Looking at NACCRRA's website further this week and tying the contents into the weekly conversation was not difficult. NACCRRA puts a lot of effort into looking at economic impact of child care. One of the interesting articles I found discussed the how the economy has impacted child care and the choices parents are forced to make. NACCRRA (2010) found that, "More than half (51 percent) of families with
children under age 5 say the economy has affected their child care in some way" (p 2). Parents still feel that quality and cost are the two things that influence child care decisions, but quality has been overtaken by affordability and parents are having to change child care situations to accommodate the cost.
The most interesting thing that I found in this document was that NACCRRA made some recommendation for states to assist families with balancing cost with quality. The most profound recommendation they made was to regulate all providers who care for unrelated children, regardless of how many they care for, if they are to be paid by the CCDBG (Child Care Block Grant). This means that those that are considered Legally Exempt and only care for up to 2 children that are unrelated, they would be held to a higher standard, closer to licensed/registered providers. At this time, in New York State, LE providers are assigned minimum health and safety standards to follow and only inspected once every two years. Anyone who cares for 2 or less unrelated children and is not paid by the state is considered informal, and aren't regulated at all. There is no way to know if these LE or Informal providers are providing quality care for children. The only consideration is the cost, since they are significantly cheaper than licensed/registered providers. The message we need to send is that all children deserve quality child care, regardless of the amount of money families can afford to pay for it.
Resource:
NACCRRA (2010). The economy's impact on parent's choices and perceptions about child care. Retrieved from http://www.naccrra.org/publications/naccrra-publications/publications/FINAL%202010%20Poll%20Report%20Dec%202010.pdf
Nicole,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about cost for childcare. Where I work is a lot different then all of the examples we are reading about this week. I work for the Department of the Navy and all cost is based off paid grade. So the less money you make, the less childcare cost. I do not know if this is a solution for non-military families and the rest of the U.S. but it does make childcare affordable for the families we are serving.
Nicole,
ReplyDeleteThe economy has definitely affected families and the cost of quality childcare, forcing families to look for cheaper childcare, which is not of high quality. I agree with you, all children deserve quality childcare. Thanks for sharing the current informaion from NACCRRA.
Nicole-
ReplyDeleteThe information you share about LE care is somewhat new to me. I have worked primarily in corporate child care and the idea of LE care is an important one to consider in these economic times. Families are struggling to make ends meet and child care is such a large stress on the budget. If they can find a more cost-effective way to care for their children, they should have the ability to do that, but I agree with you that those decisions should not jeaporadize the quality that every child deserves.
Thank you for the information.
Katherine