Child Care Newsletter
A Quarterly Report on Financing, Quality of Early Care and Education Issues
June 2000 Vol. 1, No. 2
NEWS FROM THE STATES
State legislatures consider many child care policies during 2000 sessions
As the 2000 legislative session closes in most states, lawmakers have considered a number of child care policies, ranging from financing and provider training to background checks and other regulatory measures. Many of the policies that legislatures are addressing have been debated during the past several years, including increasing child care access to low-income families and families on welfare, developing tax strategies to expand services, improving provider training and compensation, and strengthening regulations.
Child Care and Welfare Reform
State lawmakers and other policymakers are considering numerous child care policies that affect low-income families and welfare reform. The Wisconsin Legislature added $4.1 million in state and federal funds to the state's welfare to work program, Wisconsin Works, that will assist participants with transportation to work and child care sites. In response to concerns about the affordability of the Oregon subsidized child care system, officials have dedicated $7 million more in child care subsidies to lower the parent's copayment. Before this change, Oregon had the highest copayment in the nation. The Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare increased eligibility standards and reduced parent fees for working families that cannot afford to pay child care costs. Michigan legislators are considering using $50 million more in Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) funds, $5 million of which would be used to expand eligibility for child care assistance for families that earn up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL). The Arkansas Transitional Employment Board will require the state's local welfare coalitions to track their success in providing child care, transportation, and jobs to families that are making the transition off welfare.
Colorado lawmakers raised the maximum child care eligibility from 185 percent to 225 percent of the FPL and allowed counties to provide six months of transitional assistance to families with incomes that exceed the maximum level. Fourteen state legislatures in the 2000 session have proposed using unemployment insurance for paid parental leave. An audit of Utah's "Payment-to-Parent" program, which allows parents to withdraw money earmarked for child care, revealed that, in 29 of 450 cases, parents used the money for something other than child care. As a result, the state Department of Workforce Development will use two-party checks, direct deposits, and more frequent audits to close loopholes in the current system.
Funding and Tax Measures
States are funding a variety of child care programs through state allocations, federal funding, tobacco settlement money and tax provisions. Iowa legislators approved an increase of $5.2 million for the state's community early childhood "empowerment" program. Legislators there also have created three new grants: $200,000 for emergency care and start-up of new child care facilities, $200,000 to expand care for school-age children, and $300,000 for more provider training and education. Several states-including Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine and Missouri-have proposed legislation that will fund numerous early childhood programs from a portion of the state's share of the tobacco settlement money. Kentucky and Maine enacted such bills this year. In addition to financing legislation, many states also are considering tax-related measures to assist child care programs. Legislators in Florida expanded special taxing districts, which exist in several counties and fund a variety of children's programs. The Legislature doubled the property tax levy that can be spent on children's services, and Palm Beach County decided to spend the increase for subsidized child care and after-school programs. An enacted Colorado bill will make parents with low to moderate incomes eligible for a credit of up to $300 per child or 70 percent of the federal income tax credit, whichever is greater. The New Jersey governor has proposed implementing an earned income tax credit for working families with an income below $20,000 and at least one qualifying child. The New Jersey governor also has proposed a spending increase to achieve quality preschool programs in 30 poor school districts in response to state court rulings.
Provider Training and Support
Legislators continue to recognize that improving child care workers' professional development and compensation has a positive effect on the quality of care and child outcomes. The Illinois Legislature approved the use of federal funds to supplement the wages of child care teachers based on their educational achievements. Michigan lawmakers are proposing to use federal welfare money to increase salaries of providers who care for infants and toddlers, and the Massachusetts House Appropriations Committee has proposed spending $25 million of the federal Child Care Development Fund to improve child care workers' pay. The New York Senate has proposed spending $40 million to increase providers' salaries. A defeated Nebraska bill would have given a tax break to employers who pay their child care workers an above-average salary. New Hampshire officials have proposed several plans intended to increase training and support for child care providers. Such plans include an apprentice program for child care providers and tuition assistance for students specializing in early childhood education. As part of Kentucky's tobacco settlement fund, the legislature created the Early Childhood Initiative to improve child care quality. The state is spending 25 percent of its total settlement on early childhood programs. To promote parent education, the initiative also supports a voluntary program that allows nurses to visit homes of new parents and pregnant women.
Regulation and Coordination
Research also indicates that regulated programs are more likely to have higher quality, and state lawmakers are addressing this issue. At least eight states have passed or are considering measures aimed at improving the regulatory structures of child care and home care centers and new policies that will require more extensive background checks of care providers. Legislators in Michigan and Pennsylvania have considered measures that would require criminal background checks of child care providers, while Alabama and Washington have approved such checks. Colorado has approved legislation that will require a quicker response and investigation into any serious complaints against child care centers. In addition, Colorado has approved $1 million in funding to add 18 child care facility inspectors. The Tennessee legislature is considering legislation that would require safety devices on child care vans. Also addressing this issue, the South Carolina legislature prohibited child care centers from using vans to transport children and requires conversion to buses. The Tennessee legislature passed a bill that will implement random audits and financial disclosure requirements for child care centers that receive government subsidies. An Iowa House subcommittee will examine financial accountability issues in child care centers this summer.
