

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Thirty-one states require child care programs to address all 10 of the health and safety elements. This is an important change from 2007, when only nine states addressed all these elements.

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Eleven states now require five elements of the criminal records check. Only two states required comprehensive background checks in 2007.

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Nine states have a licensing staff caseload of 50 child care programs to one (50:1) licensing staff or less. This is up from five states in 2007.

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Sixteen states have a caseload for licensing staff of more than 140 child care programs to oversee. In 2007, 21 states had caseloads of 140 or more child care programs.

NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

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Nineteen states require that six developmental domains be addressed in program activities. This is an improvement from 13 states in 2007. Four states do not require that any developmental domains be addressed in classroom activities. In 2007, 10 states had no requirements at all with regard to developmental domains for children.

Progress has been made, but much more is needed. We can do better. ■■

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Only 12 states license both child care centers and all family child care homes. Only six states require monitoring visits of child care centers four or more times a year. Nine states do not even require an Associate’s degree for licensing staff. Only 17 states post reports on both regular monitoring and inspections due to complaints on the Internet. In addition three states have posted information about routine inspections, and another three states have posted information about inspections from complaints.

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Only one state has maximum group size requirements in compliance with NAEYC standards and has staff-child ratios in compliance with NAEYC standards for all seven targeted age groups.

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Twenty-two states do not require NAEYC group size recommendations for any of the seven targeted age groups.

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In 18 states, the minimum requirements for child care center directors does not include college credits or courses.

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Twenty states do not require child care providers to have a high school degree.

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Twenty-five states require child care center staff to have fewer than 15 hours of annual training.

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Only 26 states require a federal fingerprint check, without which background checks are of limited value.

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Three states allow or do not explicitly prohibit corporal punishment.

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Eight states do not require resilient materials under and around outdoor playground equipment.

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Eleven states do not require that infants be placed on their backs to sleep in order to reduce the incidence of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

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Only 24 states require centers to encourage parents to be involved in the child care center program.

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Two states do not require parents to have access to a child care center while their child is in the center.

NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

Ranking of Child Care Center Oversight and Regulations The following table shows the top 10 states and the bottom 10 states for combined oversight and regulation scores:

Ranking of Combined Child Care Center Oversight and Regulation Scores Top 10 State

Bottom 10 Score

Rank

Department of Defense

131

District of Columbia

111

Oklahoma

State

Score

Rank

New Mexico

Arkansas

106

Iowa

Tennessee

106

Missouri

Maryland

104

Kansas

Rhode Island

104

California

New York

100

Georgia

Illinois

Nebraska

Florida

Louisiana

Washington

Idaho

Total possible score is 150

Ranking of Child Care Center Oversight The following table shows the top 10 and bottom 10 states for oversight:

Ranking Of Child Care Center Oversight Scores Top 10 State

Bottom 10 Score

Rank

Department of Defense

Oklahoma

Florida

State

Score

Rank

Nebraska

Rhode Island

Wisconsin

North Carolina

California

New York

Vermont

South Carolina

Iowa

Arkansas

New Mexico

Tennessee

Minnesota

Texas

Connecticut

Washington

New Jersey

Maine

Idaho

Total possible score is 50

NACCRRAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

Ranking of Child Care Center Regulations The following table shows the top 10 bottom and 10 states for regulation:

Ranking Of Child Care Center Regulation Score Top 10 State

Bottom 10 Score

Rank

Department of Defense

Rhode Island

District of Columbia

State

Score

Rank

Missouri

Wyoming

Alabama

New Jersey

Kansas

Vermont

South Carolina

Illinois

Nebraska

Wisconsin

Arkansas

Delaware

Georgia

Maryland

Louisiana

Massachusetts

Idaho

Total possible score is 100

Conclusion Basic regulations and the ability of states to enforce them are the foundation on which we as a nation can better protect and improve the lives of our children. The benchmarks selected by NACCRRA represent the most basic, minimal criteria possible. Yet, the average score is 83 out of 150, which is 53 percent of all points available - a failing grade by anyone’s standards. According to the most recent estimates from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), over $12 billion in public funds are spent on child care each year. Most of this funding is through the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), the primary federal funding stream to states for child care. In addition, states transfer funds to CCDBG from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program or spend directly on child care from TANF. Congress has given states wide latitude to establish regulations and hold programs 4

accountable, especially those programs receiving federal subsidies to serve children in families with low incomes. Given the large federal investment in child care and the states’ failure to protect the safety and well-being of children, Congress must be more aggressive in holding states accountable. Congress must ensure that children are safe and that child care providers promote healthy child development. This means that Congress has a role in strengthening the regulations for child care centers—especially those subsidized through the CCDBG. There should be accountability for how federal money is spent. It is questionable whether states are currently meeting the minimum requirements in the current law, but even these requirements do not protect children. NACCRRA supports state flexibility, but there needs to be a floor to ensure that children are protected. The current practice of no or limited requirements endangers children, and states have not shown in the 18 years of CCDBG funding that

NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

they can put into place the requirements that parents expect and assume. NACCRRA urges Congress to require higher minimum standards for child care centers receiving federal dollars. NACCRRA recommends that Congress set minimum protections for children and strengthen the CCDBG law to: ■■

Require background checks, based on fingerprints, for all child care center employees.

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Require states to establish minimum health and safety regulations and enforce them through quarterly unannounced inspections of licensed child care programs (the same standard Congress requires of the military child care system).

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Require states to post inspection findings on the Internet for easy parent access so parents can make informed choices when choosing child care.

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Require all child care staff to have at least 40 hours of pre-service training (including CPR, first-aid and other basic safety and health training in addition to child development). Require all child care staff to complete 24 hours of ongoing annual training.

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care centers and family child care homes caring for one or more unrelated children on a regular basis for a fee be licensed and inspected. Staff should have background checks and receive training. The following changes to regulations and oversight will make child care centers safer, healthier and more educationally appropriate for young children. In addition to the above, states should: ■■

Ensure adequate oversight by reducing licensing caseloads to a ratio of no more than 50:1 to improve accountability for meeting state regulations. Require licensing staff to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher in early childhood education or a related field.

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Require child care center directors to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher in early childhood education in order to promote program quality.

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Require lead teachers in each classroom to have a Child Development Associate (CDA) credential or an Associate’s degree in early childhood education or to be enrolled in a program to receive such a credential.

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Require all child care center staff to complete a minimum of 40 hours of pre-service training in child development and guidance and other basic health and safety practices prior to working alone with children. Require all child care center staff to complete at least 24 hours of on-going annual training that will lead to a CDA credential.

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Require state child care center licensing regulations to include 10 basic health and safety standards.

Authorize HHS to withhold funding from states that do not require minimum protections for children and that do not conduct regular unannounced inspections of child care settings.

Recommendations to states: States have made progress in regulating child care centers in some areas since NACCRRA issued the last report in 2007, but much more is needed. NACCRRA recommends all child

NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

Child Care Center Oversight And Regulations In 2007, our report, We Can Do Better: NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Child Care Standards and Oversight, concluded that states fell short in meeting basic requirements needed to protect the health and safety of children in child care centers and promote children’s development and learning. NACCRRA called attention to the fact that monitoring of the centers by state licensing offices was generally insufficient to guarantee that minimum standards were being observed. That 2007 report was based on 15 basic criteria related to child care center regulations and oversight. NACCRRA scored every state, the District of Columbia and the Department of Defense (DoD) on how well they met those criteria. Out of a possible 150 points, the average state score was only 70 points. DoD ranked first in both regulations and oversight with a total score of 117 in the 2007 report. How are the states doing two years later? In this report, NACCRRA updates the scores and rankings of the 50 states, the District of Columbia and DoD based on their current child care center regulations and oversight system. Consistent with NACCRRA’s previous report, both the District of Columbia and DoD are referred to as states for the purpose of this report. NACCRRA included DoD in the scoring because DoD has its own set of licensing regulations and oversight system, and this system has been held up by prior Administrations and Congress as a model for states and communities to follow. Many states have heard and are responding to the information we provided in our 2007 report. Almost four-fifths of the states (40 6

states) have changed licensing requirements since the data were gathered for that report. However, when we examine child care center regulations for individual states and the country as a whole, we find that there are still not the child care regulations or oversight in place to make sure all young children are safe, healthy and learning. The average score has risen from 70 to 83 out of a possible 150 points. While the improved scores are encouraging, the overall picture is still alarming. States were scored on basic elements of health and safety, and an overall score of 83 means states are still not providing regulations and oversight that provide adequate health, safety and learning opportunities. A score of 83 converts to 55 percent or the equivalent of an F. Using a standard grading scale, no state earned an A. One state (DoD) earned a B, and one state (District of Columbia) earned a C. Two-thirds of the states (33 states) earned a failing grade, and 30 percent (16 states) only earned a D. The following report card (Table 1.1) shows how the states scored overall. Table 1.1 Report Card Percent of Points Earned on Oversight and Regulations

Grade

Number of States

91 to 100 percent

81 to 90 percent

71 to 80 percent

61 to 70 percent

10 to 60 percent

Our children deserve more. Progress is being made, but much more is needed. We can do better. NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

Quality and Safety Are Important Each week, about 11.3 million children under age 5 spend some time in a child care setting (U.S. Census Bureau, 2008). The percent of children in child care centers varies depending on the age of the child. Twelve percent of children younger than 1-year-old spend time in child care centers, compared to 69 percent of 4-year-olds (NCES, 2007). When parents choose a child care center, their primary concern is safety for their child. Then they look for an environment that promotes learning and is affordable (NACCRRA, 2009). Parents recognize that young children cannot be responsible for their own safety and that children are too young to tell their parents about their daily experiences. Parents, therefore, expect a child care system that requires child care programs to provide a safe environment and constant supervision in order to protect children from accidents and illness. Likewise, parents expect their children will be offered appropriate early learning opportunities. They recognize a positive early learning environment can have a life-long positive impact on their childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s growth and development, school readiness and economic future. Unfortunately, the regulations and oversight for child care centers vary widely across the states and often are not sufficient to ensure even minimum-quality care. A National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) study found that only about 9 percent of child care arrangements in the United States provided very high-quality child care. In more than 82 percent of the settings, care was less than high-quality â&#x20AC;&#x201C; to the detriment of the children. In 8 percent of child care arrangements, children experienced very low-quality child care (National Early Child Care Research Network, 2005). In addition, a NACCRRA study (2009) found that states set the bar at different levels for different types of early learning programs, and young children experience unequal opportunities depending on which type of state-regulated program they attend. In most states, child care center licensing regulations

do not provide the impetus for the highquality, center-based care that state-funded prekindergarten programs mandate. This is significant because the majority of preschool-age children are in child care settings. Child Care Oversight and Regulation Most parents (81 percent) think that governmental oversight is in place to protect the health and safety of their children and that state licensing regulations require child care programs to offer activities that will help their child grow and learn (NACCRRA, 2009). Unfortunately, the reality is very different. Although some form of child care is regulated in all states, there is a wide variation in the minimum standards that states set for child care centers. Only 12 states license both child care centers and all family child care homes. Although there are no federal regulations to govern child care, nationally recognized standards have been developed. The safety standards for the score card were chosen based on a review of the 13 Indicators of Quality Child Care: Research Update prepared by Dr. Richard Fiene for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (Fiene, 2002). In addition, Caring for Our Children: National Health and Safety Performance Standards: Guidelines for Out-of-Home Child Care Programs, Second Edition, provides information to help states develop child care standards. States have also used other resources, such as the accreditation criteria developed by national organizations, to help define standards for quality child care centers.

XX Child care oversight Licensing regulations are ineffective unless there are oversight systems in place to make sure regulations are observed and consequences are applied for non-compliance. Criteria for assessing oversight include the types of child care settings that are licensed, the frequency of monitoring visits, the caseloads for licensing staff, the educational qualifications of licensing staff and whether inspection and

NACCRRAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

complaint reports are easily available to parents and the public on the Internet.

XX Child care regulations States must regulate child care settings in order to keep children healthy and safe. In addition, brain development and literacy research have highlighted the importance of programs offering early learning opportunities. There is considerable variation among states in what they include in their child care center regulations; however, these regulations generally include requirements related to minimum staff-child ratios and group size, educational qualifications and training requirements for directors and lead teachers, criminal background checks, health and safety requirements, and parental involvement. Federal Funding for Child Care—CCDBG Over $12 billion in public funds are spent on child care every year. The primary non-parental source of funding for child care is the federal government through the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG). The funds are used primarily for child care subsidies for working families earning low incomes. A minimum of 4 percent is required by law to be used for activities to improve the overall quality of child care for all children within a community. Under current CCDBG law, all states are required to have in place minimum health and safety regulations for child care. Requirements must address the prevention and control of infectious diseases (including immunizations), building and physical premises safety, and minimum health and safety training. However, as this report illustrates, states have not necessarily complied with this requirement. The reauthorization of CCDBG in the 111th Congress provides an opportunity to establish requirements to ensure public funding is tied to greater accountability for the quality of child care regulations and monitoring efforts as reflected in the items in NACCRRA’s state score card. 8

NACCRRA’s State Score Card Parents, child care programs and state and federal policymakers share responsibility for the safety and well-being of children while they are in child care settings. Together, they need reliable information about the current state of child care oversight and regulations in order to make responsible decisions. NACCRRA is providing that information through an update of the state score cards that were originally developed for the 2007 report, We Can Do Better: NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Child Care Center Standards and Oversight. This new report scores the states on aspects of their current regulations and oversight of their child care center regulations. These scores were used to develop three rankings for each state: child care center oversight, child care center regulations and an overall rank combining both of these scores. Appendix B has information about the methodology used to update and verify current state regulations. A companion report, Leaving Children to Chance: NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Standards and Oversight of Small Family Child Care Homes (2008), scored and ranked states on their oversight and regulations of family child care homes. Chapter 2 presents information about how each state scored and their rank when scores for both child care center oversight and child care center regulations are included. Chapter 3 shows state scores and ranks for child care center oversight, and Chapter 4 gives state scores and ranks for child care center regulations. Chapter 5 has information about NACCRRA’s scoring system. Chapter 6 describes the rationale for the different elements in NACCRRA’s scoring system. It also provides information about how states measure up against the benchmarks. A summary and recommendations are included in Chapter 7. Appendix A has information about individual state scores, rankings, strengths, weaknesses and related recommendations.

NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

Overall Combined Ranking Of State Child Care Center Regulations And Oversight There has been only a modest improvement in state regulations affecting child care centers since our report in 2007. Scores were based on information provided by the states and available in state child care center licensing regulations, criminal history regulations, fire regulations and health regulations. Out of 150 possible points, the average overall score of the states two years ago was 70. The average score for this report is 83 (or 55 percent), which means states are still failing to provide regulations and oversight needed to give our children adequate health, safety and learning opportunities. Once again, the DoD child care system is ranked first with 131 points for combined child care center regulations and oversight. DoD also scored the highest in oversight of child care centers and child care center regulations. The other states within the top 10 overall scored from 97 to 110 points. The 10 weakest overall scored from 15 to 69 points. No state other than DoD is on the top 10 list for both regulations and oversight, although Tennessee comes close with a ranking of seven on oversight and 11 on regulations. This inconsistency is a concern because states need both strong regulations and a strong oversight system. Even the best regulations need adequate oversight to evaluate how well the regulations are being followed.

Seven states (DoD, Illinois, Maryland, New York, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Washington) remain on the list of the top 10 states for child care center oversight and regulations from 2007. Three states (District of Columbia, Florida and Rhode Island) are new to the list in 2009. Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota and Vermont are no longer in the top 10. California, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska and New Mexico were ranked among the 10 states with the weakest oversight and regulations in both 2007 and 2009. Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri, and Georgia fell into this list in 2009. Kentucky, Maine, New Hampshire and Utah moved off the list of 10 states with the overall weakest oversight and regulations in 2009.

NACCRRAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

NACCRRA’S Benchmarks NACCRRA used 15 benchmarks in this report. Five benchmarks relate to child care center oversight, and 10 benchmarks cover child care center regulations. Oversight XX

1. All child care centers and family child care homes are licensed.

2. Monitoring visits of centers are conducted four times a year by licensing, health and fire personnel.

3. Programs to licensing staff ratio does not exceed 50:1.

4. Licensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in early childhood education or a related field.

5. Reports of routine inspections and complaint inspections are available to parents on the Internet.

5. Center staff are required to have orientation training and training in fire safety and other health and safety issues. At least one staff on duty in centers must be firstaid and CPR certified.

6. All lead teachers are required to have 24 hours or more of annual training.

7. Required background checks include state and federal checks of criminal history records using fingerprints. child abuse registries and sex offender registries.

8. Programs are required to offer activities which address six developmental domains (social, physical, language/literacy, cognitive/intellectual, emotional and cultural).

9. Licensing regulations address 10 basic health and safety standards:

Regulations XX

1. Staff-child ratios are in compliance with National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) standards (NAEYC, 2007).

2. Group sizes are in compliance with NAEYC standards (NAEYC, 2007).

3. Center directors are required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher.

4. The lead teacher in the classroom is required to have a Child Development Associate (CDA) credential or an Associate’s degree in early childhood education (ECE) or related field.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

10. Programs encourage parent involvement and daily or ongoing communication with parents and allow parental visits at any time their child is present.

NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

Table 2.1

Ranking of States’ Combined Scores for Child Care Center Oversight and Regulation Top 10 State

Bottom 10 Score

Rank

Department of Defense

131

District of Columbia

111

Oklahoma

State

Score

Rank

New Mexico

Arkansas

106

Iowa

Tennessee

106

Missouri

Maryland

104

Kansas

Rhode Island

104

California

New York

100

Georgia

Illinois

Nebraska

Florida

Louisiana

Washington

Idaho

Total possible score is 150

Table 2.2

Middle 32 States’ Combined Scores for Child Care Center Oversight and Regulation State

Score

Rank

Massachusetts

Texas

Delaware

Score

Rank

New Jersey

Minnesota

Connecticut

North Carolina

Nevada

Vermont

South Dakota

Michigan

Alaska

Pennsylvania

Ohio

Wisconsin

South Carolina

North Dakota

Kentucky

Utah

Mississippi

Hawaii

Maine

Indiana

Montana

Virginia

Wyoming

Arizona

Colorado

Oregon

Alabama

West Virginia

New Hampshire

NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

State

Total possible score is 150

Table 2.3

Child Care Center Combined Scores for Oversight and Regulation-Alphabetical Listing of States State

Score

Rank

Alabama

Alaska

Arizona

State

Score

Rank

Montana

Nebraska

Nevada

Arkansas

New Hampshire

California

New Jersey

Colorado

New Mexico

Connecticut

New York

100

Delaware

North Carolina

Department of Defense

131

North Dakota

District of Columbia

111

Ohio

Florida

Oklahoma

106

Georgia

Oregon

Hawaii

Pennsylvania

Idaho

Rhode Island

104

Illinois

South Carolina

Indiana

South Dakota

Iowa

Tennessee

106

Kansas

Texas

Kentucky

Utah

Louisiana

Vermont

Maine

Virginia

Maryland

104

Washington

Massachusetts

West Virginia

Michigan

Wisconsin

Minnesota

Wyoming

Mississippi

Missouri

Total possible score is 150

NACCRRAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

Regulation and Effective Oversight are Critical States need both regulations that mandate high-quality child care and oversight systems that guarantee regulations are observed and consequences are applied for non-compliance. If either is weak, the other is ineffective. Regulation without oversight is hollow.

On the other hand, Arkansas, Louisiana and South Carolina rank relatively high on oversight but have poor regulations, with a disparity of more than 30 points. South Carolina and Arkansas rank in the top 10 on oversight (5 and 7 respectively) but are near the bottom when it comes to regulations (47 and 49 respectively).

In seven states (Connecticut, Maine, Minnesota, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin), the disparity in ranking between regulations and oversight is more than 30 points. These states rank high on standards but have very poor oversight. Rhode Island, New Jersey, Vermont and Wisconsin rank in the top 10 on regulations (2, 4, 4, and 6 respectively), but are near the bottom when it comes to oversight (41, 50, 44 and 41 respectively).

Eight other states (Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma and Wyoming) also have relatively high oversight ranking compared to their ranking for regulations. Oklahoma, for example, ranks 1 on oversight but 20 on regulations; North Carolina ranks 4 on oversight and 31 on regulations.

Delaware, Illinois, North Dakota and Oregon also rank relatively high on regulations compared to their oversight ranking, with a disparity of more than 20 points. Delaware and Illinois are in the top 10 on regulations (8 and 6 respectively), but rank only in the middle (23 and 25 respectively) when it comes to oversight.

The discrepancy in scores and ranking for individual states is revealed in Table 2.4, which shows the overall score and rank, the oversight score and rank and the regulation score and rank for each state.

NACCRRAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

Table 2.4

All Scores for Individual States Overall Score

Oversight Score

Regulations Score

Overall Score

Oversight Score

Regulations Score

Alabama

Missouri

Alaska

Montana

Arizona

Nebraska

Arkansas

Nevada

California

New Hampshire

Colorado

New Jersey

Connecticut

New Mexico

Delaware

New York

100

Department of Defense

131

North Carolina

District of Columbia

111

North Dakota

Florida

Ohio

Georgia

Oklahoma

106

Hawaii

Oregon

Idaho

Pennsylvania

Illinois

Rhode Island

104

Indiana

South Carolina

Iowa

South Dakota

Kansas

Tennessee

106

Kentucky

Texas

Louisiana

Utah

Maine

Vermont

Maryland

104

Virginia

Massachusetts

Washington

Michigan

West Virginia

Minnesota

Wisconsin

Mississippi

Wyoming

150

100

Total possible score

150

100

State

Total possible score

State

NACCRRAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

Ranking Of State Child Care Center Oversight Effective oversight is essential for state regulations to be meaningful. The average score for child care center oversight in 2009 was only 26.4 out of a possible 50 points. Oklahoma and DoD were tied for the highest ranking in state child care center oversight with 45 points. The Oklahoma Child Care Facilities Act, passed in 2008, is an example of recent legislation that strengthens oversight by improving inspection reporting and making a database of online inspection reports available to parents. This legislation was prompted by the tragic death of a child in a licensed family child care home. Seven states (DoD, Florida, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Washington) remain on the list of the top 10 states for child care center oversight from 2007. Three states (Arkansas, New York and Texas) are new to the list in 2009. Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, and Virginia are no longer on the top 10 list. Scores of the top 10 states ranged from 36 to 45 points. Scores for the bottom 10 states ranged from two to 19 points.

