Rapid growth seen in lightly regulated child care ministries

The fast-growing business of child care ministries is drawing some concern about child safety and relatively light regulations.

The ministries, which are unlicensed and required to pass only fire, building and sanitation rules, started outnumbering licensed child care centers in Indiana for the first time three years ago. Today there are 607 licensed centers and 665 child care ministries.

Child care ministries maintain the industry's only growth, largely because of an influx of federal child care dollars that can go to religious and nonreligious groups, state officials say.

Licensed child care centers must follow 60 pages of rules, but ministries only have to abide by four.

Rep. Win Moses, D-Fort Wayne, called the minimal rules for child care ministries an "unequal safety factor" for children.

"We don't even know what goes on there, which is dangerous," he said.

Since May 2006, 60 ministries and 85 licensed centers have had abuse or neglect complaints, according to the state Bureau of Child Care. Until a new law started last July, Child Protective Services was prevented from investigating complaints at ministries.

The state used to require ministries to be inspected twice as often as centers. But that changed last year, when inspectors found it impossible to keep up with the growing number of ministries.

"But one of the other reasons were the majority of the ministries fare pretty well on their inspections," said Ken Hudson, a child care manager for the Bureau of Child Care. "So, the feeling was maybe we don't need to go back as many as four times a year plus."

Rep. Phil Hinkle, R-Indianapolis, said he is troubled with safety concerns raised by a small number of "paper churches" that the state has little authority to address. He estimates that 4 percent of child care ministries are in it solely for the money.

"It is a very minute part of the child care system," he said.

Full text available at the Journal & Courier