TKW Consulting

As a Food Program Director, I actually had providers call and drop from the Food
Program participation telling me “My license is coming up for renewal. I care
for a very small group of children and it is not feasible for me to pay the feee
for relicensing my child care and for the newly required background
check.” Beth Mork, past MLFCCA Food Program Director

Average Net Income of MN Family Child Care Providers in 2006 is between $9,300 and $14,700. If you would like the average net income for your county please contact Deloris Friske at 952-492-3827 or friske@frontiernet.net

What is the average net income of a family child care provider in Scott County?
According to 2006 CCR&R Survey’s Scott County has 8.5 children to an average child care home. Many child care providers have at least 2 of their own children counting in that 8.5 number, leaving 6.5 paid spaces.

• Using the Average Rates for Scott County and Tom Copeland’s national average of 30% of gross profit is net income, a provider with 6.5 paying children in Scott County makes about $14,700. The $250 license fee is about 2% of a family child care provider’s net income. A teacher’s license has a percent of income far less than 1% at 0.19% when compared for the same year.
• In Ramsey County there is no license fee and providers have an average of 7 (5 paying) children in care. Their net income is about $11,175.
• In Dakota County with an average of 8 (6 paying) children in care the net income is $13,100.
• Olmsted County pays $250 yearly for a license. This is a strong 2% of their net income yearly. $12,850 is the net income for 8 (6 paying) children.

Family Child Care Providers are generally not opposed to a fair licensing fee. Survey’s done in 87 counties prior to the 2003 bill being passed showed family child care providers felt a $50.00 license fee would be a fee they felt was fair.

Fee Variations from County to County can be devasting to providers whose clients are coming from the same area. Licensed Family Child Care Providers operate their businesses under Rule II. There have always been intrepretation variations in regards to what satisfies compliance to licensing regulations from county to county. This has been a challenge to providers who struggle with exactly what satisfies compliance with the regulations. Now we have added fee differences from county to county for providers licensing their businesses under the same regulations. For example, Ramsey County has no fee and Northern Dakota County a $250 fee. When a Dakota County provider passes the cost along to parents this results in child care in the Ramsey county appear more appealing to parents based on cost wise? This bill gives counties flexibility to not charge a fee and makes for a fairer consistency with the licensing fee. The goal should be to encourage licensing as part of our child care system, to protect children and their families, and to keep child care providers visible and reachable in order to connect them with resources and training.

Family Child Care Providers are taxpayers. Child Care is a base service to keep the economy of a county alive. Consistent and quality child care is important to the stability of the work force in a county. Not only do the majority of parents utilizing child care in every county in our state pay taxes that fund operations of their respective counties, child care providers also pay taxes. Licensing fees discourage people from entering a field that pays little, offers an important, necessary service supporting the economy and bringing in additional revenue as tax payers.

The license fee needs to be fair and equitable when compared with the income family child care has potential to generate. The process is mandated by the state (DHS) to be conducted by the county. With the net income generated by a provider per year based on child number restrictions by Rule II family child care providers cannot be 6 digit wage earners. Our current license fee is higher than 6 digit wage earners license fees (doctors) who pay $192 for a renewal of their license.

Greater Minnesota and Equity. Family Child Care is the most common option in Greater Minnesota. Some counties do not have center care as a choice for parents. Net income decreases as you move away from the 7 county metro area. A reasonable cap on the license fee and allowing counties to choose lower fees than the cap, allows counties to meet the child care demand in their location in the state.

Having children ready for Kindergarten. Changes are occurring in accountability of programs. There is an increased professionalism on the part of providers in the field and coming into the field. With the lower child-adult ratio in many family child care homes by choice, children coming through family child care settings have the potential to be many times more prepared for kindergarten than children in care from other settings. Let’s not close our smaller homes with fees that are high.


Background Check Fee

Based on the Human Services Background Check Statute, subdivision 1, there should have been no charge for the background study. Below is the current statute.

