Gov. Chris Gregoire is asking the Legislature for $435,000 to add five employees to the Department of Early Learning who will be charged with improving enforcement of child care regulations.
Her proposal stops short, however, of requesting money for a new computer system that would make it easier to track facilities' histories.
The budget request comes a month after a Columbian investigation found that roughly one in 10 Clark County child care facilities have repeatedly violated health and safety regulations with little or no consequence. The investigation also highlighted how difficult it can be for parents to get information about a child care facility's problems.
The five employees Gregoire is lobbying to add would enable the Department of Early Learning to set up a team approach to enforcement actions.
Two of the new employees would work from the state office to coordinate with a safety-improvement worker in each of the state's three regional offices to review cases. The tie to the state office will help buffer local licensers from backlash against enforcement.
"Too much pressure is brought to bear when we try to shut down a provider," Gregoire said. "Oftentimes, there's not the reverse pressure of, 'Why aren't you shutting them down?' "
The additional staff is the latest in a series of changes Gregoire has instituted with the goal of improving child care oversight in the state.
In July 2006, she created the Department of Early Learning, which reports directly to her. The new department was intended to improve oversight by consolidating child care programs, which had previously been spread across three agencies.
But problems with oversight have persisted.
Earlier this year, a state Office of Financial Management review of a high-profile Spokane case detailed systemic and continuing problems with child care regulation.
The review was prompted after a 23-month-old girl suffered permanent brain damage after being thrown on the ground by a Spokane home-based child care provider. The provider had previously been cited for 20 violations over a period of 12 years, but still was allowed to operate.
The Columbian's investigation also found that it was not clear where regulators draw the line between centers that can remain open despite safety violations and those that must be shut down. Clark County children have been molested, assaulted or left unsupervised to injure themselves in licensed child care facilities, according to The Columbian's review of complaints against providers since 1995.
Though Gregoire's budget proposal focuses on improving enforcement of regulations, other improvements are in the works.
The Department of Early Learning expects that by spring it will be able to make some improvements to its Web site listing facilities' regulatory histories, said agency director Jone Bosworth.
To date, information about violations has been difficult for parents to obtain, even though state law requires all inspection reports and corrective measures taken since July 2005 to be posted on a Web site.
The state's Web site never reached that level of detail. Initially it listed the nature of a facility's offense - a broad description, such as "supervision," "overcapacity," "discipline" and so on.
But this summer the agency removed those labels after providers complained, and simply listed the number of valid complaints against the provider. The agency restored the information earlier this month when it added real-life examples of each type of offense. However, actual details about complaints against any given provider can only be obtained by calling and leaving a message by phone.
The Legislature last session turned down the Department of Early Learning's request for a $6 million computer system to track providers and their licensing histories, which would also make it easier to post that information online.