Auditor - Day-care facilities lack state oversight

A report released Wednesday by State Auditor Claire McCaskill found Missouri is steps behind neighboring states in regulating child-care providers, allowing far too many unlicensed facilities.

According to McCaskill, officials in the state health department's child-care bureau, charged with licensing day-care providers, do not always effectively deal with unlicensed child-care facilities, and current state penalties do not deter some providers from operating illegally.

Current legislation requires only that child-care providers be licensed if they care for more than four children who aren't related to them. Missouri does not limit the number of related children a home provider is allowed to keep, although most other states do.

Unlicensed providers are not subject to annual sanitation and fire inspections, which only increase potential hazards, McCaskill said. Her audit revealed bureau officials do not know how many unlicensed providers operate in Missouri, nor are they staffed to identify or investigate those providers. And investigators don't have the authority to enter unlicensed facilities to determine state law violations unless someone files a formal complaint.

Child-care providers in the Cape Girardeau area say they are aware of problems with unlicensed providers.

Cathy Clark, co-owner of A Small World Preschool, is a strong advocate of licensing requirements and said the responsibility of ensuring quality child care rests squarely on the shoulders of parents.

"I think licensing serves a purpose: It's for the welfare of kids," she said. "If you're in this business for the right reasons, you won't mind the regulations. None of the restrictions are out of line."

People providing substandard child care would not be in business if parents weren't taking their children there and paying them, she said. Clark would like higher fines for breaking state child care regulations. The scale currently begins at $200.

She said one of the most important safety issues is the worker-to-child ratio set forth by state guidelines: generally one adult for every 10 children, as long as no more than two are under 2 years old.

Susan Todt, owner of Big Stuff Preschool and Childcare in Fruitland, Mo., also finds fault in unlicensed day-care providers.

"Everyone should be regulated because that's our future, that's our children," Todt said. "A lot of places say they follow state guidelines even though they aren't licensed. If that's the case, why don't they go ahead and get licensed?"

She said problems aren't limited to unlicensed home providers -- religious facilities also are exempt from following state regulations.

"There's not enough funding for license representatives to check out all the reported problems," she said. "To even get to the point where a day care might be fined, it's got to be something horrendous."

Lois Kollmeyer, director of the Division of Health Standards and Licensure, which oversees the state child-care bureau, said she would like to see related children count toward the maximum of four a provider can take care of without a license. State child care regulators are working on new rules to do so.

McCaskill said the discrepancy in laws regarding professions in the state doesn't work.

"There are so many things that a day care facility doesn't have to do, that the woman who does my nails has to do, and that's goofy," she said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

cchitwood@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 128

CHOOSING CHILD CARE

The National Women's Health Information Center recommends taking the following steps to choosing quality child care:

Look. Visit several child-care homes or centers. Visit the home or center more than once and stay as long as possible so you can get a good feel for what the care will be like for your child. Continue to visit even after you start using the home or center.

Listen. Make sure the place is cheerful and not too quiet, which can mean not enough activity. Happy-sounding children means they are involved and busy.

Count. Count the number of children in the group and the number of staff members caring for them. The fewer children for each staff member, the more attention your child will get.

Ask. Adults who care for children need knowledge and experience. Ask about the background and experience of all staff members who will have contact with your child in the home or center.

Be Informed. Find out more about efforts in your community to improve the quality of child care. Ask if the home or center is involved in these activities. Consider getting involved yourself.

SOURCE: Office on Women's Health in the Department of Health and Human Services

BY THE NUMBERS

State Auditor Claire McCaskill on Wednesday released findings about child care in Missouri. The report said too many children age 5 and under don't have access to licensed child care and included the following county estimates of that number:

Bollinger 434

Cape Girardeau 1,381

Perry 580

Scott 911

SOURCE: 2000 Census