3. Programs to licensing staff ratio does not exceed 50:1.

4. Licensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in early childhood education or a related field.

5. Reports of routine inspections and complaint inspections are available to parents online.

NACCRRA’s Benchmarks for Child Care Center Oversight XX 1. All child care centers and family child care homes are licensed. XX

2. Monitoring visits of centers are conducted four times a year by licensing, health, and fire personnel.

NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

Table 3.1

Ranking of Statesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Scores for Child Care Center Oversight Top 10 State

Bottom 10 Score

Rank

Department of Defense

Oklahoma

Florida

State

Score

Rank

Nebraska

Rhode Island

Wisconsin

North Carolina

California

New York

Vermont

South Carolina

Iowa

Arkansas

New Mexico

Tennessee

Minnesota

Texas

Connecticut

Washington

New Jersey

Maine

Idaho

Total possible score is 50

Table 3.2

Middle States for Child Care Center Oversight State

Score

Rank

Arizona

Maryland

Michigan

State

Score

Rank

Massachusetts

West Virginia

Illinois

District of Columbia

Indiana

Ohio

Pennsylvania

Virginia

Georgia

Wyoming

Kentucky

Alabama

Missouri

Louisiana

Delaware

New Hampshire

Kansas

South Dakota

Mississippi

Colorado

North Dakota

Hawaii

Alaska

Montana

Oregon

Nevada

Utah

Total possible score is 50

NACCRRAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

Table 3.3

Child Care Center Oversight-Alphabetical Listing of States State

Score

Rank

Alabama

Alaska

Arizona

Score

Rank

Montana

Nebraska

Nevada

Arkansas

New Hampshire

California

New Jersey

Colorado

New Mexico

Connecticut

New York

Delaware

North Carolina

Department of Defense

North Dakota

District of Columbia

Ohio

Florida

Oklahoma

Georgia

Oregon

Hawaii

Pennsylvania

Idaho

Rhode Island

Illinois

South Carolina

Indiana

South Dakota

Iowa

Tennessee

Kansas

Texas

Kentucky

Utah

Louisiana

Vermont

Virginia

Maryland

Washington

Massachusetts

West Virginia

Michigan

Wisconsin

Minnesota

Wyoming

Mississippi

Missouri

Maine

NACCRRAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

State

Total possible score is 50

Ranking Of State Child Care Center Regulations The average score for child care center regulations was only 56.2 out of a possible 100 points. Regulations are the basic standards or policies in place to protect children and promote healthy development. Seven states (DoD, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin) remain on the list of the top 10 states for child care center regulations from 2007. Three states (Delaware, District of Columbia and Massachusetts) are new to the list in 2009. Minnesota, North Dakota, and Pennsylvania are no longer in the top 10. The District of Columbia ranked second overall and third in regulations in this report after it made significant changes to its regulations. These changes affected staff-child ratios, group size, staff training requirements, criminal records checks, health and safety standards, parent involvement, licensing staffprogram ratios and educational requirements for licensing staff. The scores for the top 10 states for child care center regulations ranged from 86 to 70 points. Scores for the bottom 10 states ranged from 13 to 42 points. NACCRRA’s Benchmarks for Child Care Center Regulations XX 1. Staff-child ratios are in compliance with National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) standards (NAEYC, 2007).

2. Group sizes are in compliance with NAEYC standards (NAEYC, 2007).

3. Center directors are required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher in early childhood education or related field.

4. The lead teacher in the classroom is required to have a Child Development Associate (CDA) credential or an Associate’s degree in early childhood education or related field.

5. Center staff are required to have orientation training and training in fire safety and other health and safety issues. At least one staff on duty in centers must be firstaid and CPR certified.

6. All lead teachers are required to have 24 hours or more of annual training.

7. Required background checks include state and federal checks of criminal history records using fingerprints, child abuse registries and sex offender registries.

8. Programs are required to offer activities which address six developmental domains (social, physical, language/literacy, cognitive/intellectual, emotional and cultural).

NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

9. Licensing regulations address 10 basic health and safety standards:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

NACCRRAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

10. Programs encourage parent involvement and daily or ongoing communication with parents and allow parental visits at any time their child is present.

Table 4.1

Ranking of Statesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Scores for Child Care Center Regulations Top 10 State

Bottom 10 Score

Rank

Department of Defense

Rhode Island

District of Columbia

State

Score

Rank

Missouri

Wyoming

Alabama

New Jersey

Kansas

Vermont

South Carolina

Illinois

Nebraska

Wisconsin

Arkansas

Delaware

Georgia

Maryland

Louisiana

Massachusetts

Idaho

Total possible score is 100

Table 4.2

Middle 32 States for Child Care Center Regulations State

Score

Rank

Tennessee

Connecticut

Minnesota

State

Score

Rank

New Hampshire

Virginia

Florida

North Dakota

Nevada

Pennsylvania

New Mexico

Maine

North Carolina

Oregon

Arizona

Indiana

Mississippi

Utah

South Dakota

Hawaii

Iowa

New York

Kentucky

Oklahoma

Ohio

Washington

California

West Virginia

Montana

Michigan

Colorado

Texas

Alaska

Total possible score is 100

NACCRRAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

Table 4.3

Child Care Center Regulations-Alphabetical Listing of States State

Score

Rank

Alabama

Alaska

Arizona

Score

Rank

Montana

Nebraska

Nevada

Arkansas

New Hampshire

California

New Jersey

Colorado

New Mexico

Connecticut

New York

Delaware

North Carolina

Department of Defense

North Dakota

District of Columbia

Ohio

Florida

Oklahoma

Georgia

Oregon

Hawaii

Pennsylvania

Idaho

Rhode Island

Illinois

South Carolina

Indiana

South Dakota

Iowa

Tennessee

Kansas

Texas

Kentucky

Utah

Louisiana

Vermont

Maine

Virginia

Maryland

Washington

Massachusetts

West Virginia

Michigan

Wisconsin

Minnesota

Wyoming

Mississippi

Missouri

NACCRRAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

State

Total possible score is 100

NACCRRA’s Scoring System NACCRRA established 15 benchmarks for centers. Five of the benchmarks related to the state’s oversight system and 10 were related to the state’s child care center regulations. The decision about which benchmarks to include in the state scoring was based on research that included nationally recognized resources. The safety standards for the score card were chosen based on research by Dr. Richard Fiene as reflected in 13 Indicators of Quality Child Care: Research Update, prepared for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (Fiene, 2002). Other sources included Caring for Our Children: National Health and Safety Performance Standards: Guidelines for Out-of-Home Child Care Programs, 2nd edition (AAP et al., 2002) and NAEYC accreditation criteria. Additional information about the research related to each criterion can be found in NACCRRA’s reports, We Can Do Better (2007) and Leaving Children to Chance (2008). If states met an individual benchmark fully, they received a maximum score of 10 points for that item. States received a lower score if they met only part of the criterion. With 10 points for each of the 10 benchmarks for child care centers, the maximum score for center regulations was 100 points. With 10 points for each of the five elements of the child care center oversight system, the maximum score for licensing oversight was 50 points. States could receive a maximum of 150 points. The final scores were used for three sets of rankings: child care oversight, child care center regulations, and an overall rank combining both of these scores.

The oversight benchmarks were: XX

1. All child care centers and family child care homes are licensed.

2. Monitoring visits of centers are conducted four times a year by licensing, health and fire personnel.

3. Programs to licensing staff ratio does not exceed 50:1.

4. Licensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in early childhood education or a related field.

5. Online inspection and complaint reports are available to parents.

The regulation benchmarks were: XX

1. Staff-child ratios are in compliance with NAEYC standards (NAEYC, 2007).

2. Group sizes are in compliance with NAEYC standards (NAEYC, 2007).

3. Center directors are required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher.

4. The lead teacher in the classroom is required to have a Child Development Associate (CDA) credential or an Associate’s degree in early childhood education or related field.

5. Center staff are required to have orientation training and training in fire safety and other health and safety issues. At least one staff on duty in centers must be firstaid and CPR certified.

NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

6. All lead teachers are required to have 24 hours or more of annual training.

7. Required background checks include state and federal checks of criminal history records using fingerprints, child abuse registries and sex offender registries.

8. Programs are required to offer activities that address six developmental domains (social, physical, language/literacy, cognitive/intellectual, emotional and cultural).

9. Licensing regulations address 10 basic health and safety standards: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

NACCRRAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

Immunizations Guidance and discipline Diapering and handwashing Fire drills Medication administration Incident reporting Placing infants on their backs to sleep to prevent Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) 8. Hazardous materials 9. Playground surfaces under outdoor equipment 10. Emergency preparedness. 10. Programs encourage parent involvement, require daily or ongoing communication with parents and allow parental visits at any time their child is present.

Rationales and Reality for NACCRRA’s Benchmarks The following section describes the rationale for each of the NACCRRA benchmarks and describes the reality of how well states are meeting each benchmark. NACCRRA’s Benchmarks on Oversight The best policies are ineffective if they are not implemented. Monitoring ensures that centers comply with state child care laws and that children are safe, in healthy environments and receiving appropriate early learning opportunities. NACCRRA has established the following five benchmarks for state child care licensing systems. XX

1. NACCRRA Benchmark: Child care centers and family child care homes caring for one or more unrelated children on a regular basis for a fee are required to be licensed.

Child care licensing regulations are set by individual states and define the minimum acceptable health, safety and program standards for legal operation of a child care program. Licensing is a baseline below which it is illegal to operate; thus, it is not an indicator of highquality care. There are two types of licensed child care: child care centers and family child care homes. However, some states choose to not regulate all child care settings. When states categorically exempt centers sponsored by churches or family child care providers who serve fewer than four children, children are less protected and the whole regulation system is weakened. Along with NACCRRA’s recommendation (2007), NAEYC accreditation standards (NAEYC, 1997), the National Association for Regulatory 24

Administration (NARA) and the National Child Care Association (NCCA) (NARA & NCCA, no date) and Caring for Our Children also recommend licensing every child care setting. Eighty-one percent of parents responding to a NACCRRA national survey assumed all child care programs are licensed by the state (NACCRRA, 2009).

Reality Children are routinely being cared for in child care settings that are not required to meet minimum licensing regulations. ■■

Only 12 states license most child care centers and all family child care homes.

■■

Idaho, Louisiana and New Jersey only regulate child care centers. This means children in family child care home settings are not subject to child care regulations or oversight.

NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

Table 6.1 has information about the number and percent of states that require specific types of child care settings to be licensed. Table 6.1 Licensed Child Care Settings

Types of Child Care Settings that are Licensed

Number of States

Percent of States

Centers. Family child care homes with 4 or more children

54%

Centers. Family child care homes with 3 or more children

13%

Centers. Family child care homes with 2 or more children.

Centers and family child care homes with 1 or more children.

23%

Total

100%

Centers only

2. NACCRRA Benchmark: Child care centers are inspected at least four times a year.

Licensing inspections measure child care practices against state licensing requirements. They are a means of ensuring that children are cared for in settings that meet minimum health and safety requirements. Programs that are inspected more frequently are more likely to adhere to required regulations (Gormley, 1995). Frequent, unannounced inspections prevent providers from covering up violations, especially when there is a history of violations and/or sanctions or complaints. Inspecting child care settings is also associated with lower rates of accidents requiring medical attention (Fiene, 2002). There is strong support among parents for requiring inspections of child care programs, including family child care homes, before they begin caring for children. In fact, in a national survey conduct by NACCRRA (2009), there was strong support among parents (95 percent) for requiring inspections of child care programs, including family child care homes, before they begin caring for children.

Reality In most states, child care centers are not inspected frequently enough. States cannot confidently say to parents that licensing regulations are being followed and that children are in safe and healthy environments. ■■

Six states (DoD, Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and Wyoming) require monitoring visits four or more times a year. This is up from four states in 2007.

■■

An additional 21 states require monitoring visits two times a year or more.

■■

Twenty-five states conduct monitoring inspections only once a year or less frequently.

■■

For some states, monitoring is so infrequent it is almost meaningless. Georgia does not require monitoring.

Table 6.2 has information about the frequency of monitoring visits of child care centers in individual states. Table 6.2 Frequency of Monitoring Visits

Number of Monitoring Visits Number of Required States

Percent of States

Four or more times a year

12%

Three times a year

15%

Twice a year

25%

Once a year

33%

Less than once a year

15%

100%

Total

Note: In this report, states were given credit for inspection visits by licensing, health and fire departments.

NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

3. NACCRRA Benchmark: Licensing staff are responsible for monitoring no more than 50 child care programs per person.

Table 6.3 has information about the number of programs that licensing staff are responsible for monitoring in individual states. Table 6.3

A manageable caseload for licensing staff protects children from unhealthy and unsafe care. A caseload of no more than 50 child care programs per licensing staff allows staff to more effectively monitor programs. NARA, NACCRRA (2007) and NAEYC (2007) recommend licensing staff should be responsible for no more than 50 child care programs.

Licensing Staff Caseload

Reality There is progress in this area. Caseloads have been reduced in some states since the last report. However, there are vast discrepancies. In many states, the caseload is too large to allow licensing staff to conduct frequent and meaningful inspections. ■■

The average caseload is 114, which is more than double the recommended load.

■■

Nine states (Alaska, DoD, Hawaii, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee and Utah) have a caseload of 50:1 or less. This is up from five states in 2007.

■■

Twenty-two states have caseloads of 70 programs or fewer to one staff member.

■■

Twenty-one states have caseloads of 101 or more programs to one licensing staff member. Sixteen states have a caseload of more than 140 child care programs per licensing staff. In 2007, 21 states had caseloads of 140 or more.

■■

In Connecticut, Michigan, Rhode Island and Vermont, caseloads exceed 220. In Wisconsin, the caseload exceeds 330 programs, and in Iowa the caseload is almost 600 (591). 26

Number of States

Percent of States

141:1 or more

31%

131 to 140:1

121 to 130:1

111 to 120:1

101 to 110:1

91 to 100:1

10%

81 to 90:1

71 to 80:1

61 to 70:1

17%

51 to 60:1

50:1 or less

17%

Total

100%

4. NACCRRA Benchmark: Licensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree or higher in early childhood education, child development or a related field.

Licensing staff are responsible for understanding state child care licensing regulations and assessing whether child care programs and providers are observing the regulations. This position requires someone with a strong educational background in child development, early childhood education and effective communication skills.

■■

Program:Licensing Staff Ratio

Reality There has been little change in the educational qualifications of licensing staff since the last report. While an Associate or Bachelor’s degree is required in 46 states, only 16 states require a Bachelor’s degree in early childhood education or a related field. ■■

Nine states (Connecticut, Idaho, Indiana, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Virginia and Wisconsin) do not even require licensing staff to have an Associate’s degree.

NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

■■

Only 16 states require a Bachelor’s degree in early childhood education or a related field. Twenty-five states require a Bachelor’s degree, but accept a degree in any field.

Table 6.4 has information about the level of education that is required for licensing staff in individual states. Table 6.4 Licensing Staff Qualification Requirement Number of States

Percent of States

Less than Associate’s degree

17%

Associate’s degree in related field, college-level certification or certification in related field

Bachelor’s degree, but not in related field

48%

Bachelor’s degree in early childhood education or related field

31%

Total

100%

Level of Education Required

5. NACCRRA Benchmark: Both child care licensing reports and complaint reports are available online for parents and the public to review.

In the United States, the child care approach is based on parent choice, but in many states it is difficult for parents to get sufficient information about the safety and quality of child care programs. Posting licensing inspection reports and reports of verified violations provides parents with important information they need in order to make good choices about their child’s care.

■■

Programs were inspected more frequently.

■■

Inspectors were more likely to provide varied reviews of programs.

■■

The quality of child care, especially care received by low-income children, increased after inspections were made available on the Internet.

Reality In the past, parents have had difficulty obtaining licensing information. The result was that some parents unknowingly put their children in unsafe and unhealthy situations. Publicity about tragic accidents in child care and recent changes in technology have resulted in states making more information available to parents on the Internet. More states are now making inspection and complaint reports available online, thereby providing important information to parents about child care programs. But, most states still do not provide this vital information. ■■

In 28 states, parents do not have access to either inspection or complaint reports online.

■■

Four states (DoD, Louisiana, Maryland and Tennessee) only post inspection reports.

■■

Three states (Oregon, Vermont and Washington) only post verified complaints.

■■

Seventeen states (Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin) have both inspection and complaint reports available online.

Centers and licensing staff are more accountable when inspection and complaint reports are available on the Internet. Research from Florida (Witte & Querait, 2004) showed the following benefits of posting inspection and complaint reports online in a user-friendly and easily accessible format: NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

Table 6.5 has information about the number and percent of states that make licensing inspections or complaint reports or both available on the Internet.

Table 6.6 NAEYC Staff-Child Ratio Requirements

Table 6.5 Online Reports of Inspections and Complaints Availability of Online Inspection and Complaint Reports

Number Percent of States of States

Neither inspection nor complaint reports are available online

54%

Inspection reports only

Complaint reports only

Both inspection and complaint reports are available online

33%

Total

100%

NACCRRA’s Benchmarks on Regulations XX

1. NACCRRA Benchmark: Staff-child ratios are in compliance with National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) accreditation requirements (NAEYC, 2007)

Low staff-child ratios are associated with higher quality early childhood programs and are an important predictor of caregiver behavior, especially for caregivers of infants and toddlers. In addition to helping to create an environment where children feel emotionally secure, low ratios also ensure children’s health and safety because caregivers are better able to monitor and promote healthy practices and behaviors (Fiene, 2002; The Governor’s Working Group on Early Childhood Initiatives, 2007). Table 6.6 shows NAEYC’s requirements for staffchild ratios in centers.

Age of Child

Staff-Child Ratio

Birth to 15 months

1:3 to 1:4

12 to 28 months

1:3 to 1:4

21 to 36 months

1:4 to 1:6

2 to 3 years

1:6 to 1:9

4 years

1:8 to 1:10

5 years

1:8 to 1:10

Reality There is considerable variance among the states in the staff-child ratios they require for child care centers. More states comply with NAEYC staff-child ratios for infants and toddlers than for any other age groups. Children in older age groups are more likely to be in classrooms where there are too many children for each teacher and assistant. ■■

Thirty-six states meet NAEYC staffchild ratios for infants (6 months and 9 months).

■■

Fifteen states (California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin) meet recommended ratios for 18-month-olds.

■■

Only 19 states meet recommended ratios for 4-year-olds.

■■

3-year-olds and 5-year-olds are least likely to be in classrooms with recommended ratios. Only nine states (District of Columbia, Iowa, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island and Tennessee) meet recommended ratios for 3-year-olds. Nine states (Connecticut, District of Columbia, Minnesota, Montana, New York, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Vermont and Washington) meet recommended ratios for 5-year-olds.

NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

Table 6.7 provides information about the staffchild ratios recommended by NAEYC for children at specific ages and the number and percent of states that meet NAEYC requirements. Table 6.7 States That Meet NAEYC Staff-Child Ratio Requirements for Specific Age Groupings Number of States Meeting Requirement

Percent of States Meeting Requirement

6 months

71%

9 months

Age of Child

Table 6.8 shows the number and percent of states that meet NAEYC requirements for staffchild ratios for each of the specified age groups. Table 6.8 Number of Age Groupings that States Require to Meet NAEYC Requirements for Staff-Child Ratios Number of Age Groupings

Number of States Meeting Requirement

Percent of States Meeting Requirement

25%

17%

69%

21%

18 months

29%

10%

27 months

37%

13%

3 years

17%

10%

4 years

37%

5 years

17%

Total

100%

Does not meet staff-child ratio requirements for any age group

25%

Some states meet NAEYC recommendations for staff-child ratios for one age group but not for other age groups. ■■

The District of Columbia is the only state that meets NAEYC recommended staffchild ratios for all seven age groups.

■■

Thirty-four states meet NAEYC recommended staff-child ratios for three or fewer age groups.

■■

Thirteen states (Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio and South Carolina) do not meet NAEYC recommended staff-child ratios for any age group.

2. NACCRRA Benchmark: Group size requirements are in compliance with NAEYC accreditation requirements (NAEYC, 2007).

Maximum group sizes are based on children’s ages and are designed to ensure safe, nurturing and high-quality care. Group sizes must be smaller for younger children. When the number of children in a group is lower, adults can provide a warmer, more responsive, supportive and stimulating environment. This results in more positive social interactions and more secure attachment between the adults and the young children. There is also evidence of less hyperactivity, anxiety and aggression in the classroom. Children use higher levels of language and cognitive skills and engage in more complex play (The Governor’s Working Group on Early Childhood Initiatives, 2007).

NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

Table 6.9 shows the group sizes recommended by NAEYC for children at specific ages and the number and percent of states that limit group sizes to NAEYC’s recommendations.

Table 6.10 has information about the group size requirements by NAEYC for children at specific ages and the number and percent of states that meet that recommendation.

Table 6.9 NAEYC Group Size Requirements Age of Child

Size of Group

Birth to 15 months

6-8 children

12 to 28 months

6-8 children

21 to 36 months

8-12 children

2 to 3 years

12-18 children

4 years

16-20 children

5 years

16-20 children

Table 6.10 States That Meet NAEYC Group Size Requirements for Specific Age Groupings

Reality There is a considerable difference among the states in their requirements for limiting group size. Almost half of the states do not even regulate group size. States that do regulate group size are most likely to meet NAEYC group size requirements for infants and young toddlers.

Number of States Requiring NAEYC Group Size

Percent of States Requiring NAEYC Group Size

6 months

44%

9 months

44%

18 months

17%

27 months

27%

3 years

15%

4 years

37%

5 years

21%

Note: NACCRRA selected a specific age within each age group in order to score the states.

■■

Only 23 states limit the group size for six-month-olds and nine-month-olds at or below NAEYC recommendations.

■■

Nine states require NAEYC group size recommendations for 18-month-olds.

