National day care survey

A new nationwide survey of the fifty states shows many are “distressingly lax” in their regulation & oversight of child care centers.

“We Can Do Better,” published earlier this week by the National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies, a network of more than 850 child care resource & referral centers located in every state and a most larger communities across the country, is the first of its kind ranking to be done. “The association,” an Associated Press article yesterday said, “reviewed policies & regulations in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Defense Department – which decisively came out on top overall – both as to standards in place, and how vigorously those standards were enforced.”

Following the Department of Defense, were Illinois, New York, and Maryland. Ohio placed 34th. in the rankings, its two major shortcomings being that teachers are only required to have a high school diploma or GED, and center directors not even being required to have an Associate’s degree or CDA. Kentucky placed 49th. in the survey, having the same two shortcomings as its neighbor to the north, along with not requiring centers to give access to parents at all times or allowing unannounced visits. Indiana’s only shortcoming, according to the survey, was not requiring teachers to have more than a high school diploma or GED. State profiles from the study can be linked here.

Links to corresponding regulations & child care resources in the area:
Ohio Administrative Code
Ohio CCRR
Kentucky Administrative Regulations
Kentucky CCRR
Indiana Administrative Code
Indiana CCRR