245C.10 BACKGROUND STUDY; FEES. Subdivision 1. Subject of background study. No applicant, license holder, or individual who is the subject of a background study shall pay any fees required to conduct the study. Subd. 2. Supplemental nursing services agencies. The commissioner shall recover the cost of the background studies initiated by supplemental nursing services agencies registered under section 144A.71, subdivision 1, through a fee of no more than $20 per study charged to the agency. The fees collected under this subdivision are appropriated to the commissioner for the purpose of conducting background studies. Subd. 3. Personal care provider organizations. The commissioner shall recover the cost of background studies initiated by a personal care provider organization under sections 256B.0651 and 256B.0653 to 256B.0656 through a fee of no more than $20 per study charged to the organization responsible for submitting the background study form. The fees collected under this subdivision are appropriated to the commissioner for the purpose of conducting background studies.History: 2003 c 15 art 1 s 10; 1Sp2005 c 4 art 5 s

Background Checks are a public service. More than half of the children in care are in unlicensed child care programs according to CCR&R (Child Care Resource and Referral). If these Family Friends and Neighbor (FFN) providers are contracted with the state and receiving child care assistance funding, the background checks on these homes are picked up by the state of Minnesota as part of that system. Background checks are a public service, designed to protect children. If a child is in a child care center, background check fees are part of the licensing fee, not an additional fee. This service should be equitably provided. Children in licensed family child care homes deserve the same protection and their providers and families should not have to bear the cost that is provided in the name of public safety in other situations.

I for one, will lend whatever support I can to these proposed bills....

// posted by Tammy Wachter @ 6:38 PM 0 comments

• In the United States during 2005, 1,451 children ages 14 years and younger died as occupants in motor vehicle crashes, and approximately 203,000 were injured. That’s an average of 4 deaths and 556 injuries each day.
• Of the children ages 0 to 14 years who were killed in motor vehicle crashes during 2005, nearly half were unrestrained.

• Seat all children ages 12 years old and younger in the back seat and be sure they are properly restrained every time they ride in a motor vehicle–even during those quick trips to the corner market
• Read both the car seat instruction manual and your vehicle owner’s manual to make sure you are properly installing and using the seat. One study found that 72% of nearly 3,500 observed child restraint systems were misused in a way that could be expected to increase a child’s risk of injury during a crash (NHTSA 2006b).
• Send in your car seat registration card so that the manufacturer can contact you about any recalls. You can also call the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Auto Safety Hotline, (888) 327-4236, to find out about recalls.
• Replace any car seat that was used during a motor vehicle crash.

For more information visit:

• The National Highway & Traffic Safety Administration
• The National Center for Injury Prevention and Control
• Buckle Up America
• Consumer Reports

Let's be careful out there...

// posted by Tammy Wachter @ 4:50 PM 0 comments

Saint Valentine's Day or Valentine's Day is on February 14. It is the traditional day on which lovers express their love for each other; sending Valentine's cards, candy, or donations to charities, often anonymously. It is very common to present flowers on Valentine's Day. The holiday is named after two men, both Christian martyrs named Valentine. The day became associated with romantic love in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished.

The day is most closely associated with the mutual exchange of love notes in the form of "valentines". Modern Valentine symbols include the heart-shaped outline and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten notes have largely given way to mass-produced greeting cards. The Greeting Card Association estimates that approximately one billion valentines are sent each year worldwide, making the day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year behind Christmas. The association estimates that women purchase approximately 85 percent of all valentines.

Regardless, it is a great day to share and celebrate with the children in your care.

It's been a while since I offered a list of some of my favorite online resources for children's crafts and activities. So here are some excellant Valentine's Day resources...