■■

Nineteen states require NAEYC group size recommendations for 4-year-olds.

■■

3-year-olds and 5-year-olds are least likely to be in classrooms where the group size is in compliance with NAEYC recommendations. Just eight states (California, District of Columbia, Kansas, Mississippi, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island and Tennessee) require the group size recommended by NAEYC for 3-year-olds. Eleven states (California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Illinois, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee and Vermont) meet NAEYC group size recommendations for 5-year-olds.

Age of Child

Some states meet NAEYC group size recommendations for one age group but not for other age groups. ■■

Twenty-two states do not require NAEYC group size recommendations for any age group.

■■

An additional 16 states require NAEYC group size recommendations for three or fewer age groups.

■■

Only the District of Columbia requires NAEYC group size recommendations for all age groups.

NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

Table 6.11 has information about the number and percent of states that require NAEYC recommendations for group size for specific age groups. Table 6.11 Number of Age Groupings that States Require to Meet NAEYC Requirements for Maximum Group Size Number of Age Groupings

Number of Percent of States Requiring States Requiring

42%

17%

12%

10%

Total

100%

3. NACCRRA Benchmark: Center directors have a Bachelor’s degree or higher in early childhood education or a related field.

Child care center directors are responsible for personnel management, fiscal management, facilities management, oversight of the program’s curriculum, working with parents and many other aspects of a child care program’s operations. They provide leadership to staff who often have little experience, training or education to prepare them for their responsibilities with young children. Education and training in business management and early childhood education prepares directors to oversee the program and provide staff with the training and supervision they need.

Reality States fall far short on requiring education and training of child care center directors. Children in almost all states are allowed to be in a child care center where the director is not required to meet even the most minimum education and training requirements related to child care. Eighteen states (Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia and Wyoming) do not require child care center directors to have any college credit or courses. ■■

An additional 13 states require directors to have some college credits or courses.

■■

Thirteen states require directors to have a CDA credential or an Associate’s degree in early childhood education or a related field.

■■

Since the last report, six states have added the requirement for a director’s credential.

■■

Only DoD and New Jersey require center directors to have a Bachelor’s degree in early childhood education.

NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

Table 6.12 has information about the level of education that is required for directors of child care centers in individual states. Table 6.12 Director Qualifications by States Level of Education Required

Number of States

Percent of States

No college credits/courses

35%

Some college credits/ courses

25%

CDA credential or Associate’s degree in related field

25%

Director’s credential

12%

Bachelor’s degree or more in early childhood education or related field

Total

100%

4. NACCRRA Benchmark: Lead teachers (responsible for a classroom) have a CDA credential or Associate’s degree in early childhood education or a related field.

Lead teachers have primary responsibility for the classroom and can be left unsupervised with children. Child care providers who have specialized formal education in early education are more likely to respond positively to children and to use successful teaching practices than teachers without specialized training or education. Over three-quarters of parents (78 percent) in NACCRRA’s national parent survey (2009) assumed all child care providers had training in child development before working with children.

Reality Education requirements for center-based lead teachers who are responsible for classroom curriculum decisions are woefully inadequate. Fewer than one-sixth of the states meet the NACCRRA benchmark of requiring a CDA credential or an Associate’s degree in early childhood education or a related field. Parents assume that because children are in a centerbased setting that the teachers are trained in 32

child development and that children are in a high-quality early learning environment. The reality is that it is difficult to offer a highquality child care program when teachers are not required to be a high school graduate and pre-service training is not required. ■■

Twenty states do not even require child care lead teachers to have a high school degree.

■■

Another 22 states require only a high school degree for lead teachers.

■■

Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Minnesota and North Carolina require a state credential for lead teachers.

■■

DoD, Hawaii, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Vermont require the lead teacher to have a CDA credential or an Associate’s degree in early childhood education or a related field.

Table 6.13 has information about the level of education that is required for lead teachers in state licensing regulations in individual states. Table 6.13 Lead Teacher Qualifications Level of Education Required

Number of States

Percent of States

Less than High School or a GED

38%

High School or a GED

42%

State credential

10%

CDA credential or Associate’s degree in early childhood education or related field

10%

Total

100%

5. NACCRRA Benchmark: Center staff are required to have orientation training and training in fire safety and other health and safety issues. At least one staff on duty in centers must be first-aid and CPR certified.

NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

Caregivers should have certain information and skills before they are allowed to care for children without supervision. These skills and knowledge should be acquired through pre-service training and education or during orientation training that occurs early in their employment. Given that 42 states only require lead teachers to have a high school degree or less, orientation training is an important tool in preparing caregivers to keep children healthy and safe. Orientation training should address the basics of healthy and safe care, children’s developmental needs and guidance and discipline. NACCRRA recommends that orientation training include 40 hours of training in child development and guidance, CPR and first-aid certification, recognizing child abuse, fire safety training and basic health and safety practices prior to working with children or within the first 90 days of employment. The vast majority of parents (87 percent) think all providers are trained to recognize signs of child abuse and that all providers are trained in first-aid and CPR (NACCRRA, 2009).

Reality Relatively low levels of education make preservice and orientation training very important. Unfortunately, most states have minimal requirements for topics that should be covered in pre-service or orientation training. Children in child care centers with untrained staff are at a higher risk of illness or accidents (Fiene, 2002). While health and safety are recognized as important areas for training in most states, one-fifth of states do not require staff to be trained on fire safety and other health and safety skills. ■■

Forty-seven states require at least one staff person be on-site who has CPR certification.

■■

Forty-six states require at least one staff person be on-site who has training in first-aid.

■■

Forty-four states require health and safety training.

■■

Forty-two states require fire safety training.

■■

Thirty-six states require all five topics for orientation/pre-service training. This is a significant improvement from six states in 2007.

■■

Idaho and New York do not require any of the specified topics.

Table 6.14 has information about the number and percent of states that require that a specific topic be included in pre-service and orientation training. Table 6.14 Pre-service/Orientation Training Topics Required in Pre-service/ Orientation Training

Number of States Requiring Topic

Percent of States Requiring Topic

Training in CPR for at least one staff person who is on-site

90%

First-aid training for at least one staff person who is on-site

88%

Orientation training

88%

Other health and safety training

85%

Fire safety training

81%

Does not meet any

6. NACCRRA Benchmark: Lead teachers have at least 24 hours of annual training.

Professional development enhances teachers’ skills, which results in better teacher-child interactions and improved child outcomes (Bowman et al., 2000). This is especially important because the current low educational requirements for lead teachers means that teachers must be trained while in their positions. Ongoing training should be tied to specific job responsibilities and to an individualized professional development

NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

plan that is cumulative and assessed annually. With specialized training and professional development related to child development or a related area, child care providers offer more sensitive caregiving and richer learning (Clarke-Stewart et al., 2002). Whitebook et al. (1989) found that teachers receiving more than 15 hours of training used more appropriate practices, were more positive and were more engaged with children in their teaching practices.

Reality The number of required annual training hours for caregivers in most states is very low and insufficient to significantly ensure they have the knowledge and skills needed to care for young children. ■■

Twenty-five states require fewer than 15 hours of annual training.

■■

States, on average, require only 14 hours of annual training.

■■

Maine requires 30 hours of annual training.

■■

DoD, New Mexico and Wisconsin also meet the benchmark of 24 or more hours of annual training.

Table 6.15 has information about the number of training hours that are required for caregivers each year in individual states. Table 6.15 Annual Training Hours Required Number of Training Hours Required Annually

Number of States

Percent of States

0-5

6-10

21%

11-15

44%

16-20

19%

21-23

24+

10%

Total

100%

A primary way to protect children and reassure parents is to make sure that people who have a history of violence or have hurt children in the past are not allowed to care for children or be in centers or family child care homes where children are receiving care. NACCRRA’s benchmark includes a full background check, including state and federal checks of criminal history records using a fingerprint, and child abuse registry and sex offender registry checks. All but two states require some type of background check, but many do not require fingerprint checks. Fingerprint checks make a background check more complete. Some states have observed that the cost of background checks and the time they take to be completed is prohibitive. But, exposing children to convicted felons with a violent history is not worth the risk. NACCRRA’s position is that background checks are of limited value unless they are based on fingerprints. Given the transitory nature of the child care field, it is important that state and federal fingerprint checks be conducted. When choosing child care, safety is the first concern for parents. In fact, in NACCRRA’s most recent national survey (2009), 84 percent of parents think that all child care providers have had a background check.

Reality There has been progress in the area of background checks since the last report; however, many states do not use fingerprints to conduct criminal history checks, so the checks are of limited value. ■■

7. NACCRRA Benchmark: Center staff are required to undergo background checks, including state and federal checks of criminal history records using a fingerprint, child abuse registries and sex offender registries.

Fifty states require a criminal history check of some type.

NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

■■

Half the states (26) require a federal fingerprint check.

■■

Only 16 states specifically check the sex offender registry for potential employees.

Table 6.16 has information about the elements of a comprehensive criminal records check that individual states require. Table 6.16 Background Check Items Required by States Items included in Background Checks

Number of States

Percent of States

Name-based criminal history check

96%

Child abuse and neglect registry check

87%

Sex offender registry check

31%

State criminal history check using fingerprints

60%

Federal check using fingerprints

50%

8. NACCRRA Benchmark: Centers are required to offer activities to address all six areas of development: social, physical, language/literacy, cognitive/intellectual, emotional and cultural.

Reality Licensing regulations related to program activities in most states are insufficient to adequately prepare children to enter kindergarten “ready to learn.” ■■

Only 19 states require that all six developmental domains be addressed in program activities. This is an improvement from 13 states in 2007.

■■

Fourteen states require that three or fewer domains be addressed in program activities.

■■

Alabama, California, Idaho and Wyoming do not require that any developmental domains be addressed in classroom activities. In 2007, 10 states had no requirements at all with regard to activities in the developmental domains for children.

Table 6.17 has information about the number of developmental domains that licensing regulations require centers to address in individual states. Table 6.17 Number of Domains That States Require Child Care Centers to Address Number of Domains Addressed

Number of States

Percent of States

12%

29%

37%

Total

100%

The National Education Goals Panel (NEGP) described six fundamental learning areas/ domains: physical well-being and motor development, social/emotional development, approaches toward learning, language development and cognition and general knowledge (Bowman et al., 2000). This seminal report noted that children’s growth is integrated across all developmental areas. Curriculum planning should include all areas of development and should address the cultural needs of children in the classroom. Ninety-six percent of parents believe all child care providers offer learning opportunities to children (NACCRRA, 2009).

NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

Some domains were more likely to be addressed in licensing regulations than others. ■■

Forty-eight states require that child care centers have physical activities as part of their daily experience.

■■

Only 43 states require language/literacy activities.

■■

Thirty-nine states require activities that promote social development.

■■

Thirty-six states require activities that address emotional development.

■■

Thirty-seven states require cognitive/ intellectual activities.

■■

Twenty-two states require that activities address the cultural domain.

Table 6.18 Domains That States Require Child Care Centers to Address Number of States

Percent of States

Physical

92%

Language/Literacy

83%

Social

75%

Cognitive/Intellectual

71%

Emotional

69%

Cultural

42%

No domains are required

4. Fire drills prepare child care programs to quickly evacuate children in the event of a fire in order to prevent injury and death. 5. Medication must be administered precisely according to a medical authority’s instructions. Medicines must be inaccessible to children. 6. Incidents of illness and accidents must be reported to parents. The health department should be notified about communicable diseases in child care programs. 7. Placing infants on their backs to sleep reduces the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). 8. Hazardous materials should be kept out of children’s reach. Child care settings should be kept free of cleaning products and other hazardous materials or products that can cause illness, injury or death to children. 9. Playground surfaces under outdoor surfaces should be surrounded by a resilient material of a sufficient depth to minimize injuries. Falls are the principal cause of playground injuries.

9. NACCRRA Benchmark: Center regulations address 10 basic health and safety standards and explicitly prohibit corporal punishment.

The following 10 health and safety practices have been shown to be essential for keeping children healthy and safe in child care settings.

2. Regulations about behavior guidance and discipline protect children. Harsh discipline, especially corporal punishment, is a form of child abuse that should be expressly forbidden in each state. 3. Handwashing is the single most effective way to prevent the transmission of infectious diseases, especially diarrheal diseases. Proper diapering techniques have been shown to reduce the spread of disease in child care settings.

Table 6.18 has information about which of the six developmental domains child care programs are required to address in individual states.

Domains Addressed

1. Immunizations are an effective means for preventing the spread of infectious diseases among young children.

10. Emergency preparedness plans should be developed to shelter in place or to evacuate children as needed depending on the nature of the disaster.

NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

Reality There has been an increase in the number of states requiring regulations related to health and safety since the last report, but there is still room for improvement. ■■

Idaho, Louisiana and South Carolina continue to allow (or do not specifically prohibit) corporal punishment.

■■

Immunization of children attending child care centers is required in every state.

■■

All states address handwashing in their regulations and all states specify procedures for diaper changing.

■■

Fifty-one states have regulations about which behavior guidance and discipline measures can be used; however, in some states the requirements need to be improved. Idaho does not have regulations about guidance and discipline. Fifty-one states have regulations about administration of medication. Idaho does not have regulations about medication administration. Forty-nine states have regulations about fire drills. Alabama, Georgia and Idaho do not have regulations about fire drills. Forty-nine states have regulations about keeping hazardous materials out of the reach of children. Iowa, Nevada, and South Dakota do not have such regulations. Forty-eight states have regulations about reporting incidents, illness and accidents to parents. Hawaii, Idaho, Nebraska and South Dakota do not require incident reports.

■■

Forty-eight states require emergency preparedness plans. Idaho, Louisiana, North Carolina and Rhode Island do not require emergency preparedness plans.

■■

Forty-four states require resilient material under and around outdoor playground equipment. Idaho, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Washington do not have regulations about resilient materials under and around climbing equipment on playgrounds.

■■

Forty-one states have regulations about placing infants on their backs to sleep in order to reduce the incidence of SIDS. Arizona, Arkansas, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada and North Dakota do not have regulations about SIDS.

Table 6.19 has information about the number and percent of states that require specific health and safety practices. Table 6.19 Health and Safety Practices Required by States Health and Safety Requirement

Number of States

Percent of States

Immunization

100%

Handwashing

100%

Diapering

100%

Guidance/Discipline*

98%

Medicine administration

98%

Fire drills

94%

Hazardous material

94%

Incident reporting

92%

Emergency preparedness

92%

Surfaces under outdoor playground equipment

85%

Placing infant on back

79%

*Note: States that explicitly or implicitly allow corporal punishment scored 0 on this item.

NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

States may require only some of the health and safety practices.

Reality The majority of states require centers to allow parents to have access to the program when their child is present. However, they are less likely to require that centers have a mechanism for regularly communicating with parents or for holding parent conferences or encouraging parent involvement. Fifty states require centers to allow parents to enter the program when their child is present.

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Thirty-one states require child care programs to address all 10 of the health and safety elements. This is up from only nine states that addressed all these requirements in 2007.

■■

Another 19 states require programs to address eight or nine of the elements.

■■

South Dakota requires only seven elements.

■■

Thirty-nine states require more than written communication with parents.

■■

Idaho requires only three elements.

■■

Only 24 states require centers to encourage parents to be involved in the child care center.

■■

Two states (Louisiana and New Mexico) do not require parents to have access to a child care center while their child is in the center.

Table 6.20 has information about the number of health and safety items that are addressed in licensing requirements by individual states. Table 6.20 Number of Health and Safety Practices Required by States

Number of Health and Safety Practices

Number of States Requiring

Percent of States Requiring

12%

25%

60%

Total

100%

Table 6.21 State Requirements for Parent Involvement, Communication with Parents and/or Parental Access Number of States

Percent of States

Allow access to parents

96%

Communicate with parents

75%

Encourage parent involvement

46%

Required Parent Strategies

10. NACCRRA Benchmark: Programs encourage parent involvement, require daily or ongoing communication with parents, and allow parental visits at any time their child is present.

Parents are, in reality, a child care center’s chief customers. Communication between parents and caregiving staff helps ensure continuity in the care of the child. Having parents involved in their child’s program pays dividends during the early years and establishes a pattern for later involvement in school activities. Ensuring parents can visit the program anytime their child is present is an important child abuse prevention measure. 38

Table 6.21 has information about the number and percent of states that have regulations regarding parent involvement, parent communication or parental visits.

Fewer than half of the states require child care centers to use all three parent strategies. ■■

Louisiana does not require any parentrelated strategies.

NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

■■

Eleven states (Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Nebraska, North Carolina and South Dakota) require only one parent-related strategy.

Twenty-two states require all three parentrelated strategies.

Table 6.22 has information about how many of the three parent items are required by individual states. Table 6.22 Number of Required Parent Strategies (Parent Involvement, Communication with Parents and/or Parental Access) Number of Parent Items Required

Number of States

Percent of States

21%

35%

42%

Total

100%

NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

Summary and Recommendations There has been some improvement in state child care center regulations since the 2007 report. Many states have heard and are responding to the information we provided in our first report. Almost four-fifths of the states (40 states) have changed licensing requirements since the data were gathered for that report. DoD continues to be the model for a coherent system for child care. However, there is room for improvement in every state and DoD. We still cannot say with confidence that America’s children are being protected by the state child care center licensing regulations and oversight systems as they exist now. Nor can we say that regulations are in place in licensed child care programs to help young children learn and be ready for school. States scoring in NACCRRA’s top 10 combined list (oversight and regulation) have relatively stronger policies compared to other states; however, that cannot be interpreted to mean that they scored high on NACCRRA’s criteria. They scored highest among the states, but they still need to work harder to ensure children are safe and learning in child care. While the average score has risen from 70 to 83 out of a possible 150 points, the overall picture is still alarming. An overall score of 83 converts to 55 percent or the equivalent of an F. As shown in the following report card (table 7.1), no state earned an A. One state (DoD) earned a B, and one state (District of Columbia) earned a C. Two-thirds of the states (33 states) earned a failing grade, and 16 states (30 percent) only earned a D. 40

Table 7.1 Report Card Percent of Points Earned on Oversight and Regulations

Grade

Number of States

91 to 100 percent

81 to 90 percent

71 to 80 percent

61 to 70 percent

10 to 60 percent

Oversight ■■

Children are routinely being cared for in child care settings that are not required to meet minimum licensing regulations.

■■

In most states, child care centers are not inspected frequently. States cannot confidently say to parents that licensing regulations are being enforced and that children are in safe and healthy environments.

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Caseloads for licensing staff have gone down in some states since the last report. However, there are vast discrepancies. In many states, the caseload is too large to allow licensing staff to conduct frequent and effective inspections.

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While an Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree is required for licensing staff in 43 states, only 16 states require a concentration in early childhood education or a related field.

NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

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More states are now providing information to parents about inspection and complaint reports on the Internet, but most states still do not provide this vital information. Parents cannot make informed choices without this information.

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The number of required annual training hours for teachers in most states is very low and insufficient to significantly increase knowledge and skills needed to work with young children.

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There has been progress in the area of background checks since the last report; however, many states do not require the use of fingerprints for conducting criminal history checks, so the checks are of limited value.

■■

Licensing regulations related to program activities in most states are insufficient to adequately prepare children to enter kindergarten “ready to learn.”

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There is considerable variance among the states in staff-child ratios required in centers. Children in the older age groups are more likely to be in classes that have too many children for each teacher.

■■

There is considerable difference among the states on group size regulations. Almost half of the states do not even regulate group size. States that do regulate group size are most likely to meet the NAEYC group size requirements for infants and young toddlers.

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There has been progress in regulations related to the recommended 10 health and safety elements since the last report, but there is still room for improvement.

■■

The majority of states require centers to allow parents to have access to the program while their child is present. But, states are less likely to require that centers have a mechanism for regularly communicating with parents or for encouraging parent involvement.

Regulations

Eight of the top 10 states for regulations (Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Vermont and Wisconsin) scored in the 70s out of a possible 100. It is doubtful that any school, child or parent would think a test grade in the 70s is exemplary. ■■

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Children in almost all states are allowed to be in a child care center where the director is not required to have adequate training or education for the position. Education requirements for center-based lead teachers who are responsible for classroom curriculum decisions are woefully inadequate. Fewer than one-sixth of the states meet the NACCRRA benchmark of a CDA credential or an Associate’s degree in early childhood education. Children in child care centers with untrained staff are at a higher risk of illness or accidents. While health and safety are recognized as important areas for training in most states, one-fifth of states do not require staff to be trained on fire safety and other health and safety skills. Relatively low levels of educational qualifications make pre-service and orientation training very important. Unfortunately, most states have minimal requirements for pre-service or orientation training.

NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

Conclusion Basic regulations and the ability of states to enforce them are the foundation on which we as a nation can better protect and improve the lives of our children. The standards selected by NACCRRA represent the most basic, minimal regulations possible, yet the average score is 83 or 55 percent, a failing grade in any school in the country. According to the most recent estimates from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), over $12 billion in government funds are spent on child care each year. Most of this funding is through the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), the primary federal funding stream to states for child care. In addition, states transfer funds to CCDBG from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program or spend directly on child care from TANF. Congress has given the states wide latitude to establish regulations and to hold programs accountable, especially those programs receiving federal subsidies to serve children in families with low incomes.

