Like a child gone astray, Louisiana's oversight of day care centers needs some strong intervention and a healthy dose of attention to details before any more time is lost. Early warning signals that attention is due have been getting ever louder in the past couple of years.
Most disconcerting was the recent report by the legislative auditor's office, asserting the state's social services department is licensing child care facilities without making sure they meet minimum standards. Essentially, the audit stated, the Louisiana Department of Social Services is issuing generic licenses that simply indicate that facilities have paid their licensing fees. It asserts DSS provides its licensing staff with little formal criteria to follow for visiting the facilities, managing complaints and enforcing the minimum standards required by law. It concludes DSS needs stronger policies to properly protect children.
This doesn't mean there aren't a great many excellent day care centers for Louisiana children, as surely there are. It does indicate, however, child care facilities with greatly varying qualities can exist — even with a state license hanging in a frame on their walls. It also means an unknown quantity of children could be at risk and with little chance of rescue via state oversight.
DSS disputes some of the auditor's findings but does concede it has much more to do in addressing this issue. It should do so promptly and very publicly so Louisiana citizens are kept informed. It's a subject dear to citizens' hearts, according to a September public opinion survey by the Louisiana Partnership for Children and Families. It showed 78 percent of Louisianans believe it is more important to ensure sufficient funding for the needs of young children than to cut spending or taxes.
That survey came shortly after the release last March of another survey, this one with alarm-bell tones from the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies. It ranked Louisiana 51st of all the states, the District of Columbia and the Defense Department — behind only Idaho — in the measurement of minimum licensing requirements in state laws concerning oversight and standards. Louisiana ranked poorly concerning day care center directors not required to have at least an associate's degree, education hours required for teachers, those teachers not required to have a high school education before working with children and in teacher-to-student ratios.
Almost two years ago, the Louisiana Legislature acknowledged there was no clear and systematic way of rating child care centers in the state. Thus, a rating plan received some funding and the Quality Start Child Care Rating System (known as QRS) has just come off the drawing board. Licensed child care providers received in early November their invitations to join the voluntary program and participate in certain financial incentives that would come along with improvement. The expectation is that parents and the interested public will soon be able to view the qualities of various centers, including their worker-children ratios and the educational attainment of those who care for the children.
Our concern is that the QRS remains voluntary and that state licensing, although required, doesn't have the strength it needs. Additionally, while DSS is charged with overseeing child care facilities, Louisiana law gives two outside regulatory agencies the ability to revoke or deny licenses. This is a formula predestined for failure and should be changed at the earliest legislative opportunity.