The state awarded 31 child-care centers their first "star" Friday, kicking off a new state rating system that rewards quality caregivers with tax breaks.

The system is meant to improve child care by rewarding a rated facility, its personnel and parents who send their children there with tax credits.

The program, called Quality Start, is administered through the state Department of Social Services' Office of Family Support.
Participating centers receive stars for meeting certain standards in programming, staff qualifications and training, administration practices, and family and community involvement.

A financial incentive through the recently passed School Readiness Tax Credits, which extends to teachers and parents, is meant to offset the costs of providing and paying for higher quality child care.

The tax credits increase for each additional star earned by the center.

Centers must first earn one star but can then apply for any rating, up to five stars.

Sherry Guarisco, director of child-care and early childhood education in the Office of Family Support, said the rating program provides a measure to assess quality, information on areas for improvement and a mechanism to communicate the level of a facility's quality to parents.

"It's difficult for parents now to know what kind of center they're placing a child in until they're actually there," said Tammi Critcher, director of the Discovery House in Alexandria.

The Discovery House was awarded one star but Critcher said she is already eager to apply for more.

Participation in the program is voluntary for the 1,762 licensed child-care centers in the state.

But those who aren't excited about the program don't realize the benefits, including state assistance for improvements and the tax credits, Critcher said.

Guarisco said applications for moving to a higher star rating will be sent out early next week. But the state expects that it will take time for facilities to attain higher ratings, so parents should be patient, she said.

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