Given the large public investment in child care and the statesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; failure to protect the safety and well-being of children, Congress must be more aggressive in holding states accountable. Congress must ensure that children are safe and that child care providers promote healthy child development. This means that Congress has a role in strengthening the regulations for child care centersâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;especially those subsidized through the CCDBG. There should be accountability for how federal money is spent. It is questionable whether states are currently meeting the minimum requirements in the current law, but even these requirements do not protect children. We support state flexibility, but there needs to be a floor to ensure that children are protected. The current practice of no or limited requirements endangers children, and states have not shown in the 18 years of CCDBG funding that they can put into place the requirements that parents expect and assume. We urge Congress to require higher minimum regulations for child care centers receiving federal dollars. NACCRRA recommends that Congress set minimum protections for children and strengthen the CCDBG law to:

NACCRRAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

1. Require background checks, based on fingerprints, for all child care center employees. 2. Require states to establish minimum health and safety regulations and enforce them through quarterly unannounced inspections of all licensed child care programs (the same standard Congress requires of the military child care system). 3. Require states to post inspection findings on the Internet for easy parent access so parents can make informed choices when choosing child care. 4. Require all child care workers to have at least 40 hours of pre-service training (including CPR, first-aid and other basic safety and health training in addition to child development). Require all child care workers to complete 24 hours of ongoing annual training. 5. Authorize HHS to withhold funding from states that do not require minimum protections for children and that do not conduct regular unannounced inspections of child care settings. Recommendations to states: States have made progress in regulating child care centers in some areas since NACCRRA issued the last report in 2007, but much more is needed. NACCRRA recommends all child care centers and family child care homes caring for one or more unrelated children on a regular basis for a fee be licensed and inspected. Staff should have background checks and receive training. The following changes to regulations and oversight will make child care centers safer, healthier and more educationally appropriate for young children. In addition to the above, states should:

1. Ensure adequate oversight by reducing licensing caseloads to a ratio of no more that 50:1 to improve accountability for meeting state regulations. Require licensing staff to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher in early childhood education or a related field. 2. Require child care center directors to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher in early childhood education in order to promote program quality. 3. Require lead teachers in each classroom to have a Child Development Associate (CDA) credential or an Associate’s degree in early childhood education or a related field or to be enrolled in a program to receive such a credential. 4. Require all child care center staff to complete a minimum of 40 hours of pre-service training in child development and guidance and other basic health and safety practices prior to working alone with children. Require all child care center staff to complete at least 24 hours of ongoing annual training that will lead to a CDA credential. 5. Require state child care center licensing regulations to include 10 basic health and safety standards. 6. Require states to post inspection results and complaints online. President Obama has called for a “new era of responsibility.” Child care should be part of that era. Federal funds should be spent in an accountable manner. States should take responsibility for ensuring that children are protected and in a setting promoting healthy development when they are not in the care of their parents. We can do better.

NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

Appendix A Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight in Individual States

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Alabama Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 70/150 (47%) Rank : 42 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

29/50

58%

Standard

41/100

41%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$5,356

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$4,888

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher in ECE*** or related field.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

of 50 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Department of Defense.* National Association for the Education of Young Children; *** Early Childhood Education; ** Child Development Associate credential; **** Six developmental domains are social, physical, language/literacy, cognitive/intellectual, emotional and cultural; ***** Ten areas are immunizations, guidance/discipline regulations, diapering and handwashing, fire drills, medication administration, incident reporting, placing infants on backs to sleep, hazardous materials, playground surfaces under outdoor equipment and emergency preparedness. Source: Survey of state child care administrators conducted by the National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies in Fall 2008. Note: Information was also verified against state regulations. Source for price information: National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies. “Parents and the High Price of Child Care: 2008 Update.”

State of Small Family Child Care Homes in Alabama Weakness

Strength ✔✔ C hild care centers and family child care homes caring for even one unrelated child for pay are required to be licensed. ✔✔ C hild care licensing staff are required to have a Bachelor’s degree in early childhood education or a related field.

✗✗ Child care centers are inspected only once every two years. ✗✗ Reports of routine inspections conducted at child care

✔✔ C enter staff are required to have orientation, fire safety and other health and safety training.

programs and reports of those conducted because of complaints are not available online.

✔✔ C enters are required to have at least one first-aid and CPR certified staff on the premises.

✗✗ Center directors are not required to have any college credits/

✔✔ R equires all center staff to undergo a background check that includes a check of state and federal criminal history records using a fingerprint, and checks of child abuse and neglect registries. Sex offender registries are not explicitly included in the checks.

✗✗ Lead teachers in centers are only required to have a high

✔✔ H ealth and safety standards address nine of 10 basic standards (immunizations, guidance/discipline, diapering/ handwashing, medicine administration, incident reporting, hazardous materials, playground surfaces under outdoor equipment, emergency preparedness and placing infant on back). Fire drill is not addressed.

✗✗ Programs are not required to address any of the six

courses. school diploma or GED before working with children.

✗✗ Center staff are required to complete only 12 hours of annual training. developmental domains. These domains include social, physical, language/literacy, cognitive/intellectual, emotional and cultural.

✗✗ Does not meet NAEYC’s ratio and group size requirements for any of the seven age groups.

✔✔ H as requirements regarding parent communication and allows parental visits, but does not specifically address parental involvement.

Recommendations ■■ I ncrease educational requirements for directors beyond high school degree and 120 clock hours in early childhood education. ■■ I ncrease frequency of inspections of child care programs to more often than once every two years. ■■ R equire centers to address children’s language, social, emotional and cognitive development in daily activities. ■■ Clarify the requirement for at least monthly fire drills. ■■ R equire centers to provide parents opportunities to be involved in their child’s child care program. ■■ M ake inspection and complaint reports available online for parent review.

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Alaska Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 80/150 (53%) Rank : 33 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

22/50

44%

Standard

58/100

58%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$8,532

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$7,092

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher in ECE*** or related field.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

State of Small Family Child Care Homes in Alaska Weakness

Strength

✗✗ Family child care providers can care for up to four unrelated

✔✔ C hild care licensing staff are required to have a Bachelor’s degree, and they have an average caseload of 33 programs.

children for pay without a license.

✗✗ Child care centers are inspected only once every two years.

✔✔ C enter staff are required to have orientation, fire safety and other health and safety training.

✗✗ Reports of routine inspections conducted at child care programs and reports of those conducted because of complaints are not available online.

✔✔ C enters are required to have at least one first-aid and CPR certified staff on the premises.

✗✗ Requires center directors to only complete some college

✔✔ R equires all center staff to undergo a comprehensive background check that includes a check of state and federal criminal history records using a fingerprint, and checks of child abuse and neglect registries and sex offender registries.

credits/courses.

✗✗ Lead teachers in centers are not even required to have a high school diploma or GED before working with children.

✔✔ R equires program activities to address all six developmental domains (social, physical, language/literacy, cognitive/ intellectual, emotional and cultural).

✗✗ Only has requirements regarding allowing parents to visit the

✗✗ Meets NAEYC’s ratio and group size requirements for only

center, but no requirements for communicating with parents or regarding involving them. two of seven age groups (27 months and 4 years). Does not meet ratio and group size requirements for 6, 9 and 18-month and 3 and 5-year-olds.

Recommendations ■■ I ncrease the frequency of inspections of child care programs to more often than once every two years. ■■ I ncrease the educational requirements for lead teachers to more than demonstrated competency. ■■ R equire centers to provide opportunities for parents to be involved in their child’s child care program and to communicate with them frequently about the care of their child, especially their infants and toddlers. ■■ M ake inspection and complaint reports available online for parent review.

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Arizona Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 87/150 (58%) Rank : 24 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

35/50

70%

Standard

52/100

52%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$7,974

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$6,390

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher in ECE*** or related field.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Arizona Weakness

Strength ✔✔ C hild care licensing staff are required to have a Bachelor’s degree in early childhood education or a related field. ✔✔ B oth reports of routine inspections conducted at child care programs and those conducted because of complaints are available online.

✗✗ Family child care providers can care for up to five unrelated

✔✔ C enter staff are required to have orientation, fire safety and other health and safety training.

✗✗ Center directors are not required to have a college degree.

children for pay without a license.

✗✗ Child care centers are inspected only once a year. ✗✗ Lead teachers in centers are only required to have a high

✔✔ C enters are required to have at least one first-aid and CPR certified staff on the premises.

school diploma or GED before working with children.

✗✗ Center staff are required to complete only 12 hours of annual

✔✔ R equires program activities to address all six developmental domains (social, physical, language/literacy, cognitive/ intellectual, emotional and cultural).

training.

✗✗ Center staff are required to undergo background checks which include state and federal checks of criminal history records using fingerprints. The check does not explicitly include child abuse and neglect registries and sex offender registries.

✔✔ H ealth and safety standards address nine of 10 basic standards (immunizations, guidance/discipline, diapering/ handwashing, medicine administration, incident reporting, hazardous materials, playground surfaces under outdoor equipment and emergency preparedness). Placing infants on back is not addressed.

✗✗ Does not meet NAEYC’s ratio and group size requirements for any of the seven age groups.

✔✔ H as requirements regarding parent involvement, communication, and allows parental visits.

Recommendations ■■ Establish a specific number of hours for pre-service training. ■■ R equire providers to put babies to sleep on their backs unless directed otherwise by a medical authority. ■■ M ake inspection and complaint reports available online for parents’ review.

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Arkansas Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 66/150 (44%) Rank : 44 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

37/50

74%

Standard

29/100

29%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$5,231

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$4,475

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher in ECE*** or related field.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Arkansas Weakness

Strength

✗✗ Family child care providers can care for up to five unrelated children for pay without a license. ✔✔ A ll child care centers are inspected at least three times a year.

✗✗ Center directors are not required to have any college

✔✔ C hild care licensing staff are required to have a Bachelor’s degree.

✗✗ Lead teachers in centers are not required to have a

✔✔ B oth reports of routine inspections conducted at child care programs and those conducted because of complaints are available online.

✗✗ Center staff are required to complete only 10 hours of

credits/courses. high school diploma or GED before working with children. annual training.

✗✗ Center staff are required to undergo background checks

✔✔ C enter staff are required to have orientation, fire safety and other health and safety training.

(which include checks of criminal history records), but these checks do not use a fingerprint. Checks of child abuse and neglect registries are also required, but the check does not explicitly include sex offender registries.

✔✔ C enters are required to have at least one CPR certified staff on the premises. First-aid certified staff is not required.

✗✗ Programs are required to address only two of six

✔✔ H ealth and safety standards address nine of 10 basic standards (immunizations, guidance/discipline, diapering/ handwashing, fire drills, medicine administration, incident reporting, hazardous materials, playground surfaces under outdoor equipment and emergency preparedness). Placing infants on back is not addressed.

developmental domains (physical and emotional). Programs are not required to address social, language/ literacy, cognitive/intellectual, emotional and cultural domains.

✗✗ Has requirements regarding parental visits to the center, but no requirements for communicating with parents or involving them.

✗✗ Does not meet NAEYC’s ratio and group size requirements for any of the seven age groups.

Recommendations ■■ I ncrease the educational requirements for center directors to more than a high school diploma and experience. ■■ R equire one or more staff in the center to be trained in use of first-aid procedures. ■■ R equire centers to offer language, social and cognitive development activities as part of their daily program. ■■ R equire providers to put babies to sleep on their backs unless directed otherwise by a medical authority. ■■ C heck the state sex offender registry as part of the background check on center staff.

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in California Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 62/150 (41%) Rank : 48 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

16/50

32%

Standard

46/100

46%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$10,745

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$7,477

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher in ECE*** or related field.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in California Weakness

Strength

✗✗ Family child care providers can care for the children from

✔✔ C hild care licensing staff are required to have a Bachelor’s degree.

one other family for pay and their own young children without being licensed.

✔✔ C enter staff are required to have orientation, fire safety, and other health and safety training.

✗✗ Child care centers are inspected only once every five years – the state requires that 30 percent of centers be inspected annually.

✔✔ C enters are required to have at least one first-aid and CPR certified staff on the premises.

✗✗ Child care licensing inspectors have an average caseload of 169 programs.

✗✗ Reports of routine inspections conducted at child care programs and reports of those conducted because of complaints are not available online.

✗✗ Requires center directors to only complete some college credits/courses.

✗✗ Lead teachers in centers are are not required to have a CDA credential or an Associate’s degree.

✗✗ Center staff are not required to complete any annual training. ✗✗ Programs are not required to address any of the six developmental domains. These domains include social, physical, language/literacy, cognitive/intellectual, emotional and cultural.

Recommendations

✗✗ Has requirements regarding parental visits to the center, but no requirements for communicating with parents or involving them.

✗✗ Meets NAEYC’s ratio requirements for only three of seven

■■ I nspect child care centers more often than once every 5 years.

age groups (6, 9 and 18 months). Does not meet ratio requirements for 27-month and 3, 4 and 5-year-olds.

■■ R equire annual training (preferably 24 hours) of center staff each year instead of none.

✗✗ Meets NAEYC’s group size requirements for only three of seven age groups (3, 4 and 5-year-olds). Does not meet group size requirements for 6, 9, 18 and 27-month-olds.

■■ R equire centers to offer language, social, emotional and cognitive development activities as part of their daily program. ■■ R equire providers to put babies to sleep on their backs (to prevent SIDS) unless directed otherwise by a medical authority. ■■ R equire centers to involve parents in their child’s program and to communicate with them about the care of their child or children.

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Colorado Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 72/150 (48%) Rank : 41 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

27/50

54%

Standard

45/100

45%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$10,854

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$9,765

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher in ECE*** or related field.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Colorado Weakness

Strength

✗✗ Family child care providers can care for up to one unrelated child for pay without a license.

✔✔ C hild care licensing staff are required to have a Bachelor’s degree.

✗✗ Child care centers are inspected, on average, only once every two years.

✔✔ B oth reports of routine inspections conducted at child care programs and those conducted because of complaints are available online.

✗✗ Child care licensing inspectors have an average caseload

✔✔ C enter staff are required to have orientation, fire safety, and other health and safety training.

✗✗ Requires center directors to only complete some college

✔✔ C enters are required to have at least one first-aid and CPR certified staff on the premises.

✗✗ Lead teachers in centers are not required to have a high

✗✗ Center staff are required to complete only 15 hours of

of 140 programs. credits/courses. school diploma or GED before working with children. annual training.

✗✗ Center staff are required to undergo only state-level background checks, which include checks of criminal history records using a fingerprint, and checks of child abuse and neglect registries. The check does not explicitly include sex offender registries. The background check is not national in scope for all center staff.

✗✗ Has requirements regarding parental visits to the center, but no requirements for communicating with parents or involving them.

✗✗ Does not meet NAEYC’s ratio and group size requirements for any of the seven age groups.

Recommendations ■■ E nsure all centers are inspected more frequently than once every two years. ■■ S trengthen the requirements for centers to provide children with a daily program of language, social, emotional and cognitive development activities. ■■ R equire centers to offer parents the opportunity to be involved in their child’s program. ■■ C larify the requirement to check the state sex offender registry as part of the background check procedures.

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Connecticut Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 81/150 (54%) Rank : 30 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

13/50

26%

Standard

68/100

68%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$11,274

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$9,111

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher in ECE*** or related field.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Connecticut Weakness

Strength ✔✔ All child care programs are required to be licensed. ✔✔ C enters are required to have at least one first-aid and CPR certified staff on the premises.

✗✗ Child care centers are inspected only once a year. ✗✗ Child care licensing staff are not required to have an

Associate’s degree, and have an average caseload of 235 programs.

✗✗ Reports of routine inspections conducted at child care programs and reports of those conducted because of complaints are not available online.

✔✔ R equires program activities to address all six developmental domains (social, physical, language/literacy, cognitive/ intellectual, emotional and cultural).

✗✗ Center directors are not required to have any college credits/courses.

✗✗ Lead teachers in centers are not required to have a

CDA credential or an Associate’s degree.

✗✗ Center staff are not required to have fire safety and other health and safety training. They are required to complete orientation training.

✔✔ H as requirements regarding parent involvement, and allows parental visits, but does specifically address communicating with parents. ✔✔ M eets NAEYC’s ratio and group size requirements for six of seven age groups (6, 9, 18 and 27 months, and 4 and 5 years). Does not meet ratio and group size requirements for 3-year-olds.

Recommendations ■■ Establish education requirements for the directors of centers. ■■ Increase education requirements for lead teachers in centers. ■■ Establish pre-service training requirements for teachers.

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Delaware Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 94/150 (63%) Rank : 13 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

23/50

46%

Standard

71/100

71%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$8,476

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$6,656

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher in ECE*** or related field.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Delaware Weakness

Strength ✔✔ All child care programs are required to be licensed.

✗✗ Child care centers are inspected only once a year.

✔✔ C hild care licensing staff are required to have a Bachelor’s degree in early childhood education or a related field.

✗✗ Child care licensing inspectors have an average caseload of 149 programs.

✔✔ C enter staff are required to have orientation, fire safety and other health and safety training.

✗✗ Reports of routine inspections conducted at child care programs and reports of those conducted because of complaints are not available online.

✔✔ C enters are required to have at least one first-aid and CPR certified staff on the premises.

✗✗ Requires center directors to only have an Associate’s degree.

✗✗ Lead teachers in centers are only required to have a high school diploma or GED, 120 hours of training and experience before working with children.

✗✗ Meets NAEYC’s ratio and group size requirements for only

✔✔ R equires program activities to address all six developmental domains (social, physical, language/literacy, cognitive/ intellectual, emotional and cultural).

two of seven age groups (6 and 9 months). Does not meet ratio and group size requirements for 18 and 27-month and 3, 4 and 5-year-olds.

Recommendations ■■ Increase the frequency of licensing inspections. ■■ Conduct unannounced routine inspections. ■■ E stablish a requirement for a specific number of orientation training hours. ■■ C heck the state sex offender registry as part of the background check on center staff. ■■ M ake inspection and complaint reports available online for review by parents. ■■ Reduce the caseload for licensing inspectors.

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in the Dept. of Defense Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 131/150 (87%) Rank : 1 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

45/50

90%

Standard

86/100

86%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

N/A

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

N/A

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking 1.

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher in ECE*** or related field.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in the Dept. of Defense Weakness

Strength ✔✔ All child care programs are required to be licensed.

✗✗ Reports of inspections conducted at child care programs because of complaints are not available online.

✔✔ All child care centers are inspected at least four times a year.

✗✗ Meets NAEYC’s ratio and group size requirements for only

✔✔ C hild care licensing staff are required to have a Bachelor’s degree in early childhood education or a related field, and they have an average caseload of 50 programs.

two of seven age groups (6 and 9 months). Does not meet ratio and group size requirements for 18 and 27-month and 3, 4 and 5-year-olds.

✔✔ R eports of routine inspections conducted at child care programs are available online. ✔✔ R equires center directors to have at least a Bachelor’s degree or higher in ECE or related field. ✔✔ R equires lead teachers in centers to have a CDA credential or Associate’s degree.

Recommendations

✔✔ C enter staff are required to have orientation, fire safety, and other health and safety training. ✔✔ A ll center staff are required to have first-aid and CPR training.

■■ Make complaint reports available online. ■■ Reduce the staff-child ratios for some age groups.

✔✔ C enter staff are required to complete at least 24 hours of annual training and work toward a CDA credential. ✔✔ R equires all center staff to undergo a comprehensive background check that includes a check of state and federal criminal history records using a fingerprint, and checks of child abuse and neglect registries and the National Sex Offender Registry. ✔✔ R equires program activities to address all six developmental domains (social, physical, language/literacy, cognitive/ intellectual, emotional and cultural). ✔✔ H ealth and safety standards address all 10 basic standards (immunizations, guidance/discipline, diapering/handwashing, fire drills, medicine administration, incident reporting, hazardous materials, playground surfaces under outdoor equipment, emergency preparedness and placing infant on back). Diapering is not addressed. ✔✔ H as requirements regarding parent involvement and communication, and allows parental visits.

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in District of Columbia Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 111/150 (74%) Rank : 2 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

32/50

64%

Standard

79/100

79%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$10,400

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$7,800

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher in ECE*** or related field.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in District of Columbia Weakness

Strength ✔✔ All child care programs are required to be licensed.

✗✗ Only one inspection per year of child care centers is required.

✔✔ C hild care licensing staff are required to have a Bachelor’s degree in early childhood education or a related field.

✗✗ Reports of routine inspections conducted at child care programs and reports of those conducted because of complaints are not available online.

✔✔ R equires center directors to have at least a Director credential - the credential is created by the state. Directors are also required to have at least 5 years experience.

✗✗ Lead teachers in centers are not even required to have a high school diploma or GED before working with children.

✔✔ C enter staff are required to have orientation and other health and safety training. Training in fire safety is not required. ✔✔ C enters are required to have at least one first-aid and CPR certified staff on the premises.

Recommendations

■■ M ake the requirement for at least annual licensing inspections a written policy instead of an accepted practice.

✔✔ R equires program activities to address four of six developmental domains (social, physical, language/literacy and cultural). Cognitive/intellectual and emotional domains are not required to be addressed.

■■ E stablish a requirement for a specific number of orientation training hours. ■■ I nclude training on fire safety as part of a required orientation program.

■■ S trengthen the requirement for activities to be offered in all of the developmental domains. ■■ M ake inspection and complaint reports available online for parents to review.

✔✔ H as requirements regarding parent involvement and communication, and allows parental visits. ✔✔ M eets NAEYC’s ratio and group size requirements for all seven age groups (6, 9, 18 and 27 months, and 3, 4 and 5 years).

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Florida Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 97/150 (65%) Rank : 9 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

42/50

84%

Standard

55/100

55%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$7,336

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$5,871

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking 1.

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher in ECE*** or related field.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Florida Weakness

Strength ✔✔ A ll child care centers are inspected at least four times a year.

✗✗ Family child care providers can care for up to two unrelated

✔✔ C hild care licensing staff are required to have a Bachelor’s degree.

✗✗ Center staff are required to complete only 10 hours of annual

✔✔ B oth reports of routine inspections conducted at child care programs and those conducted because of complaints are available online.

✗✗ Center staff are required to undergo background checks

children for pay without a license. training. which include state and federal checks of criminal history records using fingerprints. The check does not explicitly include child abuse and neglect registries and sex offender registries.

✔✔ R equires center directors to have at least a Director credential - the credential is created by the state. ✔✔ R equires lead teachers in centers to have a state approved credential.

✗✗ Has requirements regarding parental visits to the center, but no requirements for communicating with parents or involving them.

✔✔ C enter staff are required to have orientation, fire safety and other health and safety training.

✗✗ Meets NAEYC’s ratio requirements for only two of seven age groups (6 and 9 months). Does not meet ratio requirements for 18 and 27-month and 3, 4 and 5-year-olds.

✔✔ C enters are required to have at least one first-aid and CPR certified staff on the premises.

✗✗ Does not meet NAEYC’s group size requirements for any of

✔✔ R equires program activities to address five of six developmental domains (social, physical, language/literacy, cognitive/intellectual and emotional). Cultural is, however, not required to be addressed.

the seven age groups.

