Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Last night at two minutes and three seconds after 1:00 in the morning, the time and date was 01:02:03 04 - 05 - 06. That won't happen for another 100 years. That's some useless information that you probably didn't need to know, but here is something important that you should be aware of...
On March 13th, the Child Care WORKS Board of Directors approved the 2006 Child Care Legislative Agenda, and child care advocates across the state are taking action to move these important proposals forward in the legislative process.
Child Care WORKS, is a coalition of parents, caregivers, and children's advocates, strives to achieve high-quality, affordable, accessible child care for every Minnesota family when they need it.
These families, caregivers and children are counting on you to join them in advocating for high-quality, affordable, accessible child care - see below for ways that you can use this legislative agenda to make sure our youngest citizens have the best start possible!
2006 Child Care Legislative Agenda
1. Provide Child Care Opportunities to Support Our Youngest Citizens and Working Parents
Minnesotans have a stake in ensuring that all young children get the early care and education they need to be successful in school and in life. These children will grow up to be our neighbors, doctors, firefighters and political leaders. And, with the majority of moms in the workforce, the majority of Minnesota’s youngest citizens are in child care for some portion of their day. The Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) helps families to pay for quality child care. Yet, the CCAP reimbursement rate has been frozen since 2003 at the 2001 market rate, with only a 1.75% one-time increase in 2006, even though child care costs have increased by about 15% since 2001. Low reimbursement rates limit parents’ ability to afford quality child care programs—the kind of early childhood experiences that make the most difference for children at risk of not succeeding in school and in life. In addition, low reimbursement rates create a disincentive for quality providers to enroll CCAP children. Furthermore, almost 5,000 working families are currently on the CCAP waiting list because they need help paying for child care in order to stay in the workforce.
The Child Care Crisis Bill (SF 2819-Hottinger, HF 3259-Slawik)
- Lifts the reimbursement rate freeze for child care programs serving CCAP families, returning to the 75th percentile of the market rate to make child care accessible and affordable for low-income working families;
- Provides sliding fee assistance to the almost 5,000 low-income working families on the CCAP waiting list (4,876 families as of December 2005);
Increases entrance eligibility for CCAP to 250% of the federal poverty guidelines; and - Provides a 15% higher rate for accredited child care providers for CCAP families to more closely mirror the rate charged to private-pay families.
2. Increase Information to Parents to Make Good Choices and Resources to Improve Child Care Quality to Offer Children the Best Chance at Success
Parents are best positioned to choose the kind of care their children need, but need more information to make informed decisions. Nationwide, states are implementing systems to help providers increase their quality and parents to identify quality care.
Child care improves children’s development in socialization, sharing, and working together. A well-trained staff can best facilitate the positive brain development that can affect a child throughout their life. Licensed family child care providers are required to take only 6 hours of in-service training annually (compared to center staff who are required to take at least 20 hours). However, close to 50% of family child care providers report taking more than 6 hours of training per year.
The NorthStar Quality Improvement & Rating System Bill (formerly known as the QRS)
Funds a demonstration of the NorthStar Quality Improvement & Rating System to increase resources to improve providers ability to deliver quality care, help parents identify quality care and increase parents’ choices of quality providers
The Child Care Training & Professional Development Bill
- Increases licensed family child care professional development hours from 6 to 12 hours annually;
- Requires that all new center staff and family child care providers complete 2 hours of training covering basic early childhood development within their first year of providing care; and
- Ensures that First Aid training is repeated by all child care providers required to take such training every three years.
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These items make a worthwhile agenda that will be beneficial to you as a child care professional, to our profession, and most importantly to the children that we care for. Stay informed about what is happening in this year's legislature by signing up for the Child Care Works newletter or join a District Coordinator's network. If you are in my area, (Kandiyohi County), let me know and I will certainly add you to my network. Remember that knowledge is power...
