[Vision2020] End of Legislative Session Summary from Rep. Trail

[Donovan Arnold]

I am sure there are differences between the work I do with the elderly and disabled, and that of child care, but I imagine there are many similarities.
   
  My first complaint about background checks is that they really aren't background checks. They just check to make sure someone doesn't have a conviction as a sex offender, which is pretty easy to check without paying the $45 fee. 
   
  My second complaint is that more often than not, it is a huge financial burden for people making $7 an hour to pay $45 for every day care center they apply for and having to wait one to two weeks for approval before they can start working. When you make $7 an hour, it is difficult to afford that burden, it was for me.
   
  3) This is a massive intrusion and expansion of government  with with no indication that it is needed. The assumption here, and I think a false one, is that it will improve the safety and well being of the children by having a series of regulations to tie the hands of the child care providers. There are already a large of laws and regulations on the books.
   
  Having worked in the nursing home environment, I can tell how self contradicting and harmful over regulation from the government can be. I trust child care providers over the government lawyers and regulators that probably have never seen the inside of a daycare, much less worked in one. From personal experience with the Moscow Day Care and UI's Daycare centers, I can tell you they are excellent places to place your children if you can get in, and they didn't need government over regulation to get that way. 
   
  No doubt, we may someday need to expand government's role in raising children. But as long as parents are still doing a good job, we shouldn't invite the government in to fix something that isn't yet broken. 
   
  Best Regards,
   
  Donovan
   
  

Angie Doe <moscowresident at gmail.com> wrote:
    >   9.  Does Idaho need to tighten its day-care regulations?
   
  I am a bit disappointed in the answer that has been provided to this question.  It leads me to believe that people have a extremely limited idea of what actually occurs in daycare.
   
  I absolutely believe that day care regulations need to be tightened.  
  More importantly, the current regulations need to be observed and enforced regularly. 
   
  c. The Department shall obtain a criminal history check on only those applicants,  

owners, operators, employees or volunteers who have direct contact with the  

children in care and on all other individuals twelve (12) years of age or older who  

have unsupervised direct contact with children in care.

   
  I have worked in Moscow daycare and only one has ever required a background check, the UI.
   
  08. all family day care homes 

caring  for six (6) or fewer children are not required to have a basic day care license or  

certification.

  So as long as you have 6 or less kids, you can do whatever you want with whoever you want.  Does that seem like a good idea?
   
  If you read our regulations you will see that the only things it discusses is health inspection, fire inspection, and background checks.  My experience is that the fire and health inspections only take place at the beginning of a center opening and are not repeated on regular intervals.  Also, they are not taking into consideration what CHILD DEVELOPMENT professionals consider safe.  Infants can be playing with Lego's and that is not the safety they are looking at.  We already know background checks aren't happening.
   
  There is a lot that can be done to ensure better environments in child-care centers.  One thing would be to have somewhat frequent surprise inspections to see if the environment is safe and if there is appropriate staff that has records of their background checks.  But the first  would be to put together a board of Child Care experts and listen to what they have to say!!  They have been talking a lot lately and no one is listening.
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