Recommendations ■■ I ncrease the annual training requirements of teachers from 10 to 24 hours. ■■ R equire checks of the state child abuse registry for teachers and others interacting directly with children. ■■ E ncourage centers to involve parents in the program’s activities. ■■ E xpand the requirement for teachers to communicate with parents on a daily basis, especially the parents of infants and toddlers. ■■ Establish group size requirements for each age group.

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Georgia Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 53/150 (35%) Rank : 49 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

24/50

48%

Standard

29/100

29%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$6,845

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$5,674

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher in ECE*** or related field.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Georgia Weakness

Strength ✔✔ C hild care licensing staff are required to have a Bachelor’s degree in early childhood education or a related field.

✗✗ Family child care providers can care for up to three unrelated

✔✔ B oth reports of routine inspections conducted at child care programs and those conducted because of complaints are available online.

✗✗ Child care programs are not required to be inspected.

✔✔ C enter staff are required to have orientation, fire safety, and other health and safety training.

✗✗ Center directors are not required to have any college credits/

✔✔ C enters are required to have at least one first-aid and CPR certified staff on the premises.

✗✗ Lead teachers in centers are not required to have a high

✗✗ Center staff are required to complete only 10 hours of annual

children for pay without a license.

✗✗ Child care licensing inspectors have an average caseload of 146 programs. courses. school diploma or GED before working with children. training.

✗✗ Center staff are required to undergo background checks (which include checks of only criminal history records), but these checks do not use a fingerprint, and do not include checks of child abuse and neglect registries and sex offender registries.

✗✗ Programs are required to address only two of six developmental domains (physical and language/literacy). Programs are not required to address social, cognitive/ intellectual, emotional and cultural domains.

Recommendations

✗✗ Has requirements regarding parental visits to the center, but no requirements for communicating with parents or involving them.

■■ E stablish a requirement for at least annual licensing inspections; current language is permissive.

✗✗ Does not meet NAEYC’s ratio and group size requirements for any of the seven age groups.

■■ I ncrease the educational requirements for directors of programs beyond the current level of a high school diploma or GED. ■■ Establish educational requirements for lead/master teachers. ■■ I ncrease the number of orientation training hours required for staff. ■■ I ncrease the number of annual training hours required for staff. ■■ R equire programs to offer activities for children which address all of the domains of development. ■■ Clarify the requirement for at least monthly fire drills. ■■ R equire the use of fingerprints for checking individuals’ criminal history. ■■ C heck the child abuse registry and sex offender registry of staff prior to hiring. ■■ R equire programs to offer parents the opportunity to participate in their child’s program.

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Hawaii Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 89/150 (59%) Rank : 21 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

27/50

54%

Standard

62/100

62%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$10,411

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$6,480

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher in ECE*** or related field.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Hawaii Weakness

Strength ✔✔ C hild care licensing staff are required to have a Bachelor’s degree, and they have an average caseload of 44 programs.

✗✗ Family child care providers can care for up to two unrelated

✔✔ R equires lead teachers in centers to have an Associate’s degree in ECE or related field or a CDA credential.

✗✗ Child care centers are inspected only once a year.

children for pay without a license.

✗✗ Reports of routine inspections conducted at child care

✔✔ C enter staff are required to have orientation and other health and safety training. Fire safety training is not required.

programs and reports of those conducted because of complaints are not available online.

✔✔ C enters are required to have at least one first-aid and CPR certified staff on the premises.

✗✗ Requires center directors to only have a CDA credential. ✗✗ Center staff are not required to complete any annual training.

✔✔ R equires all center staff to undergo a background check that includes a check of state and federal criminal history records and child abuse and neglect registries using a fingerprint. Sex offender registries are not explicitly included in the checks.

✗✗ Health and safety standards address only eight of 10 basic standards (immunizations, guidance/discipline, diapering/ handwashing, fire drills, medicine administration, hazardous materials, playground surfaces under outdoor equipment and emergency preparedness). Incident reporting and placing infants on back are not addressed.

✔✔ R equires program activities to address all six developmental domains (social, physical, language/literacy, cognitive/ intellectual, emotional and cultural).

✗✗ Meets NAEYC’s ratio and group size requirements for only two of seven age groups (6 and 9 months). Does not meet ratio and group size requirements for 18 and 27-month and 3, 4 and 5-year-olds.

✔✔ H as requirements regarding parent communication and allows parental visits, but does not specifically address parental involvement.

Recommendations ■■ I ncrease the frequency of routine inspections to more often than once a year. ■■ E stablish the requirement for a specific number of hours of orientation training for new staff members. ■■ Establish group size limits for preschool age classrooms. ■■ Clarify the requirement for at least monthly fire drills. ■■ R equire centers to ensure hazardous materials are not accessible to children. ■■ R equire centers to report serious incidents to parents and state licensing officials. ■■ C heck employee names against the state sex offender registry. ■■ M ake inspection and complaint reports available online for parents to review.

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Idaho Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 15/150 (10%) Rank : 52 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

2/50

Standard

13/100

13%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$5,736

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$5,004

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher in ECE*** or related field.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Idaho Weakness

Strength

✗✗ The state only licenses child care centers with 13 or more children.

✗✗ Child care centers are inspected only once every two years by fire, and health and safety inspectors.

✗✗ Does not have any state-level licensing staff. ✗✗ Reports of routine inspections conducted at child care programs and reports of those conducted because of complaints are not available online.

Recommendations

✗✗ Center directors are not required to have any college credits/courses.

✗✗ Lead teachers in centers are not required to have a high school diploma or GED before working with children. ■■ Require at least annual licensing inspections.

✗✗ Center staff are not required to have orientation, fire safety or other health and safety training.

■■ Require some unannounced routine inspections of centers.

✗✗ Centers are not required to have a first-aid or CPR certified

■■ Establish education requirements for center directors.

staff on the premises.

■■ Establish education requirements for head/master teachers.

✗✗ Center staff are required to complete only 4 hours of annual training.

■■ R equire orientation training of all new child care center employees.

✗✗ Programs are not required to address any of the six developmental domains. These domains include social, physical, language/literacy, cognitive/intellectual, emotional and cultural.

■■ Establish maximum group sizes for all age groups. ■■ R equire centers to offer activities that address all developmental domains.

✗✗ Health and safety standards address only three of 10 basic

■■ E stablish center requirements related to guidance practices, fire drills, administration of medications, placing babies on their back to sleep (to prevent Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), emergency plans, surfaces under playground equipment, and reporting serious incidents to parents.

standards (immunizations, diapering/handwashing and hazardous materials). Guidance/discipline, fire drills, medicine administration, incident reporting, playground surfaces under outdoor equipment, emergency preparedness and placing infants on back are not addressed. Implicitly allows corporal punishment.

✗✗ Has requirements regarding parental visits to the center, but no requirements for communicating with parents or involving them.

✗✗ Does not meet NAEYC’s ratio and group size requirements for any of the seven age groups.

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Illinois Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 98/150 (65%) Rank : 8 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

25/50

50%

Standard

73/100

73%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$10,550

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$7,802

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher in ECE*** or related field.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Illinois Weakness

Strength ✔✔ C hild care licensing staff are required to have a Bachelor’s degree in early childhood education or a related field.

✗✗ Family child care providers can care for up to three unrelated children for pay without a license.

✔✔ R equires lead teachers in centers to have a state approved credential.

✗✗ Child care centers are inspected only once per year.

✔✔ C enter staff are required to have orientation, fire safety and other health and safety training.

✗✗ Reports of routine inspections conducted at child care programs and reports of those conducted because of complaints are not available online.

✔✔ C enters are required to have at least one first-aid and CPR certified staff on the premises.

✗✗ Center directors are not required to have a college degree.

✗✗ Center staff are required to complete only 15 hours of annual training.

✗✗ Meets NAEYC’s ratio requirements for only three of seven age groups (6 and 9 months, and 4 years). Does not meet ratio requirements for 18 and 27-month and 3 and 5-year-olds.

✔✔ R equires program activities to address all six developmental domains (social, physical, language/literacy, cognitive/ intellectual, emotional and cultural).

✗✗ Meets NAEYC’s group size requirements for only two of

seven age groups (4 and 5 years). Does not meet group size requirements for 6, 9, 18 and 27-month, and 3-year-olds.

✔✔ H as requirements regarding parent involvement and communication, and allows parental visits.

Recommendations ■■ I ncrease the frequency of licensing inspections of centers to more than once per year. ■■ E stablish a specific number of required orientation training hours and expand the requirement beyond the estimated 8 hours currently required. ■■ I ncrease the annual training requirements for teachers from 15 to 24 hours.

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Indiana Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 89/150 (59%) Rank : 21 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

25/50

50%

Standard

64/100

64%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$9,005

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$7,001

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking 1.

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher in ECE*** or related field.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Indiana Weakness

Strength

✗✗ Family child care providers can care for up to five unrelated

✔✔ B oth reports of routine inspections conducted at child care programs and those conducted because of complaints are available online.

children for pay without a license.

✗✗ Child care centers are inspected only once a year.

✔✔ C enter staff are required to have orientation, fire safety and other health and safety training.

✗✗ Child care licensing staff are not required to have a Bachelor’s

✔✔ C enters are required to have at least one first-aid and CPR certified staff on the premises.

✗✗ Requires center directors to have only an Associate’s degree

✗✗ Lead teachers in centers are not required to have a CDA

degree, and have an average caseload of 65 programs. in ECE. credential or an Associate’s degree.

✗✗ Center staff are required to complete only 12 hours of annual training.

✗✗ Center staff are required to undergo background checks (which include checks of criminal history records), but this check does not include using a fingerprint. Checks of child abuse and neglect registries and sex offender registries are also required.

✗✗ Meets NAEYC’s ratio and group size requirements for only

✔✔ H as requirements regarding parent communication and allows parental visits, but does not specifically address parental involvement.

three of seven age groups (6, 9 and 27 months). Does not meet ratio and group size requirements for 18-month and 3, 4 and 5-year-olds.

Recommendations ■■ I ncrease the frequency of licensing inspections of centers to more than once per year. ■■ I ncrease the educational requirements for head or master teachers. ■■ E stablish a specific number of required orientation training hours. ■■ I ncrease the number of required annual training hours of staff from 12 to 24 hours. ■■ R equire the use of fingerprints for criminal history background checks. ■■ R equire programs to offer parents the opportunity to be involved in program activities. ■■ R equire licensing staff to have at least a Bachelor’s degree in a related field.

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Iowa Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 66/150 (44%) Rank : 44 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

15/50

30%

Standard

51/100

51%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$7,360

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$5,939

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher in ECE*** or related field.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Iowa Strength

Weakness ✗✗ Family child care providers can care for up to five unrelated

✔✔ C hild care licensing staff are required to have a Bachelor’s degree.

children for pay without a license.

✗✗ Child care centers are inspected only once per year.

✔✔ C enter staff are required to have orientation, fire safety and other health and safety training.

✗✗ Child care licensing inspectors have an average caseload of 591 programs.

✔✔ C enters are required to have at least one first-aid and CPR certified staff on the premises.

✗✗ Reports of routine inspections conducted at child care programs and reports of those conducted because of complaints are not available online.

✔✔ R equires program activities to address all six developmental domains (social, physical, language/literacy, cognitive/ intellectual, emotional and cultural).

✗✗ Center directors are not required to have a college degree.

✔✔ H as requirements regarding parent communication and allows parental visits, but does not specifically address parental involvement.

✗✗ Lead teachers in centers are not required to have a high school diploma or GED before working with children.

✗✗ Center staff are required to complete only six hours of

✔✔ M eets NAEYC’s ratio requirements for five of seven age groups (6, 9, 18 and 27 months, and 3 years). Does not meet ratio requirements for 4 and 5-year-olds.

annual training.

✗✗ Center staff are required to undergo background checks (which include checks of criminal history records), but these checks do not use a fingerprint. Checks of child abuse and neglect registries and sex offender registries are also included.

✗✗ Health and safety standards address only eight of 10 basic standards (immunizations, guidance/discipline, diapering/ handwashing, fire drills, medicine administration, incident reporting, emergency preparedness and placing infant on back). Hazardous materials and playground surfaces under outdoor equipment are not addressed.

Recommendations ■■ I ncrease the frequency of licensing inspections of centers to more than once per year.

✗✗ Does not meet NAEYC’s group size requirements for any of the seven age groups.

■■ R equire center directors to have more than 12 clock hours of training in early childhood education. ■■ E stablish pre-service educational requirements for head or master teachers. ■■ I ncrease the number of required orientation training hours for new staff members to more than eight hours. ■■ I ncrease the number of required annual training hours for staff to more than six hours. ■■ Establish group size requirements for all age groups. ■■ R equire centers to put impact-altering materials under playground equipment. ■■ R equire centers to keep hazardous materials out of children’s reach. ■■ R equire the use of fingerprints for conducting criminal history background checks. ■■ M ake inspection and complaint reports available online for parents to review.

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Kansas Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 64/150 (43%) Rank : 47 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

23/50

46%

Standard

41/100

41%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$8,917

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$6,292

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher in ECE*** or related field.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Kansas Weakness

Strength ✔✔ All child care programs are required to be licensed.

✗✗ Child care centers are inspected only once per year.

✔✔ C hild care licensing staff are required to have a Bachelor’s degree in early childhood education or a related field, or be a registered nurse.

✗✗ Child care licensing inspectors have an average caseload of 151 programs.

✔✔ C enter staff are required to have training in fire safety and other health and safety, though they are not required to have orientation training.

✗✗ Reports of routine inspections conducted at child care

✗✗ Center directors are not required to have a college degree.

✗✗ Center staff are required to complete only 10 hours of annual

programs and reports of those conducted because of complaints are not available online.

✗✗ Centers are not required to have a CPR certified staff on the premises, though staff certified in first-aid are required to be present. training.

✗✗ Has requirements regarding parental visits to the center, but no requirements for communicating with parents or involving them.

Recommendations

✗✗ Meets NAEYC’s ratio requirements for only two of seven age groups (6 and 9 months). Does not meet ratio requirements for 18 and 27-month and 3, 4 and 5-year-olds.

■■ I ncrease the frequency of licensing inspections of centers to more than once per year.

✗✗ Meets NAEYC’s groups size requirement for only one of seven age groups (3 years). Does not meet group size requirements for 6, 9, 18 and 27-month and 4 and 5-year-olds.

■■ I ncrease the education requirements for lead teachers to more than a high school education. ■■ R equire orientation training for all new staff members caring for children. ■■ R equire at least one staff member to be present who is certified in cardiopulmonary resuscitation. ■■ Require caregivers to put babies down to sleep on their backs ■■ (to prevent Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). ■■ R equire the use of fingerprints for conducting criminal history background checks. ■■ M ake inspection and complaint reports available online for parents to review.

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Kentucky Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 75/150 (50%) Rank : 36 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

24/50

48%

Standard

51/100

51%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$6,240

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$5,720

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher in ECE*** or related field.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Kentucky Weakness

Strength

✗✗ Family child care providers can care for up to four unrelated children for pay without a license.

✔✔ C hild care licensing staff are required to have a Bachelor’s degree

✗✗ Child care centers are inspected only once per year. ✗✗ Reports of routine inspections conducted at child care

✔✔ C enter staff are required to have orientation, fire safety and other health and safety training.

programs and reports of those conducted because of complaints are not available online.

✔✔ C enters are required to have at least one first-aid and CPR certified staff on the premises.

✗✗ Center directors are not required to have any college credits/ courses.

✔✔ R equires program activities to address all six developmental domains (social, physical, language/literacy, cognitive/ intellectual, emotional and cultural).

✗✗ Lead teachers in centers are only required to have a high school diploma or GED before working with children.

✗✗ Center staff are required to complete only 15 hours of annual

training.

✗✗ Center staff are required to undergo background checks, which include checks of criminal history records using a fingerprint, and checks of child abuse and neglect registries. The check does not explicitly include sex offender registries.

✔✔ H as requirements regarding parent involvement and communication, and allows parental visits.

✗✗ Does not meet NAEYC’s ratio and group size requirements for any of the seven age groups.

Recommendations ■■ I ncrease the frequency of licensing inspections of centers to more than once per year. ■■ R equire center directors to have at least some education or training in early care and education. ■■ R equire lead teachers to have at least some education or training in early care and education. ■■ I ncrease the number of orientation training hours for new staff to more than 6 hours. ■■ R equire the use of fingerprints for conducting criminal history background checks. ■■ Check the state sex offender registry for new hires. ■■ M ake inspection and complaint reports available online for parents to review.

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Louisiana Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 46/150 (31%) Rank : 51 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

29/50

58%

Standard

17/100

17%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$5,096

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$4,610

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher in ECE*** or related field.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Louisiana Weakness

Strength ✗✗ Family child care homes are not licensed. ✔✔ A ll child care centers are inspected at least three times a year.

✗✗ Child care licensing inspectors have an average caseload of

✔✔ C hild care licensing staff are required to have a Bachelor’s degree.

✗✗ Reports of inspections conducted at child care programs

✔✔ R eports of annual inspection visits to child care programs are available online.

✗✗ Center directors are not required to have a college degree.

80 programs. because of complaints are not available online.

✗✗ Lead teachers in centers are not required to have a high

✔✔ C enter staff are required to have orientation, fire safety and other health and safety training.

school diploma or GED before working with children.

✗✗ Center staff are required to complete only 7 hours of annual

✔✔ C enters are required to have CPR certified staff on the premises. First-aid certified staff are not required.

training.

✗✗ Center staff are required to undergo only state-level background checks which include only checks of criminal history records using a fingerprint. The check does not explicitly include child abuse and neglect registries and sex offender registries. The background check is not national in scope for all center staff.

Recommendations

✗✗ Programs are required to address only one of six developmental domains (physical). Programs are not required to address social, physical, cognitive/intellectual, emotional and cultural domains.

■■ R equire lead teachers to have at least some education or training in early care and education.

✗✗ Health and safety standards address only eight of 10 basic standards (immunizations, guidance/discipline, diapering/ handwashing, fire drills, medicine administration, incident reporting, hazardous materials, playground surfaces under outdoor equipment). Emergency preparedness and placing infants on back are not addressed. However, corporal punishment is allowed with parent permission.

■■ I ncrease the number of hours of orientation training for new staff to more than 7 hours. ■■ Establish group size requirements for all age groups. ■■ R equire centers to offer activities which address all of the developmental domains.

✗✗ Has no requirements regarding parent involvement,

■■ R equire centers to follow accepted procedures related to SIDS prevention and emergency planning.

communication, or allowing parents to visit.

✗✗ Does not meet NAEYC’s ratio and group size requirements for

■■ C heck the state child abuse registry and sex offender registry on new hires.

any of the seven age groups.

■■ M ake all inspection and complaint reports available online for parents to review.

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Maine Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 73/150 (49%) Rank : 38 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

7/50

14%

Standard

66/100

66%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$8,424

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$7,020

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher in ECE*** or related field.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Maine Weakness

Strength ✔✔ C enter staff are required to have orientation, fire safety and other health and safety training.

✗✗ Family child care providers can care for up to two unrelated children for pay and their own young children without a license.

✔✔ C enters are required to have at least one first-aid and CPR certified staff on the premises.

✗✗ Child care centers are inspected only at the time of relicensing and once during the licensing period.

✔✔ C enter staff are required to complete at least 30 hours of annual training.

✗✗ Child care licensing staff are not even required to have an Associate’s degree, and have an average caseload of 179 programs.

✗✗ Reports of routine inspections conducted at child care programs and reports of those conducted because of complaints are not available online.

✗✗ Center directors are not required to have any college credits/

✔✔ H as requirements regarding parent involvement and communication, and allows parental visits.

courses.

✗✗ Lead teachers in centers are only required to have a high

✔✔ M eets NAEYC’s ratio requirements for five of seven age groups (6, 9, and 27 months, and 3 and 4 years). Does not meet ratio requirements for 18-month and 5-year-olds.

school diploma or GED before working with children.

✗✗ Center staff are required to undergo background checks which include checks of criminal history records, but the check does not use a fingerprint. Checks of child abuse and neglect registries are also included, but the check does not explicitly include sex offender registries and is not national in scope.

Recommendations

✗✗ Programs are required to address only three of six developmental domains (physical, language/literacy and cognitive/intellectual). Programs are not required to address social, emotional and cultural domains.

■■ Increase the educational requirements of center directors.

✗✗ Meets NAEYC’s group size requirements for only four of

■■ I ncrease the education requirements for lead teachers to more than a high school degree or GED.

seven age groups (6, 9 and 27 months, and 4 years). Does not meet group size requirements for 18-month and 3 and 5-year-olds.

■■ I ncrease the orientation training requirements for new staff to more than 12 hours. ■■ R equire centers to offer activities which address all of the areas of children’s development. ■■ R equire fingerprints be used to conduct criminal history background checks. ■■ Conduct federal background checks using fingerprints. ■■ Check the sex offender registry for new hires. ■■ M ake inspection and complaint reports available online for parents to review. ■■ R equire at least a Bachelor’s Degree for individuals who conduct licensing inspections.

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Maryland Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 104/150 (69%) Rank : 5 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

34/50

68%

Standard

70/100

70%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$11,329

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$7,380

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher in ECE*** or related field.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Maryland Weakness

Strength ✔✔ All child care programs are required to be licensed.

✗✗ Child care licensing inspectors have an average caseload of

✔✔ C hild care licensing staff are required to have a Bachelor’s degree in early childhood education or a related field.

107 programs.

✗✗ Reports of inspections conducted at child care programs

✔✔ R eports of routine inspections conducted at child care programs are available online.

because of complaints are not available online.

✗✗ Center directors are not required to have a college degree.

✔✔ C enter staff are required to have orientation, fire safety and other health and safety training.

✗✗ Lead teachers in centers are not required to have a CDA credential or an Associate’s degree.

✔✔ C enters are required to have at least one first-aid and CPR certified staff on the premises.

✗✗ Center staff are required to complete only 12 hours of annual training.

✗✗ Meets NAEYC’s group size requirements for only four of seven age groups (6, 9 and 27 months, and 4 years). Does not meet group size requirements for 18-month and 3 and 5-year-olds.

