Early Childhood Focus

In a hallway at Sandra Kaye’s child care center, high above the crayons and construction paper, cribs and diaper pails, in a house full of miniature sofas and miniature tables, there is a wall dedicated to the adults.

On a recent afternoon, the kids sit nearby coloring, oblivious to the fact that their care is governed not only by apple slice snacks and nap time, but also by the updated list of toy recalls, Kaye’s state certification, emergency exit plans and the fire extinguisher hanging above their heads.

Kaye, who runs My School Children’s House in Houghton, sits down and lets her fingers wander through paperwork — field trip releases, her CPR and first aid cards, a sign-off card that details her training hours this year.

She nods at the back door where snow has piled up. It will have to cleared off soon, it’s not in compliance. But everything else is — the temperature of the water, the clean state of the kitchen, separate cubbies for the kids’ nap time blankets and pillows. The state inspector could be stopping by any day and she’s ready.

“The (inspector) we have now is very thorough,” she said. “There’s no wiggle room.”

It didn’t always used to be like this.

After child care regulation studies showed Michigan “scrapping the bottom of the barrel” as Kaye likes to put it, the Michigan Department of Human Services tightened regulations and added more requirements.

Evidence of their efforts, state officials say, is in the recent number seven ranking the state received in the National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies’ (NACCRRA) report card.

The report “We Can Do Better” ranked states on a point system of 100 points for child care standards and 50 for oversight. Out of 150 possible points, the average state score was only 70 points and NACCRRA Executive Director Linda K. Smith, said the report should be a wake up call.

“ ... With the well-being of nearly 12 million children under age 5 at stake, states need to make sure that children are safe and learning in child care. In addition, the federal government needs to hold the states more accountable for the nearly $11 billion in federal funds that they use for child care.”

Making the grade

Michigan, which has 4,635 child care centers, received a score of 83 out of 150 and placed seven on the list.

“We were very pleased,” said Jim Sinnamon, Director of Child Care Daycare Licensing for the state. “We’ve been working hard and we’ve made an ... effort to improve the safety of children in these environments.”

Child care group homes, such as Kaye’s, and child care families have also experienced increased requirements, but were not included in the study.

For centers, the NACCRRA said that the state’s strengths included requiring program activities that address five of the six developmental areas.

It said the state’s health and safety requirements also address nine of the 10 basic standards and it also pointed out that the child care centers had requirements regarding parent involvement, communication and allow parent visits.

But the state lost points when it came to being in compliance with National Association for the Education of Young People for any age groups; only requiring center teachers to have a high school diploma or GED before working; not requiring staff to have CPR training, first aid or fire training; and only requiring center teachers to take fewer than six hours of annual training.

Sinnamon said a lot of progress has been made, but there is room for improvement.

He said the new rules went into effect in December of 2006 after two years of committee meetings, caregiver input, revisions and more meetings.

“It was a long process, but then it finally happened,” he said. “We’re very pleased with the way the new rules are working.”

Specific requirements that were added, he said, included requiring caregivers to take 12 hours of training annually.

Before that, he said, staffers were only required to be “18 and breathing.”

The second change required centers to hire a person that would serve as a second caregiver, but not required to have as many qualifications. The change is intended to build a tier-like system with the primary caregiver the most educated and experienced and the one in charge, he said.

Another change included limiting group size. A center must comply with state laws that there be no more than 12 infants or toddlers per three caregivers. Without a group limit, however, the numbers could have been abused, Sinnamon said.

“We just don’t want a gymnasium full of 50 infants and toddlers (even though there might be) the correct amount of caregivers; you would not do well,” he said.

Welcoming change

Sinnamon recalled a study done by the National Child Care Center of Information several years ago in which states were ranked on how well staff was trained.

Michigan came in at number 50.

“They made the changes and things are looking up now,” he said.

Kaye, who has been in the child care business for 22 years, said the stricter requirements have made her a better child care provider.

“It’s worth it,” she said. “A lot of people complain. If you complain, you should get out of the game. It keeps me on my toes. I could get lax.”

Rod Liimatainen, the executive director of the Baraga Houghton Keweenaw Child Development board, said he credits Sinnamon with creating a positive working relationship between the licensing board and providers.

“Jim is extremely knowledgeable and a very perceptive man,” he said. “He has done more to listen and engage providers than every before.”

He said the new requirements are ensuring quality.

“By and large, they are rules that operators can live by without too much expanse and red tape,” he said.

Sinnamon said the goal of the licensing board is not to catch caregivers not complying, but to educate them so they can do things right.

“Out goal is compliance,” he said, adding that they have technical assistance on their Web site that details everything they look for during inspections and explanations for the new requirements.

“It’s not a hidden book,” he said.

When the inspectors do make visits, they vary from once a year to more, depending on complaints, compliance and the availability of inspectors.

Unfortunately Michigan falls toward the bottom of the ratings when it comes to the suggested number of caseloads per inspector, Sinnamon said.

The NACCRRA advises that each inspector have no more than 50 centers to monitor; the report said 21 states have caseloads of more than 140 per inspector. Michigan has 280 per inspector.

“We’re on the high end,” Sinnamon said, adding that the state only has 68 consultants to do visits.

It means site visits are focused on complaints and emergency visits involving abuse, he said. It’s something they’ve got to work on, he said.

Liimatainen agreed with him.

“On-site and surprise visits are a very important element and right now very few are being made to homes in Michigan,” he said.

Despite that fact, he is optimistic about the state of child care in the state.

“It’s a good state that, in general, has high quality child care,” he said.

It’s given caregivers like Kaye the opportunity to fine tune what she does best.

“Change is good,” she said. “It’s just something you’ve got to work through.

“It’s for these guys,” she said, motioning toward a table full of kids gluing cotton ball tails onto bunnies. “It’s for the kids.”

Available at the Mining Gazette


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