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Friends of the Fourth
District:
When a parent drops off a child at a nursery school or child care
center there are many common questions on every parent’s mind: Will
my child be safe inside that facility? Is the facility clean? What
activities will my child have access to? Do teachers and staff have
adequate training? Sadly, if that nursery school or child care
center is in California, the answer to these questions may not be
encouraging.
Recently, the National Association of Child Care Resource and
Referral Agencies (NACCRRA) released a detailed investigation on the
quality of child care centers across the nation. The State of
California ranked 47th out of 51 and is considered one of the worst
states in the nation when it comes to ensuring the safety and
well-being of our children in child care centers.
There were a number of reasons cited in the report as to why some
child care centers in our state rated poorly, including infrequent
inspections, deficient safety requirements, and low hiring
standards. All of these reasons are alarming and should be
addressed, however, I think that much of the reason California fared
so badly in this report is because we currently have no way of
educating parents who utilize child care services about the overall
quality of the places they are leaving their children every day.
Child care is big business in Los Angeles County and across
California. In our County alone, it's estimated that over $1.4
billion is spent on child care services annually and the demand for
services and facilities continues to grow every year. But with this
increasing demand for services comes an increasing need for
oversight and access to information for parents about the quality of
care of their children are receiving in these facilities.
We need to a better job of giving parents access to information
about child care centers that they may not have time or the ability
to research on their own. I am hopeful that one solution may be
found in a new program I developed several months ago called STEP,
or Steps to Excellence Program, that will implement a child care
quality rating system throughout the County.
When it starts in July, STEP will be the first program of its kind
in the state. In much the same way that our restaurant grading
system has empowered consumers with information about the health and
safety of restaurants they choose to eat in, I am hopeful this
program will bring similar success to the health and safety of child
care centers.
Under this child care quality rating system the County will actually
be inspecting and grading child care centers that participate in the
program. We will be asking the tough questions for parents, such as:
Are you accredited by any national child care associations? What is
the teacher-to-child ratio? What are the qualifications of your
staff? How clean is your facility? Are you in compliance with state
safety regulations?
We will then take the results of our inspections to assign and issue
grades for the child care centers that can be physically posted at
the facility or added to a County database of information that
parents can access.
It is my hope that this inspection program is a win for everyone. It
can be a win for parents who want to empower themselves with
information about the quality of child care centers. It can be a win
for center operators who want to showcase their excellent care,
facilities and services. Above all, it can be a win for children,
who will be the ultimate beneficiaries of an investment in
high-quality child care centers.
DON KNABE
Supervisor, Fourth District
County of Los Angeles
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