A proposed Arizona bill would require all programs receiving funding under the state's Early Childhood Block Grant program to attain accreditation by July 1, 2000, to be eligible for program funding. Massachusetts legislators are considering a proposal to merge several existing children's agencies, including the state's Head Start and Child Care Services offices. The governor proposed this change to make early childhood and other children's services more accessible to families.
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
State Legislative Efforts Draw on NCSL Technical Assistance: Funding, Quality Issues are Emphasized
State legislators across the country have actively deliberated about a variety of early childhood policies in 2000, ranging from child care financing and quality issues to preschool and care for children with disabilities. These legislative activities in several states have drawn on technical assistance from the National Conference of State Legislature's (NCSL) Child Care Project. These efforts exemplify the different types of assistance that NCSL can provide, such as expert committee testimony; organization of briefings with national, state and local specialists; assistance with drafting bill language; and presentations at state and local meetings. Legislators in Pennsylvania, Colorado and Texas have worked with NCSL this year to consider important child care and early education issues and legislation.
Pennsylvania
In Pennsylvania, 55 legislators and legislative staff participated in an NCSL-sponsored briefing, "From Infancy to Adolescence: Financing and Quality of Child Care," that examined issues from a range of perspectives, including financing, quality, after-school care and child care for children with disabilities. A Pennsylvania policy expert reviewed the state's progress during the past two years, including fiscal changes to make child care more affordable. These changes involved spending increases, a reduction in the parent copayment and a higher income eligibility level for a child care subsidy. The first panel, which focused on child care financing, included an overview of the multiple state options to spend federal child care and welfare funds on child care and after-school services for low-income families. Another national panelist discussed key state child care subsidy questions for state decisionmakers to consider, including the following:
- What families and how many families does your state want to serve?
- How will you structure your system to address parental choice of providers?
- Does your state want to include unregulated care in the system?
- Does your state want to use the subsidy system to encourage better quality care?
- How does your system coordinate with its school readiness/preschool programs?
- How will your state measure your system's success?
A child care director addressed how state eligibility, copayment and reimbursement policies affect his program. He noted that the previous income eligibility cutoff of 185 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL) restricted many families' access to care and that higher reimbursement rates would be helpful for providers. He also asserted that there is a need for unregulated care, but that these providers should have clearance checks. A Pennsylvania business representative described that good child care services are critical to employers because they allow workers to be more productive. To help spur state policy development, one legislator asked panelists to list their top three priorities for state actions on child care financing issues. Top priorities included affordable copayments, eligibility standards and quality improvements.
The second panel focused on how to improve the quality of child care. The panel featured a slide presentation on the essential components of good child care services, including health and safety standards, well-prepared teachers and providers, and an interactive, nurturing environment. Two nationally recognized experts also presented information about key quality issues, such as better staff wages and accreditation. One panelist focused on the importance of increasing child care staff wages, since the field experiences high turnover. Another panelist spoke about child care accreditation, which is a national voluntary process of continuous quality improvements in addition to regulatory standards. This presentation was particularly helpful because Pennsylvania legislators are considering an accreditation bill this year. The panelist noted that research indicates that accreditation is one way to improve quality and that nearly two-thirds of the states have policies that promote accreditation, including reimbursement rate incentives. She recommended that a state accreditation plan include other elements, such as a strong regulatory base, professional development activities and financial support.
The third panel included a nationally renowned specialist on child care for children with disabilities. He discussed different ways to finance these services, including using the federal Child Care and Development Block Grant, Early Head Start, Medicaid and state funds. Other speakers addressed the importance of after-school services to reduce violence and crime in the afternoon hours. Two sheriffs and a prosecutor affirmed the connection between after-school programs and juvenile crime prevention.
This marked the third consecutive year that NCSL co-sponsored this conference; each conference has had a different emphasis and different speakers. As in previous years, Pennsylvania legislative staff participated in planning the briefing with NCSL and the co-sponsor, Child Care Matters (CCM), and the Philadelphia Citizens for Children and Youth. Staff of both parties and both houses met with NCSL and CCM staff in Harrisburg to discuss and decide timing, format and speakers. Past speakers included state legislators and legislative staff from other states, as well as national experts and federal officials.