Recommendations

✔✔ H ealth and safety standards address nine of 10 basic standards (immunizations, guidance/discipline, diapering/ handwashing, fire drills, medicine administration, incident reporting, hazardous materials, emergency preparedness and placing infant on back). Playground surfaces under outdoor equipment not addressed.

■■ I ncrease the frequency of licensing inspections of child care centers to more often than three times in two years. ■■ I ncrease the educational requirements for lead teachers to more than 90 clock hours of training.

✔✔ H as requirements regarding parent communication and allows parental visits, but does not specifically address parental involvement.

■■ R equire centers to provide impact-altering materials under playground equipment.

✔✔ M eets NAEYC’s ratio requirements for five of seven age groups (6, 9, 18 and 27 months, and 4 years). Does not meet ratio requirements for 3 and 5-year-olds.

■■ R equire centers to provide parents with opportunities to participate in their child’s child care program. ■■ M ake confirmed complaint reports available online for parents to review.

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Massachusetts Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 96/150 (64%) Rank : 11 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

26/50

52%

Standard

70/100

70%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$14,591

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$10,787

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher in ECE*** or related field.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Massachusetts Weakness

Strength ✔✔ All child care programs are required to be licensed.

✗✗ Child care centers are inspected only once per year.

✔✔ C hild care licensing staff are required to have a Bachelor’s degree in early childhood education or a related field.

✗✗ Child care licensing staff have an average caseload of 114 programs.

✔✔ C enter staff are required to have orientation, fire safety and other health and safety training.

✗✗ Reports of routine inspections conducted at child care programs and reports of those conducted because of complaints are not available online.

✔✔ C enters are required to have at least one first-aid and CPR certified staff on the premises.

✗✗ Requires center directors to only complete some college

credits/courses.

✗✗ Center staff are required to undergo background checks which include checks of criminal history records, but the check does not use a fingerprint. Check of child abuse and neglect registries and sex offender registries are also required. The background check is not national in scope.

✔✔ H as requirements regarding parent involvement and communication, and allows parental visits.

✗✗ Requires program activities to address four of six developmental domains (social, physical, language/literacy and cultural). Cognitive/intellectual and emotional domains are not required to be addressed.

✔✔ M eets NAEYC’s ratio and group size requirements for five of seven age groups (6, 9, 18 and 27 months, and 4 years). Does not meet ratio and group size requirements for 3 and 5-year-olds.

Recommendations

■■ I ncrease the frequency of licensing inspections of child care centers to more often than once every two years. ■■ I ncrease the number of hours of orientation training required of new staff to more than the 8 hours currently estimated. ■■ S trengthen the requirement for centers to offer activities in each of the areas of children’s development. ■■ R equire the use of fingerprints for conducting criminal history background checks. ■■ Conduct a federal background check using a fingerprint. ■■ M ake inspection and complaint reports available online for parents to review.

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Michigan Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 92/150 (61%) Rank : 16 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

33/50

66%

Standard

59/100

59%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$9,294

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$7,025

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher in ECE*** or related field.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Michigan Weakness

Strength ✔✔ All child care programs are required to be licensed.

✗✗ Child care centers are inspected only once per year.

✔✔ C hild care licensing staff are required to have a Master’s degree.

✗✗ Child care licensing inspectors have an average caseload of 220 programs.

✔✔ B oth reports of routine inspections conducted at child care programs and those conducted because of complaints are available online.

✗✗ Lead teachers in centers are not required to have a CDA

✔✔ C enters are required to have at least one first-aid and CPR certified staff on the premises.

✗✗ Center staff are not required to have orientation training or

✗✗ Center staff are required to complete only 12 hours of annual

credential or an Associate’s degree. training in fire safety, but are required to have training in other health and safety. training.

✗✗ Meets NAEYC’s ratio requirements for only three of seven

age groups (6, 9 and 18 months). Does not meet ratio requirements for 27-month and 3, 4 and 5-year-olds.

✗✗ Does not meet NAEYC’s group size requirements for any of the seven age groups.

Recommendations ■■ I ncrease the frequency of inspections of child care centers to more often than once a year. ■■ I ncrease the educational requirements for lead teachers to more than 6 college semester hours or 9 CEUs. ■■ Require orientation training for all newly hired staff. ■■ D ecrease the group size limits for classrooms of infants and toddlers. ■■ E stablish group size requirements for classrooms of preschoolers. ■■ D ecrease the ratio of facilities to licensing inspectors from 220:1 to 50:1.

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Minnesota Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 82/150 (55%) Rank : 29 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

14/50

28%

Standard

68/100

68%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$12,300

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$9,350

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher in ECE*** or related field.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Minnesota Weakness

Strength ✔✔ C hild care licensing staff are required to have a Bachelor’s degree.

✗✗ Family child care providers can care for all of the children from one unrelated family for pay and their own young children without a license.

✔✔ R equires lead teachers in centers to have a state approved credential or to complete a one-year certification program.

✗✗ Child care centers are inspected only once every two years.

✔✔ C enter staff are required to have orientation, fire safety and other health and safety training.

✗✗ Child care licensing inspectors have an average caseload of

✔✔ C enters are required to have at least one first-aid and CPR certified staff on the premises.

✗✗ Reports of routine inspections conducted at child care

188 programs. programs and reports of those conducted because of complaints are not available online.

✔✔ C enter staff are required to complete annual training equivalent to 2 percent of hours worked.

✗✗ Center directors are not required to have a college degree.

✔✔ R equires program activities to address five of six developmental domains (social, physical, cognitive/ intellectual, emotional and cultural). Language/literacy, however, is not required to be addressed.

✔✔ H ealth and safety standards address nine of 10 basic standards (immunizations, guidance/discipline, diapering/ handwashing, fire drills, medicine administration, incident reporting, , hazardous materials, emergency preparedness and placing infant on back). Playground surfaces under outdoor equipment is not addressed.

✗✗ Meets NAEYC’s ratio and group size requirements for only four of seven age groups (6 and 9 months, and 4 and 5 years). Does not meet ratio and group size requirements for 18 and 27-month and 3-year-olds.

✔✔ H as requirements regarding parent communication and allows parental visits, but does not specifically address parental involvement.

Recommendations ■■ I ncrease the frequency of inspections of child care centers to more often than once every two years. ■■ Increase the educational requirements for center directors. ■■ Increase the educational requirements for lead teachers. ■■ I ncrease the number of hours of orientation training required of new staff to more than the estimated 10 hours. ■■ R equire centers to offer activities to develop children’s language and literacy skills. ■■ R equire centers to put impact-altering materials under playground equipment. ■■ R equire fingerprints be used to conduct criminal history background checks. ■■ M ake inspection and complaint reports available online for parents to review. ■■ D ecrease the ratio of facilities to licensing staff from 188:1 to 50 to 1.

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Mississippi Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 75/150 (50%) Rank : 36 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

23/50

46%

Standard

52/100

52%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$4,542

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$3,380

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher in ECE*** or related field.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Mississippi Weakness

Strength

✗✗ Family child care providers can care for up to five unrelated

✔✔ C hild care licensing staff are required to have a Bachelor’s degree.

children for pay without a license.

✗✗ Child care licensing inspectors have an average caseload

✔✔ C enter staff are required to have orientation, fire safety and other health and safety training.

of 86 programs.

✗✗ Reports of routine inspections conducted at child care

✔✔ C enters are required to have at least one first-aid and CPR certified staff on the premises.

programs and reports of those conducted because of complaints are not available online.

✗✗ Requires center directors to only complete some college credits/courses.

✗✗ Lead teachers in centers are not required to have a high school diploma or GED before working with children.

✗✗ Center staff are required to complete only 15 hours of annual training.

✔✔ H as requirements regarding parent communication and allows parental visits, but does not specifically address parental involvement.

✗✗ Does not meet NAEYC’s ratio requirements for any of the seven age groups.

✗✗ Meets NAEYC’s group size requirements for only three of seven age groups (3, 4 and 5 years). Does not meet group size requirements for 6, 9, 18 and 27-month-olds.

Recommendations ■■ I ncrease the education requirements for center directors to more than 24 semester hours. ■■ R equire center lead teachers to have education and training beyond a high school degree. ■■ I ncrease the number of hours of orientation training for new staff to more than the currently estimated 8 hours. ■■ S trengthen the requirement for centers to offer activities in each aspect of children’s development. ■■ M ake inspection and complaint reports available online for parents to review.

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Missouri Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 66/150 (44%) Rank : 44 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

24/50

48%

Standard

42/100

42%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$6,539

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$4,836

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

AL MO

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Missouri Weakness

Strength

✗✗ Family child care providers can care for up to four unrelated

✔✔ Child care licensing staff are required to have a Bachelor’s degree.

children for pay and their own young children without a license.

✔✔ Health and safety standards address nine of 10 basic standards (immunizations, guidance/discipline, diapering/ handwashing, medicine administration, incident reporting, hazardous materials, playground surfaces under outdoor equipment and emergency preparedness). Placing infant on back not addressed.

✗✗ Child care licensing inspectors have an average caseload of 80 programs.

✗✗ Reports of routine inspections conducted at child care programs and reports of those conducted because of complaints are not available online.

✔✔ Has requirements regarding parent communication and allows parental visits, but does not specifically address parental involvement.

✗✗ Center directors are not required to have a college degree. ✗✗ Lead teachers in centers are not required to have a high school diploma or GED before working with children.

✗✗ Center staff are not required to have fire safety and other health and safety training. They are required to complete orientation training.

Recommendations

✗✗ Centers are not required to have a first-aid or CPR certified staff on the premises.

✗✗ Center staff are required to complete only 12 hours of annual

■■ Increase the minimum educational requirements for center directors to more than 12 months experience and 6 credit hours.

training.

✗✗ Center staff are required to undergo background checks which include checks of criminal history records, but these checks do not use a fingerprint. Checks of child abuse and neglect registries are also required. The check does not explicitly include sex offender registries.

■■ Establish pre-service education and training requirements for lead/master teachers. ■■ Establish the requirement for a specific number of hours of orientation training for all new staff members.

■■ Require at least one person present in the center be certified in first-aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation. ■■ Establish group size limits for preschool classrooms.

✗✗ Meets NAEYC’s ratio requirements for only four of seven age

■■ Require centers to offer activities which address all areas of children’s development.

groups (6, 9, and 18 months, and 4 years). Does not meet ratio requirements for 27-month and 3 and 5-year-olds.

■■ Require centers to place babies on their backs to sleep (to prevent Sudden Infant Death Syndrome).

✗✗ Meets NAEYC’s group size requirements for only three of seven age groups (6, 9 and 18 months). Does not meet group size requirements for 27-month and 3, 4 and 5-year-olds.

■■ Require fingerprints be used to conduct criminal history background checks. ■■ Conduct federal background checks using fingerprints. ■■ Make inspection and complaint reports available to parents online.

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Montana Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 73/150 (49%) Rank : 38 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

27/50

54%

Standard

46/100

46%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$7,560

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$6,300

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

ALMT

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

100

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Montana Weakness

Strength ✔✔ All child care centers are inspected at least three times a year.

✗✗ Family child care providers can care for up to two unrelated

✔✔ Child care licensing staff are required to have a Bachelor’s degree in early childhood education or a related field.

✗✗ Child care licensing inspectors have an average caseload of

✔✔ Centers are required to have at least one first-aid and CPR certified staff on the premises.

✗✗ Reports of routine inspections conducted at child care

✗✗ Center directors are not required to have a college degree.

children for pay without a license. 106 programs. programs and reports of those conducted because of complaints are not available online.

✗✗ Lead teachers in centers are not required to have a CDA credential or an Associate’s degree.

✔✔ Health and safety standards address nine of 10 basic standards (immunizations, guidance/discipline, diapering/ handwashing, fire drills, medicine administration, incident reporting, hazardous materials, emergency preparedness and placing inf ant on back). Safe playground surface under outdoor equipment is recommended but not required.

✗✗ Center staff are not required to have fire safety and other health and safety training, but are required to complete orientation training.

✗✗ Center staff are required to complete only 8 hours of annual training.

✔✔ Has requirements regarding parent communication and allows parental visits, but does not specifically address parental involvement.

✔✔ Meets NAEYC’s ratio requirements for six of seven age groups (6, 9, and 18 months, and 3, 4 and 5 years). Does not meet ratio requirements for 27-month-olds.

✗✗ Does not meet NAEYC’s group size requirements for any of the seven age groups.

Recommendations ■■ Increase the frequency of licensing inspections of centers to more often than once per year. ■■ Eliminate the potential for center directors to qualify for their position only on the basis of experience. ■■ Eliminate the potential for lead/master teachers to qualify for their position only on the basis of experience. ■■ Increase the annual training requirement for staff to more than 8 hours. ■■ Establish group size limits for all age groups. ■■ Require (not just recommend) centers place impact-altering materials under playground equipment. ■■ Require fingerprints be used to conduct criminal history background checks. ■■ Conduct federal background checks using fingerprints.

101

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Nebraska Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 49/150 (33%) Rank : 50 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

19/50

38%

Standard

30/100

30%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$8,216

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$6,760

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

AL NE

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

102

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Nebraska Weakness

Strength

✗✗ Family child care providers can care for up to three unrelated children for pay and their own young children without a license.

✔✔ Child care licensing staff are required to have a Bachelor’s degree in early childhood education or a related field.

✗✗ Child care licensing inspectors have an average caseload of

✔✔ Centers are required to have at least one first-aid and CPR certified staff on the premises.

✗✗ Reports of routine inspections conducted at child care

180 programs. programs and reports of those conducted because of complaints are not available online.

✗✗ Center directors are not required to have any college credits/ courses.

Recommendations

✗✗ Lead teachers in centers are not required to have a high school diploma or GED before working with children.

■■ Increase the educational requirements for center directors to more than a high school degree and experience.

✗✗ Center staff are not required to have fire safety and other health and safety training, but are required to complete orientation training.

■■ Increase the educational requirements for lead/master teachers to more than experience.

✗✗ Center staff are required to complete only 12 hours of annual training.

■■ Establish the requirement for a specific number of hours of orientation training for new staff members.

✗✗ Center staff are required to undergo background checks, which include a check of only the child abuse and neglect registries. The check does not include criminal history records or the sex offender registries.

■■ Establish group size limits for all age groups. ■■ Require centers to offer activities to help children grow and learn in all areas of development.

■■ Require centers to place babies on their backs to sleep (to prevent Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). ■■ Require state and federal criminal history background checks to be completed on staff who have access to children and require the use of fingerprints to conduct these checks.

✗✗ Health and safety standards address only eight of basic standards (immunizations, guidance/discipline, diapering/ handwashing, fire drills, medicine administration, hazardous materials, playground surfaces under outdoor equipment and emergency preparedness). Incident reporting and placing infants on back are not addressed.

■■ Make inspection and complaint reports available online for parents to review. ■■ Decrease the ratio of programs to licensing staff from 180:1 to no more than 50:1.

✗✗ Has requirements regarding parental visits to the center, but no requirements for communicating with parents or involving them.

✗✗ Meets NAEYC’s ratio requirements for only three of seven age groups (6, 9 and 27 months). Does not meet ratio requirements for 18-month and 3, 4 and 5-year-olds. Does not meet NAEYC’s group size requirements for any of the seven age groups.

103

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Nevada Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 81/150 (54%) Rank : 30 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

27/50

54%

Standard

54/100

54%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$8,391

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$6,707

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking 1.

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

104

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Nevada Weakness

Strength

✗✗ Family child care providers can care for up to four unrelated children for pay and their own young children without a license.

✔✔ Child care licensing staff are required to have a Bachelor’s degree, and they have an average caseload of 45 programs.

✗✗ Reports of routine inspections conducted at child care

✔✔ Center staff are required to have orientation and fire safety training. Other health and safety training is not required.

programs and reports of those conducted because of complaints are not available online.

✔✔ Centers are required to have at least one first-aid and CPR certified staff on the premises.

✗✗ Requires center directors to only complete some college

✔✔ Center staff are required to have orientation, fire safety, first-aid and CPR training either before or within 90 days of working with children.

✗✗ Lead teachers in centers are not required to have a high

credits/courses. school diploma or GED before working with children.

✗✗ Center staff are required to complete only 15 hours of annual

✔✔ Requires all center staff to undergo a comprehensive background check that includes a check of state and federal criminal history records using a fingerprint, and checks of child abuse and neglect registries and sex offender registries.

training.

✗✗ Health and safety standards address only eight of 10 basic standards (immunizations, guidance/discipline, diapering/ handwashing, fire drills, medicine administration, incident reporting, playground surfaces under outdoor equipment and emergency preparedness). Hazardous materials and placing infants on back are not addressed.

✔✔ Requires program activities to address all six developmental domains (social, physical, language/literacy, cognitive/ intellectual, emotional and cultural). ✔✔ Has requirements regarding parent involvement and communication, and allows parental visits.

✗✗ Meets NAEYC’s ratio requirements for only one of seven age groups (6 months). Does not meet ratio requirements for 9, 18 and 27-month and 3, 4 and 5-year-olds.

✗✗ Does not meet NAEYC’s group size requirements for any of the seven age groups

Recommendations ■■ Make the requirement for centers to be inspected unannounced mandatory instead of optional. ■■ Increase the educational qualifications for center directors. ■■ Establish educational qualifications for lead/master teachers. ■■ Increase the number of hours of orientation training required of new staff to more than 6 hours. ■■ Establish group size limits for all age groups. ■■ Require centers to place babies on their backs to sleep (to prevent Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). ■■ Require centers to keep hazardous materials out of children’s reach. ■■ Make inspection and complaint reports available online for parents to review.

105

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in New Hampshire Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 86/150 (57%) Rank : 27 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

29/50

58%

Standard

57/100

57%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$9,776

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$7,540

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

106

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in New Hampshire Weakness

Strength ✔✔ Child care licensing staff are required to have a Bachelor’s degree.

✗✗ Family child care providers can care for up to two unrelated children for pay without a license.

✔✔ Reports of routine inspections conducted at child care programs and reports of those conducted because of complaints are available online.

✗✗ Child care centers are inspected only once per year. ✗✗ Child care licensing inspectors have an average caseload of

✔✔ Center staff are required to have orientation, fire safety, and other health and safety training.

130 programs.

✗✗ Lead teachers in centers are not required to have a CDA

✔✔ Centers are required to have at least one first-aid and CPR certified staff on the premises.

credential or an Associate’s degree.

✗✗ Center staff are required to complete only nine hours of

✔✔ Requires program activities to address all six developmental domains (social, physical, language/literacy, cognitive/ intellectual, emotional and cultural).

annual training.

✗✗ Meets NAEYC’s ratio requirements for only four of seven age groups (6, 9, and 27 months, and 3 years). Does not meet ratio requirements for 18-month and 4 and 5-year-olds.

✔✔ Has requirements regarding parent communication and allows parental visits, but does not specifically address parental involvement.

✗✗ Does not meet NAEYC’s group size requirements for any of the seven age groups.

Recommendations ■■ Increase the frequency of inspections of child care centers to more often than once per year. ■■ Require routine and complaint inspections to be unannounced. ■■ Increase the number of hours of annual training required. ■■ Require the use of fingerprints for conducting criminal history background checks. ■■ Decrease the number of facilities for which a single licensing staff member is responsible from 130:1 to no more than 50:1.

107

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in New Jersey Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 85/150 (57%) Rank : 28 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

7/50

14%

Standard

78/100

78%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$10,095

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$7,985

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

AL NJ

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

108

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in New Jersey Weakness

Strength ✔✔ Requires center directors to have at least a Bachelor’s degree or higher in ECE or related field.

✗✗ State does not license family child care homes. Family child

✔✔ Requires lead teachers in centers to have a CDA credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE or related field.

care homes can register voluntarily.

✗✗ Child care licensing inspectors have an average caseload of 171

✔✔ Center staff are required to have orientation, fire safety and other health and safety training.

programs.

✗✗ Child care licensing staff are not required to have a Bachelor’s

✔✔ Centers are required to have at least one first-aid and CPR certified staff on the premises.

degree.

✗✗ Reports of routine inspections conducted at child care

✔✔ Requires all center staff to undergo a background check that includes a check of state and federal criminal history records using a fingerprints, checks of child abuse and neglect registries. Sex offender registries are not explicitly included in the checks.

programs and reports of those conducted because of complaints are not available online.

✗✗ Center staff are required to complete only eight hours of annual training.

✔✔ Requires program activities to address all six developmental domains (social, physical, language/literacy, cognitive/ intellectual, emotional and cultural).

✗✗ Meets NAEYC’s ratio requirements for only three of seven

✗✗ Meets NAEYC’s group size requirements for only two of

age groups (6, 9 and 27 months). Does not meet ratio requirements for 18-month and 3, 4 and 5-year-olds. seven age groups (4 and 5 years). Does not meet group size requirements for 6, 9, 18 and 27-month and 3-year- olds.

✔✔ Has requirements regarding parent involvement and communication, and allows parental visits.

Recommendations ■■ Require licensing of family child care providers caring for one or more unrelated children for pay. ■■ Increase the frequency of licensing inspections to more often than once every three years. ■■ Require a specific number of hours of orientation training for new staff members. ■■ Increase the annual training requirements for staff to more than eight hours a year. ■■ Decrease the group size limits for all age groups. ■■ Make inspection and complaint reports available online for parents to review. ■■ Decrease the number of facilities for which a single licensing staff member is responsible from 171:1 to no more than 50:1.

109

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in New Mexico Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 69/150 (46%) Rank : 43 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

15/50

30%

Standard

54/100

54%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$6,228

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$5,382

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

NM AL

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

110

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in New Mexico Weakness

Strength

✗✗ Family child care providers can care for up to four unrelated

✔✔ Center staff are required to have orientation, fire safety and other health and safety training.

children for pay without a license.

✗✗ Only one inspection of child care centers is required per year.

✔✔ Centers are required to have at least one first-aid and CPR certified staff on the premises.

✗✗ Child care licensing staff are not required to have an Associate’s degree, and have an average caseload of 65 programs.

✔✔ Center staff are required to complete at least 24 hours of annual training.

✗✗ Reports of routine inspections conducted at child care

✔✔ Requires all center staff to undergo a background check that includes a check of state and federal criminal history records using fingerprints, and child abuse and neglect registries. Sex offender registries are not explicitly included in the checks.

programs and reports of those conducted because of complaints are not available online.