• Crayola.com one of the best craft sites on the web
• Enchanted Learning a favorite for every holiday
• KinderArt
• Family Fun
• Wonder Time
• Everything Preschool great resource for preschool children
• Apples 4 The Teacher has pages are literacy builders that sound out the sentence for toddlers and preschoolers who are beginning and nonreaders.
• The Idea Box provides links to several activities
• Coloring Castle has a variety of Valentines Day coloring pages
• DLTK has lots of activities and crafts
• Child Fun has activities, coloring pages, and more
• Many Valentine Crafts About Family Crafts
• Valentine Crafts Woman's Day
• Crayon Hearts Martha Stewart
• Better Homes & Gardens
• Valentine Paper Mache Heart Kids' Turn Central
• Valentine's Day Project List Michaels.com
• Sweet and Easy Valentine's Day Crafts Parents.com
• Stuck On You Pin Sesame Workshop
• Cute Valentine Crafts iVillage
• Valentine Crafts MakeStuff.com
• Valentine Crafts Making Friends
• Valentines Day Crafts Kids Domain
• Kids Soup

Hope you have some fun!

// posted by Tammy Wachter @ 3:57 PM 0 comments

• AquaFresh Kids Zone
• Family Crafts
• Dr. C's Fun & Games
• Colgate Kids World
• Smile Kids
• Crest Kids

// posted by Tammy Wachter @ 7:20 PM 0 comments

Family Child Care Meets Needs of Working Families
WASHINGTON, D.C. ---

Family child care providers are an important support for working parents and meet children’s needs for a safe, healthy and nurturing environment, according to a report released today by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Family child care is defined as child care provided by an adult who may or may not be related to the child, in the adult’s own home and outside the child’s own home.

“Family child care is an option that works best for many families,” said HHS Assistant Secretary for Children and Families Wade F. Horn, Ph.D. “This report sheds light on the benefits family child care provides to working parents and the factors parents consider when choosing an appropriate child care arrangement.” The report, “Care in the Home: A Description of Family Child Care and the Experiences of the Families and Children Who Use It,” presents findings from the first wave of data collection for the In-Depth Study of Family Child Care, a component of the National Study of Child Care for Low-Income Families -- a seven year research effort being conducted in 25 communities in 17 states.

The findings of the report, based on in-depth study of 618 families using family child care and 533 family child care providers, include the following:

• Family child care met several practical considerations of the parents, such as availability of care to cover the parent’s off-hours or irregular work schedules, the costs of care and the convenience of the location;
• About half of the homes provided care for children of all ages – from infants to school-age children – a great help for parents trying to arrange care for more than one child;
• Most parents considered more than one possible care arrangement before selecting family child care. Fewer than 10 percent wanted a different arrangement than the one they were using;
• Safety for their children, the relationship with the provider and trust were among parents’ most compelling reasons for choosing family child care;
• Family child care arrangements are remarkably stable. Most of the children (90 percent) were in a single, full-time child care arrangement and providers in the study had been providing care for an average of seven years; and
• Family child care homes provided safe places for children, close supervision, warmth and responsiveness to children’s needs and environments with little stress or conflict.

The report also notes features of family child care in need of improvement,
including:

• Children in family child care homes could spend more time on activities that promote cognitive and language development. In more than 40 percent of the family child care homes, the television was rarely or never turned off; and in the majority of homes, at least one child was watching television at each study observation point; and
• Reading activities were observed in only 37 percent of the family child care homes.

The study was initiated in the wake of welfare reform legislation enacted in 1996 and prepared by Abt Associates Inc.

View the Executive Summary...

// posted by Tammy Wachter @ 3:56 PM 0 comments

It's time to change how we view a child's growth. Do you know all the ways you should measure your child’s growth? We naturally think of height and weight, but from birth to 5 years, your child should reach milestones in how he plays, learns, speaks and acts. A delay in any of these areas could be a sign of a developmental problem, even autism. The good news is, the earlier it’s recognized the more you can do to help your child reach her full potential.

