Monday, December 17, 2007
2008 Child Care Legislative Agenda
Child Care Works of Minnesota has announced their 2008 Legislative Agenda. Here are the issues that they will be lobbying for:
Child Care Opportunities Support Our Youngest Citizens
Minnesotans believe that all young children deserve the early care and education they need to be successful in school and life. Our children are our future neighbors, doctors, firefighters and leaders. With the great majority of parents in the workforce, most of Minnesota’s youngest citizens are in non-parental care for some portion of their day. Access to affordable, quality child care is crucial to supporting Minnesota’s workforce and its youngest citizens.
Access to affordable, quality child care also supports healthy development and school readiness while parents work. Minnesota’s Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) helps families pay the cost of quality child care. Until 2003 CCAP was a national model, but today thousands of working families can not use CCAP because of below-market reimbursement rates and long waiting lists.
Quality child care, at a minimum, is healthy, consistent and safe. Child Care WORKS (CCW) advocates for research-based policies that reflect best practices to ensure that our children’s child care settings are safe. Excellent facilities that are child-centered and child-friendly also enhance children’s learning and preparation for success.
In 2008, Child Care WORKS advocates for Child Care Assistance funding and policies through:
1. Funding to eliminate the Basic Sliding Fee waiting list (almost 3,600 families as of Sept. 2007)
2. An increase in the state’s reimbursement rates for Child Care Assistance to ensure that low-income families have affordable, quality choices that can be covered by the state's reimbursement rate
3. Implementing Absent Day policy changes made in 2007 session by July 2008 (instead of January 2009)
4. Requesting a state-led taskforce, including advocates and parents, to make recommendations on strategies to streamline the Child Care Assistance Program’s paperwork requirements.
Child Care WORKS also advocates for high quality, healthy, safe and consistent child care using the following strategies:
5. Moving the responsibility for family child care provider background studies from the county to the state to streamline and accelerate processing time and ensure quicker updates for criminal offenses
6. $7 million in bonding funds for the Early Childhood Facilities Grant program to ensure quality sites for early childhood facilities around the state of Minnesota
7. Eliminating the requirement that child care providers allow infants to sleep on their stomachs at the parent's request, given the strong research showing infants should sleep on their backs to prevent Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
2008 Legislative Agenda Download as a pdf file (1 page)
What are your thoughts? Do you agree with this agenda for the upcoming legislative session?
Child Care Works of Minnesota has announced their 2008 Legislative Agenda. Here are the issues that they will be lobbying for:
Child Care Opportunities Support Our Youngest Citizens
Minnesotans believe that all young children deserve the early care and education they need to be successful in school and life. Our children are our future neighbors, doctors, firefighters and leaders. With the great majority of parents in the workforce, most of Minnesota’s youngest citizens are in non-parental care for some portion of their day. Access to affordable, quality child care is crucial to supporting Minnesota’s workforce and its youngest citizens.
Access to affordable, quality child care also supports healthy development and school readiness while parents work. Minnesota’s Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) helps families pay the cost of quality child care. Until 2003 CCAP was a national model, but today thousands of working families can not use CCAP because of below-market reimbursement rates and long waiting lists.
Quality child care, at a minimum, is healthy, consistent and safe. Child Care WORKS (CCW) advocates for research-based policies that reflect best practices to ensure that our children’s child care settings are safe. Excellent facilities that are child-centered and child-friendly also enhance children’s learning and preparation for success.
In 2008, Child Care WORKS advocates for Child Care Assistance funding and policies through:
1. Funding to eliminate the Basic Sliding Fee waiting list (almost 3,600 families as of Sept. 2007)
2. An increase in the state’s reimbursement rates for Child Care Assistance to ensure that low-income families have affordable, quality choices that can be covered by the state's reimbursement rate
3. Implementing Absent Day policy changes made in 2007 session by July 2008 (instead of January 2009)
4. Requesting a state-led taskforce, including advocates and parents, to make recommendations on strategies to streamline the Child Care Assistance Program’s paperwork requirements.
Child Care WORKS also advocates for high quality, healthy, safe and consistent child care using the following strategies:
5. Moving the responsibility for family child care provider background studies from the county to the state to streamline and accelerate processing time and ensure quicker updates for criminal offenses
6. $7 million in bonding funds for the Early Childhood Facilities Grant program to ensure quality sites for early childhood facilities around the state of Minnesota
7. Eliminating the requirement that child care providers allow infants to sleep on their stomachs at the parent's request, given the strong research showing infants should sleep on their backs to prevent Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
2008 Legislative Agenda Download as a pdf file (1 page)
What are your thoughts? Do you agree with this agenda for the upcoming legislative session?
// posted by Tammy Wachter @ 5:48 PM 