✗✗ Center directors are not required to have a college degree. ✗✗ Lead teachers in centers are not required to have a high

✔✔ Requires program activities to address four of six developmental domains (social, physical, language/literacy and cognitive/intellectual). Programs are not required to address emotional and cultural domains.

school diploma or GED before working with children.

✗✗ Does not meet NAEYC’s ratio and group size requirements for any of the seven age groups.

Recommendations ■■ Increase the requirements related to inspections to more than once per year. ■■ Establish pre-service education requirements for lead/master teachers. ■■ Increase the number of hours of orientation training for new staff to more than 10 hours. ■■ Establish group size limits for all age groups. ■■ Require the state sex offender registry be checked for new hires. ■■ Require licensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in any field or a related field.

111

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in New York Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 100/150 (67%) Rank : 7 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

39/50

78%

Standard

61/100

61%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$13,437

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$10,473

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

ALNY

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

112

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in New York Weakness

Strength

✗✗ Family child care providers can care for up to two unrelated

✔✔ Child care licensing staff are required to have a Bachelor’s degree, and they have an average caseload of 37 programs.

children for pay without a license.

✗✗ Requires center directors to have only a CDA credential and

✔✔ Both reports of routine inspections conducted at child care programs and those conducted because of complaints are available online.

experience.

✗✗ Lead teachers in centers are not required to have a CDA credential or an Associate’s degree.

✔✔ Requires program activities to address all six developmental domains (social, physical, language/literacy, cognitive/ intellectual, emotional and cultural).

✗✗ Center staff are not required to have orientation, fire safety or other health and safety training.

✗✗ Centers are not required to have a first-aid or CPR certified staff on the premises.

✗✗ Center staff are required to complete only 15 hours of annual training.

✗✗ Center staff are required to undergo only state-level background checks, which include checks of criminal history records using a fingerprint checks of child abuse and neglect registries. The check does not explicitly include sex offender registries.

✔✔ Has requirements regarding parent communication and allows parental visits, but does not specifically address parental involvement. ✔✔ Meets NAEYC’s ratio requirements for six of seven age groups (6, 9, and 27 months, and 4 and 5 years). Does not meet ratio requirements for 18-month-olds.

✗✗ Meets NAEYC’s group size requirements for only four of seven age groups (6, 9 and 27 months, and 3 years). Does not meet group size requirements for 18-month and 4 and 5-year-olds.

Recommendations ■■ Increase the frequency of licensing inspections to more often than twice a year. ■■ Increase the minimum educational requirements for center directors to more than a CDA credential. ■■ Increase the minimum educational requirements for lead/ master teachers to more than nine college credits. ■■ Increase the minimum numbers of hours of orientation training for new staff to more than two hours. ■■ Require at least one person be present in the center who is certified in first-aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

113

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in North Carolina Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 94/150 (63%) Rank : 13 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

40/50

80%

Standard

54/100

54%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$7,800

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$6,756

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

AL NC

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

114

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in North Carolina Weakness

Strength ✔✔ All child care centers are inspected at least four times a year.

✗✗ Family child care providers can care for up to three unrelated

✔✔ Child care licensing staff are required to have a Bachelor’s degree in early childhood education or a related field.

children for pay without a license.

✗✗ Child care licensing inspectors have an average caseload of 82

✔✔ Reports of routine inspections conducted at child care programs and reports of those conducted because of complaints are available online.

programs.

✗✗ Center staff are required to undergo only state-level background checks, which include checks of criminal history records using a fingerprint and checks of sex offender registries. The check does not explicitly include child abuse and neglect registries. Federal checks are only required for some individuals.

✔✔ Requires center directors to have at least a Director credential - the credential is created by the state. ✔✔ Requires lead teachers in centers to have a state approved credential.

✗✗ Has requirements regarding parental visits to the center, but

✔✔ Center staff are required to have orientation, fire safety and other health and safety training.

no requirements for communicating with parents or involving them.

✔✔ Centers are required to have at least one first-aid and CPR certified staff on the premises.

✗✗ Does not meet NAEYC’s ratio and group size requirements for any of the seven age groups.

✔✔ Requires program activities to address four of six developmental domains (social, physical, cognitive/intellectual and emotional). Language/literacy and cultural are not required to be addressed. ✔✔ Health and safety standards address nine of 10 basic standards (immunizations, guidance/discipline, handwashing/ diapering, fire drills, medicine administration, incident reporting, hazardous materials, playground surfaces under outdoor equipment, and placing infant on back). Emergency preparedness is not addressed.

Recommendations ■■ Require centers to offer activities which develop children’s language and literacy skills. ■■ Require centers to have emergency plans for events such as hurricanes. ■■ Conduct federal background checks using fingerprints on all center staff.

115

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in North Dakota Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 91/150 (61%) Rank : 19 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

23/50

46%

Standard

68/100

68%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$6,559

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$5,742

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

116

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in North Dakota Weakness

Strength

✗✗ Family child care providers can care for up to five unrelated

✔✔ Child care licensing staff are required to have a Bachelor’s degree.

children for pay without a license.

✔✔ Center staff are required to have orientation, fire safety and other health and safety training.

✗✗ Child care licensing inspectors have an average caseload of 88

✔✔ Centers are required to have at least one first-aid and CPR certified staff on the premises.

✗✗ Reports of routine inspections conducted at child care

✔✔ Requires program activities to address all six developmental domains (social, physical, language/literacy, cognitive/ intellectual, emotional and cultural).

✗✗ Requires center directors to have only a CDA credential.

programs. programs and reports of those conducted because of complaints are not available online.

✗✗ Lead teachers in centers are not required to have a high

✔✔ Has requirements regarding parent involvement and communication, and allows parental visits.

school diploma or GED before working with children.

✗✗ Center staff are required to complete only 13 hours of annual

✔✔Meets NAEYC’s ratio and group size requirements for six of seven age groups (6, 9, 18 and 27 months, and 3 and 4 years). Does not meet ratio and group size requirements for 5-year-olds.

training.

✗✗ Health and safety standards address only eight of 10 basic standards (immunizations, guidance/discipline, diapering/ handwashing, fire drills, medicine administration, incident reporting, hazardous materials and emergency preparedness). Playground surfaces under outdoor equipment and placing infants on back are not addressed.

Recommendations ■■ Require that some routine inspections be unannounced. ■■ Increase the minimum educational requirements for lead/ master teachers. ■■ Require centers to place babies on their backs to prevent Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. ■■ Require centers to place impact-altering material under playground equipment to prevent injuries from falls. ■■ Require criminal history background checks of individuals who care for children and require these checks be based on fingerprints. ■■ Make inspection and complaint reports available online for parents to review.

117

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Ohio Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 80/150 (53%) Rank : 33 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

32/50

64%

Standard

48/100

48%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$8,946

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$7,071

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

AL OH

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

118

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Ohio Weakness

Strength

✗✗ Family child care providers can care for up to six unrelated

✔✔ Full-time child care programs are inspected at least three times a year.

children for pay without a license.

✗✗ Child care licensing staff are not required to have a Bachelor’s

✔✔ Both reports of routine inspections conducted at child care programs and those conducted because of complaints are available online.

degree, and they have an average caseload of 85 programs.

✗✗ Center directors are not required to have a college degree.

✔✔ Center staff are required to have orientation, fire safety and other health and safety training.

✗✗ Lead teachers in centers are only required to have a high

✔✔ Centers are required to have at least one first-aid and CPR certified staff on the premises.

✗✗ Center staff are required to complete only 15 hours of annual

✗✗ Center staff are required to undergo background checks, which

school diploma or GED before working with children. training until they have completed 45 total hours of training. include state and federal checks of criminal history records using fingerprints. The check does not explicitly include child abuse and neglect registries and sex offender registries.

✔✔ Has requirements regarding parent involvement and communication, and allows parental visits.

✗✗ Does not meet NAEYC’s ratio and group size requirements for any of the seven age groups.

Recommendations ■■ Require all complaint inspections to be unannounced. ■■ Increase the minimum educational requirements for center directors. ■■ Increase the educational requirements for lead/master teachers to more than a high school degree. ■■ Require staff receive annual training even after they have completed 45 hours of training. ■■ Require centers to offer activities which address all areas of children’s development. ■■ Require the state child abuse and sex offender registries be checked for all new staff members. ■■ Require inspection and complaint reports be available online for parents to review.

119

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Oklahoma Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 106/150 (71%) Rank : 3 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

45/50

90%

Standard

61/100

61%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$6,219

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$5,277

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

120

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Oklahoma Weakness

Strength ✔✔ All child care programs are required to be licensed.

✗✗ Lead teachers in centers are not required to have a high

✔✔ All child care centers are inspected at least three times a year.

school diploma or GED before working with children.

✔✔ Child care licensing staff are required to have a Bachelor’s degree, and they have an average caseload of 44 programs.

✗✗ Center staff are required to complete only 12 hours of annual training.

✔✔ Both reports of routine inspections conducted at child care programs and those conducted because of complaints are available online.

✗✗ Center staff are required to undergo background checks which include checks of criminal history records, but these checks do not use a fingerprint. Checks of sex offender registries are also included. 3

✔✔ Requires center directors to have at least a Director credential - the credential is created by the state.

✗✗ Meets NAEYC’s ratio and group size requirements for only two of seven age groups (6 and 9 months). Does not meet ratio requirements for 18 and 27-month and 3, 4 and 5-year-olds.

✔✔ Center staff are required to have orientation, fire safety and other health and safety training. ✔✔ Centers are required to have at least one first-aid and CPR certified staff on the premises. ✔✔ Requires program activities to address five of six developmental domains (social, physical, language/literacy, cognitive/intellectual and emotional). Cultural, however, is not required to be addressed. ✔✔ Health and safety standards address all 10 basic standards (immunizations, guidance/discipline, diapering/handwashing, fire drills, medicine administration, incident reporting, hazardous materials, playground surfaces under outdoor equipment, emergency preparedness and placing infant on back). ✔✔ Has requirements regarding parent involvement and communication, and allows parental visits.

Recommendations ■■ Require the use of fingerprints for criminal background checks on staff members. ■■ Require teachers responsible for a group of children to have at least a high school degree or GED. ■■ Require federal background check with fingerprints.

121

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Oregon Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 87/150 (58%) Rank : 24 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

22/50

44%

Standard

65/100

65%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$8,988

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$6,480

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

AL OR

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

122

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Oregon Weakness

Strength ✔✔ Reports of inspections conducted at child care programs because of complaints are available online.

✗✗ Family child care providers can care for up to three unrelated

✔✔ Center staff are required to have orientation, fire safety and other health and safety training.

✗✗ Child care licensing staff are not even required to have an

✔✔ Centers are required to have at least one first-aid and CPR certified staff on the premises.

✗✗ Reports of routine inspections conducted at child care

children for pay without a license. Associate’s degree. programs are not available online.

✔✔ Requires all center staff to undergo a background check that includes a check of state and federal criminal history records using a fingerprint , and checks of child abuse and neglect registries. Sex offender registries are not explicitly included in the checks.

✗✗ Center directors are not required to have a college degree. ✗✗ Lead teachers in centers are not required to have a high school diploma or GED before working with children.

✗✗ Center staff are required to complete only 15 hours of

annual training.

✔✔ Health and safety standards address all 10 basic standards (immunizations, guidance/discipline, diapering/handwashing, fire drills, medicine administration, incident reporting, hazardous materials, playground surfaces under outdoor equipment, emergency preparedness and placing infant on back). ✔✔ Has requirements regarding parent communication and allows parental visits, but does not specifically address parental involvement. ✔✔ Meets NAEYC’s ratio and group size requirements for five of seven age groups (6, 9, 18 and 27 months, and 4 years). Does not meet ratio and group size requirements for 3 and 5-year- olds.

Recommendations ■■ Increase center directors’ pre-service education/training requirements. ■■ Increase minimum pre-service education requirements for lead/master teachers in centers. ■■ Increase the number of hours of orientation training required of new staff to more than eight hours. ■■ Strengthen the requirement for centers to offer activities which address all areas of children’s development including language and literacy skills. ■■ Make inspection reports available online for parents to review.

123

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Pennsylvania Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 92/150 (61%) Rank : 16 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

25/50

50%

Standard

67/100

67%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$11,200

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$6,800

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

AL PA

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

124

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Pennsylvania Weakness

Strength ✔✔ Child care licensing staff are required to have a Bachelor’s degree.

✗✗ Family child care providers can care for up to three unrelated

✔✔ Both reports of routine inspections conducted at child care programs and those conducted because of complaints are available online.

✗✗ Child care centers are inspected only once per year.

children for pay without a license.

✗✗ Child care licensing inspectors have an average caseload of 153 programs.

✔✔ Requires all center staff to undergo a background check that includes a check of state and federal criminal history records using a fingerprint, and checks of child abuse and neglect registries. Sex offender registries are not explicitly included in the checks.

✗✗ Requires center directors to have only an Associate’s degree with credit hours in ECE.

✗✗ Lead teachers in centers are only required to have a high school diploma or GED before working with children.

✔✔ Requires program activities to address all six developmental domains (social, physical, language/literacy, cognitive/ intellectual, emotional and cultural).

✗✗ Center staff are not required to have orientation training or training in other health and safety. Training in fire safety is required.

✗✗ Centers are not required to have a CPR certified staff on the premises. A first-aid certified staff is required.

✗✗ Center staff are required to complete only six hours of annual training.

✔✔ Has requirements regarding parent involvement, communication, and allows parental visits. ✔✔ Meets NAEYC’s ratio and group size requirements for five of seven age groups (6, 9 and 27 months, and 4 and 5 years). Does not meet ratio and group size requirements for 18-month and 3-year-olds.

Recommendations ■■ Increase the frequency of inspections of centers to more often than once per year ■■ Require that some routine inspections be unannounced. ■■ Increase the educational requirements for a lead/master teacher to more than a high school diploma or GED and experience. ■■ Establish orientation training requirements for new staff members on health, safety and other topics. ■■ Require at least one person in the center be certified in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). ■■ Increase the number of hours of annual training of staff from six hours. ■■ Strengthen the requirement for centers to offer activities which promote children’s development. ■■ Decrease the ratio of programs to licensing staff from 153:1 to no more than 50:1.

125

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Rhode Island Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 104/150 (69%) Rank : 5 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

19/50

38%

Standard

85/100

85%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$9,464

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$7,800

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

RI AL

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

126

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Rhode Island Weakness

Strength ✔✔ All child care centers are inspected at least three times a year.

✗✗ Family child care providers can care for up to threee unrelated

✔✔ Child care licensing staff are required to have a Bachelor’s degree.

children for pay and their own young children without a license.

✔✔ Center staff are required to have orientation, fire safety and other health and safety training.

✗✗ Child care licensing inspectors have an average caseload of

✔✔ Centers are required to have at least one first-aid and CPR certified staff on the premises.

✗✗ Reports of routine inspections conducted at child care

✔✔ Requires all center staff to undergo a background check that includes a check of state and federal criminal history records using a fingerprint, and checks of child abuse and neglect registries. Sex offender registries are not explicitly included in the checks.

✗✗ Requires center directors to have only a CDA credential and

222 programs. programs and reports of those conducted because of complaints are not available online. additional credit hours in ECE.

✔✔ Requires program activities to address all six developmental domains (social, physical, language/literacy, cognitive/ intellectual, emotional and cultural). ✔✔ Health and safety standards address 9 of 10 basic standards (immunizations, guidance/discipline, diapering/ handwashing, fire drills, medicine administration, incident reporting, hazardous materials, playground surfaces under outdoor equipment and placing infant on back). Emergency preparedness is not addressed. ✔✔ Has requirements regarding parent involvement and communication, and allows parental visits. ✔✔ Meets NAEYC’s ratio and group size requirements for five of seven age groups (6, 9, and 27 months, and 3 and 4 years). Does not meet ratio and group size requirements for 18-month and 5-year-olds.

Recommendations ■■ Establish a specific number of hours of orientation training for new staff and increase the estimated requirement from six hours. ■■ Require centers to have a plan for emergencies such as winter storms. ■■ Make inspection and complaint reports available online for parents to review. ■■ Decrease the ratio of programs to licensing staff from 222:1 to no more than 50:1.

127

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in South Carolina Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 76/150 (51%) Rank : 35 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

39/50

78%

Standard

37/100

37%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$6,032

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$5,460

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking 1.

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

128

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in South Carolina Weakness

Strength ✔✔ All child care programs are required to be licensed.

✗✗ Child care licensing inspectors have an average caseload of

✔✔ Child care licensing staff are required to have a Bachelor’s degree.

82 programs.

✗✗ Center directors are not required to have any college credits/courses.

✔✔ Both reports of routine inspections conducted at child care programs and those conducted because of complaints are available online.

✗✗ Lead teachers in centers are only required to have a high school diploma or GED before working with children.

✔✔ Center staff are required to have orientation, fire safety and other health and safety training.

✗✗ Center staff are required to complete only 15 hours of

✔✔ Centers are required to have at least one first-aid and CPR certified staff on the premises.

✗✗ Programs are required to address only two of six

annual training. developmental domains (physical and language/literacy). Programs are not required to address social, cognitive/ intellectual, emotional and cultural domains.

✔✔ Requires all center staff to undergo a comprehensive background check that includes a check of state and federal criminal history records, child abuse and neglect registries and sex offender registries using a fingerprint.

✗✗ Health and safety standards address all 10 basic standards (immunizations, guidance/discipline, diapering/handwashing, fire drills, medicine administration, incident reporting, hazardous materials, playground surfaces under outdoor equipment, emergency preparedness and placing infant on back); however, child care center staff are allowed to use corporal punishment with written parent permission.

✔✔ Has requirements regarding parent communication and allows parental visits, but does not specifically address parental involvement.

✗✗ Does not meet NAEYC’s ratio and group size requirements for any of the seven age groups.

Recommendations ■■ Increase the education requirements for center directors from only a high school diploma and experience. ■■ Increase the education requirements for lead/master teachers from only a high school diploma and experience. ■■ Increase the number of hours of orientation training required of new staff to more than six hours in the first six months of employment. ■■ Prohibit the use of corporal punishment even with written parent permission ■■ Establish group size limits for all age groups. ■■ Strengthen the requirement for centers to offer activities that promote children’s social, emotional, physical and intellectual development. ■■ Make inspection and complaint reports online for parents to review.

129

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in South Dakota Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 81/150 (54%) Rank : 30 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

29/50

58%

Standard

52/100

52%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$7,488

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$6,240

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

AL SD

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

130

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in South Dakota Weakness

Strength

✗✗ Family child care providers can care for up to 12 unrelated

✔✔ Child care licensing inspectors have an average caseload of 33 programs.

children for pay without a license.

✗✗ Reports of routine inspections conducted at child care

✔✔ Child care licensing staff are required to have a Bachelor’s degree in early childhood education or a related field.

programs and reports of those conducted because of complaints are not available online.

✔✔ Center staff are required to have orientation, fire safety and other health and safety training.

✗✗ Center directors are not required to have a college degree.

✔✔ Requires all center staff to undergo a background check that includes a check of state and federal criminal history records using fingerprints, and checks of child abuse and neglect registries. Sex offender registries are not explicitly included in the checks.

✗✗ Centers are not required to have a first-aid certified staff on

✗✗ Lead teachers in centers are not required to have a high school diploma or GED before working with children. the premises. A CPR certified staff is required.

✗✗ Health and safety standards address only seven of 10 basic standards (immunizations, guidance/discipline, diapering/ handwashing, fire drills, med administration, emerg preparedness and placing infant on back). Incident reporting, hazardous materials and playground surfaces under outdoor equipment are not addressed.

✗✗ Has requirements regarding parental visits to the center, but no requirements for communicating with parents or involving them.

✗✗ Meets NAEYC’s ratio requirements for only three of seven age

Recommendations

groups (27-months, and 4 and 5 years). Does not meet ratio requirements for 6, 9 and 18-month, and 3-year-olds.

✗✗ Meets NAEYC’s group size requirements for only two of seven age groups (4 and 5 years). Does not meet group size requirements for 6, 9, 18 and 27-month, and 3-year-olds.

■■ Increase the pre-service educational requirements for center directors. ■■ Establish educational requirements for lead/master teachers. ■■ Require at least one person be present in a center at all times who is certified in first-aid ■■ Decrease the group size limits for all age groups. ■■ Require centers to have impact-altering materials under playground equipment to prevent injuries when children fall. ■■ Make inspection and complaint reports available online for parents to review.

131

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Tennessee Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 106/150 (71%) Rank : 3 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

37/50

74%

Standard

69/100

69%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$6,173

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$5,436

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

132

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Tennessee Weakness

Strength ✔✔ All child care centers are inspected at least four times a year.

✗✗ Family child care providers can care for up to four unrelated children for pay without a license.

✔✔ Child care licensing staff are required to have a Bachelor’s degree, and they have an average caseload of 25 programs.

✗✗ Reports of inspections conducted at child care programs because of complaints are not available online.

✔✔ Reports of routine inspections conducted at child care programs are available online.

✗✗ Center directors are not required to have a college degree.

✔✔ Center staff are required to have orientation, fire safety and other health and safety training.

✗✗ Lead teachers in centers are not required to have a CDA

✔✔ Centers are required to have at least one first-aid and CPR certified staff on the premises.

✗✗ Center staff are required to complete only 12 hours of

✔✔ Requires all center staff to undergo a comprehensive background check that includes a check of state and federal criminal history records using a fingerprint, and checks of child abuse and neglect registries and sex offender registries.

✗✗ Meets NAEYC’s ratio requirements for only three of seven age

credential or an Associate’s degree. annual training. groups (6 and 9 months, and 3 years). Does not meet ratio requirements for 18 and 27-month and 4 and 5-year- olds.

✔✔ Requires program activities to address five of six developmental domains (social, physical, language/literacy, cognitive/intellectual and emotional). Cultural, however, is not required to be addressed. ✔✔ Health and safety standards address all 10 basic standards (immunizations, guidance/discipline, diapering/handwashing, fire drills, medicine administration, incident reporting, hazardous materials, playground surfaces under outdoor equipment, emergency preparedness and placing infant on back). ✔✔ Has requirements regarding parent involvement and communication, and allows parental visits. ✔✔ Meets NAEYC’s group size requirements for five of seven age groups (6, and 9 months, and 3, 4 and 5 years). Does not meet group size requirements for 18 and 27-month-olds.

