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<body class='hmmessage'>You really ought to check things out before you click the "send" key, Donnie.<BR>
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Reasons for enacting SB1376 (Relating to Daycare Programs) are stipulated at the beginning of the bill:<BR>
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<A href="http://www3.idaho.gov/oasis/S1376.html">http://www3.idaho.gov/oasis/S1376.html</A><BR>
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"to provide a minimum daycare operator age; <BR>
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to revise an age for criminal history checks; <BR>
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to revise license fees; <BR>
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to revise required fire safety equipment; to provide for child-staff ratios and requirements;<BR>
<BR>to revise health standards; <BR>
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to require daycare facilities to comply with certain health standards; <BR>
<BR>
to provide additional crimes precluding eligibility for a license; <BR>
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to provide grounds for the denial, suspension or revocation of a daycare facility license; <BR>
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to remove requirements for availability for inspection of a fire inspection certificate and criminal<BR>history check; <BR>
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to permit inspection of family daycare homes; <BR>
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to require family daycare home providers to comply with certain criminal history background check provisions; <BR>
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to remove a group daycare facility election for compliance with certain provisions; <BR>
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to provide a daycare facility a grace period to obtain a license; <BR>
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to remove a criminal sanction for operating a group daycare facility without obtaining, or after denial of, certain certificates; <BR>
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to provide criminal sanctions for operating a family daycare home without obtaining, or after failure to pass, a criminal history background check; <BR>
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to provide the duty of the county prosecuting attorney to prosecute violations regarding family daycare homes; <BR>
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to remove a provision regarding state or political subdivision affirmance with certain provisions for group daycare facilities to which a certificate is issued; <BR>
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to revise training hour requirements; <BR>
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to provide certain limitations on on-premises training; <BR>
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and to require an on-premises adult with certain certification."<BR>
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So, you see, Donnie - The adage "If it works, don't fix it" would apply if Idaho actually had such a policy concerning small daycare centers, which it doesn't.<BR><BR>
Please explain to us how any of the above reasons are a form of government intrusion into our lives. Should we wait until something happens (now, there is a scary suggestion for some unlucky child and family) before we actually do something. <BR>
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Here's another adage for your scrap book, Donnie: "You don't have to be sick to get better."<BR>
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Paying the $45 for a background check would seem considerably cheaper for a small daycare center than the potentially exorbitant amount attached to a civil lawsuit or criminal trial.<BR><BR><BR><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<HR id=EC_stopSpelling>
Date: Sun, 6 Apr 2008 12:17:22 -0700<BR>From: donovanjarnold2005@yahoo.com<BR>To: moscowresident@gmail.com; vision2020@moscow.com<BR>Subject: Re: [Vision2020] End of Legislative Session Summary from Rep. Trail<BR><BR>
<DIV>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.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>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. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>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.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>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.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>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. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>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. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Best Regards,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Donovan</DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></body>
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