Colorado
Following up on an extensive examination of the state's child care and early education laws and policies in the summer and fall of 1999 that included input from NCSL staff, Colorado legislators proposed nearly a dozen child care bills for the 2000 session. Two of these proposed changes included expansion of the state's child care income eligibility levels and expansion of the state's preschool program. Sponsors of these two bills valued NCSL's assistance during the interim hearings and wanted to continue to make use of NCSL's expertise on these issues throughout the session.
The sponsor of the child care eligibility expansion bill requested several small meetings with NCSL staff specialists on child care and welfare to compare Colorado's levels with other states and identify potential ways to spend unspent federal welfare funds. He also wanted a context for the child care subsidy issues in the state, including county authority over eligibility levels, the effects of sliding fee scales, waiting lists and reimbursement rates. During these consultations, NCSL staff conducted a 50-state eligibility comparison, provided the bill sponsor with income data and clarified federal TANF rules. After these meetings, the legislator felt he had a better understanding of the topic and how the proposed bill fit with existing policies.
The bill proposed to raise the minimum eligibility level at which counties are required to provide child care assistance from 130 percent of the FPL to 150 percent of the FPL. It also proposed to raise the maximum eligibility level to the federally authorized amount under the Child Care Development Block Grant (85 percent of the state median income [SMI]). The bill also provided a six-month period during which counties could offer child care assistance to families that begin to earn above the maximum eligibility level that they set (up to the federal cutoff). During the legislative session, state House of Representatives amended the bill by limiting the maximum eligibility level and the six-month transition eligibility level at 225 percent of the FPL, which essentially eliminated the intended transition. After House amendments, the Senate sponsor asked NCSL staff to testify on the bill. The NCSL child care project manager mentioned that, if the legislature wanted a transitional period for families earning above the eligibility level, lawmakers needed to set the transitional limit higher than the maximum eligibility level. The legislature ultimately approved the transitional period up to the federal limit of 85 percent of the SMI, but left the minimum eligibility level at 130 percent of the FPL. The governor signed this version in April 2000.
The state preschool expansion bill would have provided services to an increased number of children and encouraged full-day preschool programs. At the request of the Senate sponsor, NCSL early childhood staff testified about the effectiveness of good prekindergarten programs on child outcomes, including improved likelihood of school success, less reliance on social services and reduced juvenile arrests. Testimony also focused on questions related to the importance of coordinating early childhood education programs with child care programs to help meet the needs of working parents. The Senate Appropriations Committee later defeated the bill.
Texas
A Texas legislator also requested NCSL technical assistance to help develop effective legislative proposals. The vice-chairman of the Senate Health Services Committee, who also is a member of the Senate Finance Committee, organized a conference in Fort Worth in April 2000 that examined research and state policies on infant brain development and child care. Participants explored issues from state, local and national perspectives. The senator hopes to share ideas and suggestions with other state and local policymakers and community leaders to aid in decision making.
The conference, "The 21st Century Child: Putting the First Years First," brought together 220 individuals from a wide variety of fields throughout the Fort Worth area and the state. A wide range of participants focused on children's brain development, parent education through the media, early childhood care and education, and child health care. The chief of psychiatry at the Texas Children's Hospital, who is a nationally renowned expert on brain research, spoke about the importance of brain development in the first three years.
An afternoon panel examined key child care choices that Texas policymakers face, such as quality, affordability and career development. NCSL child care project staff provided an overview of national and state child care cost data and state policy considerations, including ways to improve quality, funding opportunities to increase access to low-income families, and incentives to encourage business involvement in child care. NCSL staff also talked about innovative sources that some states are using for early care and education, such as gambling and lottery revenues and tobacco settlement funds.
Another speaker on this panel was the director of the state's workforce commission, which administers child care subsidy funds at the state level. In Texas, local workforce boards make key child care assistance decisions, including income eligibility levels and reimbursement rates. The agency director focused on state legislative actions that could maximize federal funds, such as a larger child care appropriation that would increase the state match to draw down Texas' full federal allocation. Local workforce boards contribute funds and in-kind services to fulfill the remainder of the state's match. The director reported that the boards have been unable to supply these resources, so Texas' allocation has been incomplete. Other panelists talked about key regulatory improvements, such as provider training requirements and child-to-staff ratios.
NCSL CHILD CARE PROJECT
NCSL Child Care Project Guided by Advisory Committee
A 10-member advisory committee comprised of state legislators and experts from the early childhood field is guiding NCSL's Child Care Project, with a particular emphasis on key state financing issues. The committee members bring a vast array of knowledge and experience in the areas of the child care and early education to the project, which also focuses on initiatives to improve quality and child care issues related to children under age 3.
Lawmakers on the committee have worked on critical child care financing measures considered by their state legislatures. The policy specialists from the field who are members of the committee have expertise on key issues, including welfare reform and subsidy issues, financing of child care supply and quality, tax issues, economics and parental leave.
