State checking safety of daycare centers

State environmental officials are asking polluters to make sure that they aren't putting children in nearby day care centers in danger, according to a newspaper report.

In a letter dated Jan. 29, Department of Environmental Protection officials asked owners of businesses that have groundwater pollution under their facilities to determine whether the contaminants have reached day care centers nearby.

DEP Assistant Director of Remediation, Ron Corcory, said the letters were "purely precautionary" and did not indicate that the department feels children are at risk.

The letter stems from mercury contamination that was found at a day care center in Gloucester County's Franklin Township. The school was built on the same site where a thermometer factory used to do business.

Arkansas Childcare Ranking not Care for Alarm, Advocate says

An advocacy group for children and families says a national group's ranking of Arkansas at 42 in childcare standards does not give a complete picture of the efforts to improve the quality of childcare.

Rich Huddleston of the nonprofit organization, Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, says the report shouldn't cause undue alarm.

The state-by-state comparison was compiled by the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies, based in Virginia. Idaho came in last overall.

U.S. Defense Department services, which were included in the comparison, ranked at the top. While Arkansas ranked 42 overall, it excelled in standards enforcement, ranking 16th in the nation.

Huddleston says the report is a reminder that every state should reassess its standards every couple of years.

How good is your daycare?

A nationwide survey says many states are getting lazy when it comes to regulating childcare centers. It ranks the military's system as the best. Out of the 50 states, Pennsylvania comes in at number 15. Ewa Roman talked with a spokesperson for all childcare centers in the state to see how she plans on making things better.

It can rattle some parents. For Keena Synder of New Cumberland, finding child care was tougher than expected. “You want to find a place that like---no place is gonna take as good car of your kid as you are."

That's why Keena is thankful for organizations like the National Association of Child Care Resources, a group that recently ranked states in oversight of childcare centers.

Keena: “I'm glad there's somebody out there that helps parents because as a first time parent you don't really know what to look for."

The report puts Pennsylavania at number 15 out of 50 states.

A fairer way to fund child care

Karine Boissonneault and Pascal Drouin, parents of four children under age 10, would use Mario Dumont's proposed subsidy of $5,200 per year per child to buy diapers, they told the CBC.

That is possibly not what the leader of Action democratique had in mind with his proposal. But that's freedom of choice in action. Let parents spend a subsidy as they want on their children and they might not choose daycare.

Subsidized $5-a-day daycare, launched in 1997 and later raised to $7-a-day, has proved one of the most popular measures ever introduced in Quebec - for those families lucky enough to land a place. And no wonder. The real cost of the service is about $39 per child per day. Picking up the $32 parents don't pay will cost the government of Quebec roughly $1.5 billion this year.

Study says Idaho ranks last in childcare

Idaho is worst in the nation when it comes to having someone take care of our kids, according to a study released last week by The National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies.
The study faults Idaho's child care regulations and ranked the state last, after Louisiana.
The national standard for toddler childcare is one staff person to every six children. In Idaho, there are three variations; one staff to six children for children under 18 months, one staff to 12 children for ages 18 months to five years and one staff to 18 children for ages five years and older.
Criteria for the rankings included caseloads for center inspectors, frequency of inspections, health and safety requirements, background checks, staff qualifications and activities offered to children.