Bill To Tighten Childcare Regulations Advances
INDIANAPOLIS — A bill to improve safety for children who receive childcare vouchers has advanced in the Senate. The Senate Health and Provider Services panel amended and passed HB 1036, 10-2, Feb. 27. The Senate passed the amended bill on third reading March 4 by a bipartisan vote of 36-12. HB 1036 then returned to the House for concurrence or conference committee. The Indiana Catholic Conference supports the legislation.
Rep. Kevin Mahan, R-Hartford City, author of HB 1036, has worked with Sen. Greg Walker (R-Columbus) and Sen. Greg Taylor (D-Indianapolis), Senate sponsors of the proposal, to address safety concerns and improve the overall quality of care for children who receive the taxpayer voucher from the Child Care Development Fund, a $5 billion federal program that is block granted to states for administration.
Mahan said the goal of the bill is to address legitimate safety concerns and improve care by tightening the regulations on facilities that receive CCDF dollars — while not burdening churches, which in some cases also run ministry daycare operations.
The legislation addresses group sizes of children, including staff-to-child ratios, and requires ongoing staff training. It also requires reporting of injuries to children when a licensed medical professional is involved. The Senate removed several components of the original bill, which passed the House last month 71-24.
Glenn Tebbe, executive director of the Indiana Catholic Conference, said the provisions removed by the Senate include the rulemaking authority of the Division of Family and Children on how nutrition and daily activities would be implemented. Tebbe said childcare providers must establish policies regarding nutrition and daily activities, and submit them to the Bureau of Child Care, a division of the state’s Family and Social Services Administration.
Tebbe said the amended version of the bill is an attempt to address concerns of potential government overreach, and to help providers and the Bureau of Child Care prepare for new federal requirements that will require the FSSA to establish rules regarding these and other areas of childcare providers.
“The United States Health and Human Services Department is trying to promote childcare affordability for low income parents,” Walker said, “and to create childcare development schools and instruction for improving the quality of childcare in anticipation of public education. The federal government is going through the rulemaking process and is very significantly changing the rules for the CCDF providers — in particular, those that are not licensed.”
He added that this is a comprehensive package of reforms that deals with everything from fire codes and building designs that address safety and emergency preparedness plans to matters such as safe sleep practices. Walker said that HB 1036 will be the beginning of preparing CCDF childcare providers for “what’s coming down the pike” in terms of federal regulations effective Oct. 2015.
Walker said that if passed, HB 1036 goes into effect in July 2015, giving CCDF providers a four-month lead time before the national regulations take effect. Walker said it is his intention to use those childcare policies that the providers establish for themselves in conjunction with the rulemaking process to determine best practices, rather than locking them into certain practices now through more stringent legislation that may not be practical.
Sen. Taylor said that he and Sen. Walker have been working to create legislation that “will substantially enhance the safety and welfare of all the children that we provide CCDF dollars to and the facilities that they are in.” Taylor said that the major change to the current statute regarding child safety would be in the area of child ratios and staff training.
Walker agreed that key components of this legislation are the group size and child ratios. “If you are a vendor under a federal CCDF voucher program, the providers should be required to provide the same staff-to-child ratios that licensed providers must adhere to.”
Indiana law currently allows at least three types of childcare providers — a licensed childcare center; a licensed childcare home; and an unlicensed, registered childcare ministry. Under current law, each type comes with certain requirements. Currently, there are 1055 unlicensed day care providers receiving CCDF dollars.
When asked if he thought the bill would get changed again or go to conference committee, Walker replied, “I’ve had a couple people approach me about a second reading amendment, but I’ve said no. I think I’ve found the sweet spot now with this bill,” he said. “Rep. Mahan hasn’t decided if he is going to accept the Senate amendments or not. He’s still thinking about it. So at this point, I don’t know if the bill is going to conference committee.”
The Indiana General Assembly only has a week left to conduct legislative business as it must adjourn by March 14.