Recommendations ■■ Increase the educational requirements for center directors to more than clock hours in early childhood education and experience. ■■ Require all lead/master teachers to have more than a high school diploma or GED. ■■ Increase the number of hours of orientation training required of new staff to more than eight hours.

133

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Texas Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 95/150 (63%) Rank : 12 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

36/50

72%

Standard

59/100

59%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$7,440

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$5,799

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

TX AL

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

134

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Texas Weakness

Strength ✔✔ All child care centers are inspected at least three times a year.

✗✗ Family child care providers can care for up to four unrelated

✔✔Child care licensing staff are required to have a Bachelor’s degree.

✗✗ Child care licensing inspectors have an average caseload of 72

children for pay without a license. programs.

✔✔ Both reports of routine inspections conducted at child care programs and those conducted because of complaints are available online.

✗✗ Center directors are not required to have a college degree. ✗✗ Lead teachers in centers are only required to have a high

✔✔ Center staff are required to have orientation, fire safety and other health and safety training.

school diploma or GED before working with children.

✗✗ Center staff are required to complete only 15 hours of annual

✔✔ Centers are required to have at least one first-aid and CPR certified staff on the premises.

training.

✗✗ Meets NAEYC’s ratio requirements for only two of seven age

✔✔ Requires all center staff to undergo a background check that includes a check of state and federal criminal history records using a fingerprint, and checks of child abuse and neglect registries. Sex offender registries are not explicitly included in the checks.

groups (6 and 9 months). Does not meet ratio requirements for 18 and 27-month and 3, 4 and 5-year-olds.

✗✗ Does not meet NAEYC’s group size requirements for any of the seven age groups.

✔✔ Requires program activities to address five of six developmental domains (social, physical, language/literacy, cognitive/intellectual and emotional). Cultural is not required to be addressed. ✔✔ Health and safety standards address all 10 basic standards (immunizations, guidance/discipline, diapering/handwashing, fire drills, medicine administration, incident reporting, hazardous materials, playground surfaces under outdoor equipment, emergency preparedness and placing infant on back). ✔✔ Has requirements regarding parent involvement and communication, and allows parental visits.

Recommendations ■■ Increase the education requirements for lead/master teachers to more than a high school diploma and experience. ■■ Increase the number of hours of orientation training required of new staff to more than eight hours. ■■ Decrease the program to licensing staff ratio from 72:1 to no more than 50:1.

135

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Utah Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 91/150 (61%) Rank : 19 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

27/50

54%

Standard

64/100

64%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$6,768

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$5,400

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

136

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Utah Weakness

Strength ✔✔ Child care licensing staff are required to have a Bachelor’s degree.

✗✗ Family child care providers can care for up to five unrelated

✔✔ Child care licensing inspectors have an average caseload of 50 programs.

✗✗ Reports of routine inspections conducted at child care

children for pay without a license. programs and reports of those conducted because of complaints are not available online.

✔✔ Requires center directors to have at least a director credential.

✗✗ Lead teachers in centers are not required to have a high school diploma or GED before working with children.

✔✔ Center staff are required to have orientation, fire safety and other health and safety training.

✔✔ Centers are required to have at least one first-aid and CPR certified staff on the premises. ✔✔ Requires program activities to address five of six developmental domains (social, physical, language/literacy, cognitive/intellectual and emotional). Cultural, however, is not required to be addressed.

✗✗ Meets NAEYC’s ratio and group size requirements for only three of seven age groups (6, 9 and 18 months). Does not meet ratio and group size requirements for 27-month and 3, 4 and 5-year-olds.

Recommendations ■■ Require complaint inspections be unannounced. ■■ Establish a pre-service education requirement for lead/master teachers. ■■ Establish a requirement for a specific number of hours of orientation training of new staff. ■■ Require state criminal history checks be based on fingerprints. ■■ Require licensing staff to have at least a Bachelor’s degree in a related field. ■■ Require federal background check using a fingerprint of all center staff.

137

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Vermont Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 94/150 (63%) Rank : 13 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

16/50

32%

Standard

78/100

78%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$7,475

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$7,056

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

138

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Vermont Weakness

Strength ✔✔ Reports of inspections conducted at child care programs because of complaints are available online.

✗✗ Family child care providers can care for up to two unrelated

✔✔ Requires lead teachers in centers to have an Associate’s degree in ECE or related field or a CDA credential.

✗✗ Child care centers are not required to be inspected even once

✔✔ Centers are required to have at least one first-aid and CPR certified staff on the premises.

✗✗ Child care licensing staff are only required to have an

✔✔ Requires program activities to address all six developmental domains (social, physical, language/literacy, cognitive/ intellectual, emotional and cultural).

✗✗ Reports of routine inspections conducted at child care

children for pay without a license. per year. Associate’s degree, and they have an average caseload of 256 programs. programs are not available online.

✗✗ Requires center directors to have only a CDA credential and experience.

✗✗ Center staff are not required to have orientation training or training in fire safety. Training is required in other health and safety topics.

✔✔ Has requirements regarding parent involvement and communication, and allows parental visits.

✗✗ Center staff are required to complete only 12 hours of annual training.

✔✔ Meets NAEYC’s ratio and group size requirements for six of seven age groups (6, 9, 18 and 27 months, and 4 and 5 years). Does not meet ratio and group size requirements for 3-year-olds.

Recommendations ■■ Establish a requirement for at least annual inspections of centers. ■■ Establish a requirement for a specific number of hours of orientation training of new staff members. ■■ Require criminal history background checks be based on fingerprints. ■■ Decrease the ratio of programs to licensing staff from 256:1 to no more than 50:1. ■■ Require licensing staff to have at least a Bachelor’s degree in a related field.

139

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Virginia Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 88/150 (59%) Rank : 23 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

32/50

64%

Standard

56/100

56%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$9,100

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$7,176

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

AL VA

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

140

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Virginia Weakness

Strength ✔✔ All child care centers are inspected at least four times a year.

✗✗ Family child care providers can care for up to six unrelated

✔✔ Both reports of routine inspections conducted at child care programs and those conducted because of complaints are available online.

✗✗ Child care licensing staff are not even required to have an

✔✔ Center staff are required to have orientation, fire safety and other health and safety training.

✗✗ Center directors are not required to have a college degree.

children for pay without a license. Associate’s degree in early childhood education or a related field.

✔✔ Centers are required to have at least one first-aid and CPR certified staff on the premises.

✗✗ Lead teachers in centers are not required to have a CDA

✗✗ Center staff are required to complete only 16 hours of annual

credential or an Associate’s degree. training.

✔✔ Has requirements regarding parent involvement and communication, and allows parental visits.

✗✗ Programs are required to address only three of six developmental domains (social, physical and language/ literacy). Programs are not required to address cognitive/ intellectual, emotional and cultural domains.

✗✗ Meets NAEYC’s ratio requirements for only three of seven

Recommendations

age groups (6, 9 months, and 4 years). Does not meet ratio requirements for 18 and 27-month and 3 and 5-year-olds.

✗✗ Does not meet NAEYC’s group size requirements for any of the seven age groups.

■■ Establish group size limits for all age groups. ■■ Require centers to offer activities to promote children’s emotional and cognitive development. ■■ Require criminal history background checks be based on fingerprints. ■■ Check sex offender registries for new hires.

141

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Washington Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 97/150 (65%) Rank : 9 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

36/50

72%

Standard

61/100

61%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$9,624

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$7,284

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

142

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Washington Weakness

Strength

✗✗ Child care centers are inspected only once per year. ✔✔ All child care programs are required to be licensed.

✗✗ Reports of routine inspections conducted at child care programs are not available online.

✔✔ Reports of inspections conducted at child care programs because of complaints are available online.

✗✗ Center directors are not required to have a college degree.

✔✔ Center staff are required to have orientation, fire safety and other health and safety training.

✗✗ Lead teachers in centers are only required to have a high school diploma or GED and experience before working with children.

✔✔ Centers are required to have at least one first-aid and CPR certified staff on the premises.

✗✗ Center staff are required to complete only 10 hours of annual training.

✔✔ Requires program activities to address all six developmental domains (social, physical, language/literacy, cognitive/ intellectual, emotional and cultural).

✗✗ Center staff are required to undergo background checks

✔✔ Health and safety standards address nine of 10 basic standards (immunizations, guidance/discipline, diapering/ handwashing, fire drills, medicine administration, incident reporting, hazardous materials, emergency preparedness and placing infant on back). Playground surfaces under outdoor equipment are not addressed.

✗✗ Meets NAEYC’s ratio requirements for only four of seven age

(which include checks of criminal history records), but these checks do not use a fingerprint. Checks of child abuse and neglect registries are also required. groups (6 and 9 months, and 4 and 5 years). Does not meet ratio requirements for 18 and 27-month and 3-year-olds.

✗✗ Meets NAEYC’s group size requirements for only three of

✔✔ Has requirements regarding parent involvement and communication, and allows parental visits.

seven age groups (6 and 9 months, and 4 years). Does not meet group size requirements for 18 and 27-month, and 3 and 5-year-olds.

Recommendations ■■ Increase the number of licensing inspections to more than once per year. ■■ Increase the requirements for lead/master teachers to more than a high school diploma and experience. ■■ Increase the number of hours of annual training required of staff to more than 10 hours ■■ Require centers to place impact-altering materials under playground equipment to reduce the number of injuries from falls. ■■ Require state criminal history checks to be based on fingerprints. ■■ Require federal background checks with fingerprints of all center staff.

143

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in West Virginia Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 87/150 (58%) Rank : 24 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

26/50

52%

Standard

61/100

61%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$6,000

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$4,560

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

AL WV

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

144

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in West Virginia Weakness

Strength ✔✔ Child care centers are inspected three times a year.

✗✗ Family child care providers can care for up to four unrelated children for pay without a license.

✔✔Child care licensing staff are required to have a Bachelor’s degree.

✗✗ Child care licensing inspectors have an average caseload of 71 programs.

✔✔ Center staff are required to have orientation, fire safety and other health and safety training.

✗✗ Reports of routine inspections conducted at child care programs and reports of those conducted because of complaints are not available online.

✔✔ Centers are required to have at least one first-aid and CPR certified staff on the premises.

✗✗ Center directors are not required to have a college degree.

✔✔ Requires program activities to address all six developmental domains (social, physical, language/literacy, cognitive/ intellectual, emotional and cultural).

✗✗ Lead teachers in centers are not required to have a CDA credential or an Associate’s degree.

✗✗ Center staff are required to complete only 15 hours of annual training in the first year.

✔✔ Has requirements regarding parent involvement and communication, and allows parental visits.

✗✗ Meets NAEYC’s ratio requirements for only three of seven age groups (6, 9 and 18 months). Does not meet ratio requirements for 27-month and 3, 4 and 5-year-olds.

Recommendations

✗✗ Meets NAEYC’s group size requirements for only two of seven age groups (6 and 9 months). Does not meet group size requirements for 18 and 27-month and 3, 4 and 5-year-olds.

■■ Increase the minimum educational requirements for some center directors from 10 to 15 years of work experience. ■■ Increase the hours of orientation training required of new staff to more than eight hours. ■■ Make inspection and complaint reports available online for parents to review.

145

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Wisconsin Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 92/150 (61%) Rank : 16 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

19/50

38%

Standard

73/100

73%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$12,350

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$10,524

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

AL WI

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

146

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Wisconsin Weakness

Strength ✔✔ Both reports of routine inspections conducted at child care programs and those conducted because of complaints are available online.

✗✗ Family child care providers can care for up to four unrelated

✔✔ Requires some center directors to have at least a Director credential - the credential is created by the state.

Associate’s degree, and have an average caseload of 333 programs.

children for pay without a license.

✗✗ Child care licensing staff are not required to have an

✗✗ Lead teachers in centers are only required to have a high

✔✔ Center staff are required to have orientation, fire safety and other health and safety training.

school diploma or GED or clock hours in early childhood education before working with children.

✔✔ Centers are required to have at least one first-aid and CPR certified staff on the premises.

✗✗ Center staff are required to undergo background checks, which include checks of criminal history records, but these checks do not use a fingerprint. Checks of child abuse and neglect registries are also required. The check does not explicitly include sex offender registries.

✔✔ Center staff are required to complete at least 25 hours of annual training. ✔✔ Requires program activities to address five of six developmental domains (social, physical, language/literacy, cognitive/intellectual and emotional). Cultural, however, is not required to be addressed.

✗✗ Meets NAEYC’s ratio and group size requirements for only four of seven age groups (6, 9, 18 and 27 months). Does not meet ratio and group size requirements for 3, 4 and 5-year-olds.

Recommendations ■■ Increase the frequency of inspections of centers to more often than twice per year. ■■ Increase the education requirements for center directors. ■■ Increase the education requirements for lead/master teachers. ■■ Require more than 10 hours of orientation for new staff. ■■ Require the use of fingerprints for conducting state criminal history background checks. ■■ Check the sex offender registry for new hires. ■■ Conduct federal background checks using fingerprints.

147

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Wyoming Child Care Center Prices in 2007

Overall Score: 73/150 (49%) Rank : 38 ♦

Score

Percent

Rank

Oversight

31/50

62%

Standard

42/100

42%

Average annual fees paid for an infant in a center

$7,160

Average annual fees paid for a 4-year-old in a center

$6,248

Child Care Center Oversight Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

AL WY

ll centers and family child care homes A are licensed.

onitoring visits of centers are conducted M 4 times a year.

rograms to licensing staff ratio does not P exceed 50:1.

icensing staff have a Bachelor’s degree in L a related field.

nline inspection and complaint reports are O available to parents.

Child Care Center Regulations Standards for Ranking

Meets Recommendation

Standards for Ranking

1. S taff: child ratios in compliance with NAEYC* standards.

6. R equire all teachers to have 24 hours or more of ongoing training per year.

2. G roup size in compliance with NAEYC standards.

7. R equire checks of criminal history, child abuse registry, state fingerprint, federal fingerprint, and sex offender registry.

3. C enter directors required to have a Bachelor’s degree or higher.

8. R equire programs to address six developmental domains.****

4. T eachers required to have a CDA** credential or an Associate’s degree in ECE*** or related field.

9. R equire 10 basic standards of health and safety.*****

5. C enter staff required to have orientation training, and training in first aid, CPR, fire safety, and other health and safety issues.

10. Require parent involvement, communication and allow parental visits.

Key

Fully Meets

Substantially Meets

Partially Meets

Marginally Meets

Does not meet

N/A = Not Available

FCC = Family Child Care

♦Out

148

State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in Wyoming Weakness

Strength

✗✗ Family child care providers can care for up to two unrelated

✔✔ All child care centers are inspected at least four times a year.

unrelated children for pay and their own young children without a license.

✔✔Child care licensing staff are required to have a Bachelor’s degree.

✗✗ Reports of routine inspections conducted at child care

✔✔ Center staff are required to have orientation, fire safety and other health and safety training.

programs and reports of those conducted because of complaints are not available online.

✔✔ Centers are required to have at least one first-aid and CPR certified staff on the premises.

✗✗ Center directors are not required to have any college

✗✗ Lead teachers in centers are not required to have a high

credits/courses. school diploma or GED before working with children.

✗✗ Center staff are required to complete only 15 hours of annual training.

✗✗ Center staff are required to undergo background checks

✔✔ Has requirements regarding parent involvement and communication, and allows parental visits.

(which include checks of criminal history records), but these checks do not use a fingerprint. Checks of child abuse and neglect registries are also required. The check does not explicitly include sex offender registries.

✗✗ Programs are not required to address any of the six

Recommendations

developmental domains. These domains include social, physical, language/literacy, cognitive/intellectual, emotional and cultural.

✗✗ Meets NAEYC’s ratio requirements for only two of seven age

■■ Increase the education requirements for center directors.

groups (6 and 9 months). Does not meet ratio requirements for 18 and 27-month and 3, 4 and 5-year-olds.

■■ Establish pre-service education requirements for lead/ master teachers.

✗✗ Does not meet NAEYC’s group size requirements for any of the seven age groups

■■ Require centers to offer a program of activities which addresses all areas of development, including cognitive development and language and literacy skills. ■■ Require fingerprints be used to conduct criminal history background checks. ■■ Make inspection and complaint reports available online for parents to review. ■■ Conduct federal background checks using fingerprints and sex offender registry checks.

149

Appendix B

Methodology During fall 2008, NACCRRA provided State Child Care Administrators with information about their state child care licensing regulations from the NACCRRA report, We Can Do Better: NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Child Care Center Standards and Oversight (NACCRRA, 2007). They were asked to provide NACCRRA with information about changes in state child care licensing regulations since the data were gathered for that report. This information was verified using the state child care regulations or other written documents, including criminal history regulations, fire regulations and health regulations. We gave states credit only if the requirement could be verified in a written document such as the state’s regulations or a policy manual. We did not give states credit if the action was a department practice or goal, if the language in the regulation is permissive, or if the written documentation could not be found. In cases where states permit several different options for complying such as director or teacher qualifications, the minimum allowed was used. Information on DoD programs was taken from DoD Instruction 6060.2 and other relevant DoD policy documents (DoD, 1993).

The information gathered was used to score each state on each of the state child care oversight and center regulations benchmarks. Benchmark criteria were developed by NACCRRA for the report, We Can Do Better: NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Child Care Center Standards and Oversight (NACCRRA, 2007). For each benchmark, the state was given a value between one and 10 depending on how closely the state met the NACCRRA benchmark. After NACCRRA scored the states, the state fact sheets were sent back to the State Administrators and contacts in the states’ licensing offices, and they were asked to provide comments. The final scores were used for three sets of rankings: child care regulations, child care oversight system and an overall rank combining both of these scores.

NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

151

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The Governor's Working Group on Early Childhood Initiatives. (2007). Research citations for Virginia’s Star Quality Initiative. Retrieved January 13, 2009 from the Virginia State Department of Education at http:// www.education.virginia.gov/Initiatives/ EarlyChildhood/Research_Based_Evid_QRS_97-07.doc

Bowman, B.T., Donovan, M.S., and Burns, M.S. (Eds.). (2000). Eager to learn: Educating our preschoolers. Retrieved January 15, 2009 from National Academy Press at http://www. nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn=0309068363 or http://www.nap.edu/nap-cgi/report.cgi?record_ id=9745&type=pdfxsum

National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). (2007). NAEYC early childhood program standards and accreditation criteria: The mark of quality in early childhood education. Washington, DC: Author.

Clarke-Stewart, K.A., Vandell, D.L., Burchinal, M., O’Brien, M.O., & McCartney, K. (2002). Do regulable features of child care homes affect children’s development? Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 17, 52–86. Fiene, R. (2002). 13 indicators of quality child care: Research update. Retrieved January 15, 2009 from the Office of Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: http://aspe.hhs. gov/hsp/ccquality-ind02/ Fuller, B., Livas, A., & Bridges, M. (2005). How to expand and improve preschool in California: Ideas, evidence, and policy options. Retrieved January 15, 2009 from Policy Analysis for California Education at http://gse.berkeley.edu/ research/pace/reports/WP.05_1.pdf Gormley, Jr., W.T. (1995). Everybody’s children: Child care as a public program. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution.

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NAEYC. (1997). Position paper on licensing and regulation of early childhood programs. Retrieved January 12, 2009 from http://www. naeyc.org/about/positions/pslicense.asp National Association for Regulatory Administration & National Child Care Association (no date). Equal protection and quality education for every child. Retrieved February 2, 2009 from http://naralicensing.org/ associations/4734/files/JointPP.pdf National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies. (2009). Parents’ perceptions of child care in the United States: NACCRRA’s national parent poll: November 2008. Retrieved February 8, 2009 from http://www.naccrra.org/ policy/recent_reports/parent_poll.php NACCRRA. (2009). Unequal opportunities: Differing standards for licensed child care centers and state-funded prekindergarten programs. Arlington, VA: Author.

NACCRRA’s Ranking of State Child Care Center Regulations and Oversight

NACCRRA. (2008). Leaving children to chance: NACCRRA’s ranking of state standards and oversight of small family child care home. Retrieved January 15, 2009 from http:// www.naccrra.org/docs/members_only/FCC_ report_05.pdf

U.S. Census Bureau. (2008). Who’s minding the kids? Child care arrangements: Spring 2005. Current Population Reports, 70-101. Retrieved January 14, 2009 from the U.S. Census Bureau at http://www.census.gov/population/www/ socdemo/child/ppl-2005.html

NACCRRA. (2007). We can do better: NACCRRA’s ranking of state child care center standards and oversight. Retrieved January 20, 2009 from http://www.naccrra.org/policy/ recent_reports/scorecard.php

U.S. Department of Defense. (1993, January 19). Child Development Programs (CDPs). Department of Defense Instruction Number 6060.2. Retrieved January 5, 2009 from http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/ pdf/606002p.pdf

National Center for Education Statistics. (2007). Table 42: Number of children under 6 years old and not yet enrolled in kindergarten, percentage in center-based programs, average weekly hours in non-parental care, and percentage in various types of primary care arrangements, by selected child and family characteristics: 2005. Digest of Education Statistics. Retrieved January 6, 2009 from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d07/tables/ dt07_042.asp National Early Child Care Research Network (Eds.). (2005). Child care and child development. Results from the NICHD study of early child care and youth development. Retrieved January 15, 2009 from http:// www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/pubs/upload/ seccyd_051206.pdf

Whitebook, M., Howes, C., & Phillips, D. (1989). Who cares? Child care teachers and the quality of care in America (Final report of the National Child Care Staffing Study). Oakland, CA: Child Care Employee Project. Witte, A.D., & Querait, M. (2004). What happens when child care inspections and complaints are made available on the Internet? NBER Working Paper Series, No. 10277. Retrieved January 26, 2009 from the National Bureau of Economic Research at http://www.wellesley. edu/Economics/partner/w10227.pdf

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National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies 3101 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 350, Arlington, VA 22201 Phone (703) 341-4100 Fax (703) 341-4101 www.naccrra.org ÂŠ NACCRRA 2009

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