// posted by Tammy Wachter @ 5:03 PM 0 comments

South Dakota makes preschool a form of economic development
by Cara Hetland, Minnesota Public Radio

Business leaders in South Dakota are taking an interesting approach to economic development. They're using money set aside for recruiting new businesses and investing it in preschool education. Studies show that every dollar spent on early education
saves seven dollars down the road, on potential welfare and incarceration costs.

Ron Moquist's company, Raven Industries, makes everything from hot air balloons to army uniforms. His business is in downtown Sioux Falls and he knows what he looks for in employees. "The strong back has been replaced by the educated mind," he says.

Moquist is a self-proclaimed conservative who finds himself taking a rather liberal stance when it comes to business. He says there are more and more kids coming out of high school unprepared to enter the work force.

"They're being asked to do processes in our company, electronic processes that are very difficult and very sophisticated," Moquist says. "They're out of high school but our expectation about what they're supposed is very high. We need them to take math and science in high school."

Moquist says it's time to change the trend he's seeing by focusing on the formative years. "We know that the number one predictor of success in school is poverty," he says. "If you start from a poverty back ground you will have a difficult time in school. So what we said is that we've got to get to these kids sooner because so many of them are starting kindergarten 18 months behind their peers and most of them never catch up."

For the past three years Moquist lead a Chamber of Commerce committee that researched preschool programs in Sioux Falls.

The result is a three-year pilot program set to begin this fall. Over three years it'll cost nearly a $1.5 million to reach 240 kids. Republican Gov. Mike Rounds offered half of the money from his economic development fund. The other half is split between the United Way and Sioux Falls businesses.

// posted by Tammy Wachter @ 6:09 PM 0 comments

• Someone who shows no fear of spiders and other creepy crawly things and doesn’t flinch at the sight of blood
• Someone who reacts to dead insects with enthusiasm and interest
• A person who smiles and talks pleasantly to a child whose very smelly diaper they are changing
• Someone who accepts sloppy kisses and energetic hugs from paint or mud coated hands
• Someone who comes up with an appropriate comment when shown a painting that resembles a cloth used to clean shoes.
• A chef and a waiter in a restaurant where the customers are often very fussy, careless and messy, likely to change their minds about what they want, and they never leave tips.
• A competent debt collector and shuffler of mountains of paperwork
• A translator who can understand two year old and one year old communication for example she can figure out that Ogahawoo said in a certain way, means, “I need a cuddle now”, that a chubby finger pointed in the direction of the window means, “did you see that beautiful bird that just flew by”? that falling to pieces around 4.30 in the afternoon often means, “I’ve had it, I’m tired and I want my Dad to come and take me home right now”!
• A removalist. Maintenance person, and cleaner who works, often under pressure and with numerous distractions, to remove paint, clay, water and food hundreds of times a week from walls, floors, furniture and people.
• A junk collector who sees potential in other people’s rubbish
• A mediator who smoothes the waters when a fourteen year old daughter discovers finger prints on her Orlando Bloom poster
• A scientist who understands how the universe works and who can answer questions such as “why does the wind blow?, what makes fire burn? Where do the stars go in the daytime”?, who not only knows the answers but can explain them in a way that satisfies a curious four year old.
• A judge who can make the correct decision about what is fair when they haven't a clue who had the doll first and both parties claim that they did, who settles hundreds of disputes. Major and minor, and who knows when to stay out of the picture.
• A magician who can transform active toddlers into sleeping toddlers, who can divide three small biscuits into four precisely equal portions, who can turn a walk to the corner shop into an event packed excursion
• A juggler who manages being a parent, a partner or spouse, a professional, a community member, a homemaker and a person, all at the same time.
• Someone who can wait- wait for babies to sleep, toddlers to finish, children to catch up, parents to pay up, parents to show up. They are expert at waiting for coffe and toilet breaks, in short, a child care provider is a super person!
  
  Adapted from: Dimensions-Excellence in Many Ways. Ann Stonehouse.

// posted by Tammy Wachter @ 3:33 PM 0 comments