Committee members provide NCSL project staff with advice about organization and content of publications and review drafts. Examples of these publications include a child care financing report and newsletters. Committee members also have provided direction on project technical assistance efforts, including approaches, specific state issues and presentation ideas. The David and Lucile Packard Foundation supports the advisory committee's efforts.
Members of the NCSL Child Care Financing Advisory Committee:
Representative Garnet Coleman, Texas
Senator Susan Longley, Maine
Senator Kathleen Parker, Illinois
Representative Tom Trail, Idaho
Nancy Duff Campbell, National Women's Law Center
Harriet Dichter, City of Philadelphia Children's Policy Office
Mark Greenberg, Center for Law and Social Policy
Donna Lenhoff, National Partnership for Women and Families
Phil Robins, University of Miami Department of Economics
Louise Stoney, Alliance on Early Childhood Finance
Child Care Funding in Federal Fiscal Year 2001
As the budget process continues on Capitol Hill, Congress will be considering several proposals to increase federal funding for child care. The administration's 2001 budget included several recommended increases for child care budget items, including the following.
- A $817 million increase in the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG);
- A $1 billion increase in Head Start;
- A $547 million increase for 21st Century Community Learning Centers; and
- A $10 million increase for campus-based child care.
The president also proposed an Early Learning Fund, which would include $3 billion over five years to provide community grants to foster community development, improve child care quality and promote readiness.
The House has passed its Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Bill, and the Senate bill was on the floor at press time. The House bill contains a smaller increase for the CCDBG. The Senate increases the CCDBG budget to $200 million, but this increase is at the expense of the Social Services Block Grant, which the Senate cut by $1.1 billion or 65 percent. After the Senate acts on its bill, the House and Senate will conference on their bills. The president has threatened to veto both versions of the Labor, Health and Human Services Bill. If that happens, the House and Senate will have to pass a new bill, and the appropriations process will continue into the fall.
In addition to the increased funding for child care programs, the president's tax agenda included provisions that would help families pay for child care. The president proposes to expand and simplify the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit. This includes an expansion of the credit for families with earnings below $60,000, a phase-in of refundability, and assistance for stay-at-home parents of infants. The president also proposed a tax credit for private employers to encourage them to provide child care services to their employees. The new tax credit would be for private employers that expand or operate child care facilities, train child care workers, contract with a child care facility to provide child care services to employees, or provide child care resource and referral services to employees. Congress has yet to act on this proposal, it will be discussed later this summer.
TANF - Child Care regulations clarification
The new welfare law gives states the authority to transfer up to 30 percent of their TANF grant into the Child Care and Development Block Grants (CCDBG), the Department of Transportation's Access to Jobs Program, or the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG). However, the law limits the transfer to the SSBG to a maximum of 10 percent of TANF funds. For example, a state could transfer 20 percent of TANF funds to CCBDG and 10 percent to the SSBG.
The Promise of Early Childhood Collaboration
A recent Child Care Action Campaign report, Partnering for Success: Community Approaches to Early Learning, found that such partnerships effectively provide more children with access to good quality early childhood experiences. The report, which profiles early childhood partnerships from a community level in 37 states, reveals that the children in 84 percent of them had higher performance levels in elementary school. The publication notes that, because 42 states invest in some form of prekindergarten initiatives, partnerships that can offer successful collaborative strategies are central to the success of these state early childhood education programs. The report recommends good early childhood access for all children-especially those in lower-income communities-early education improvements, school involvement in collaborating with early childhood programs, and consideration by early childhood partnerships of the needs of working parents. To view the executive summary of the report, go to http://www.childcareaction.org/docs/pfs.pdf. To find out more about obtaining the report, go to www.childcareaction.org.
CDF: America's Children in 2000
The Children's Defense Fund released its annual publication, Yearbook 2000: The State of America's Children, which examines a wide range of children's issues from family income to child care to child health and juvenile justice. The yearbook emphasizes that one in five children lives in poverty and that many children still need good child care and health care. The publication addresses policy developments in child care affordability and provides state tables on child care ratios, group sizes, training for providers, child care and early education enrollment, prekindergarten initiatives, and Head Start enrollment. The report contains many state tables on a variety of key issues, such as poverty, TANF, child support enforcement, adoption, and child abuse and neglect.
Meeting Children's Needs under Welfare Reform
A report from the National Center for Children in Poverty, Promoting Resilience: Helping Young Children and Parents Affected by Substance Abuse, Domestic Violence, and Depression in the Context of Welfare Reform, focuses on parents who have young children, who are unable to enter the workforce, and who are experiencing domestic violence, substance abuse or mental health issues. The report identifies concerns and promotes policy measures that are designed to meet the needs of these families. The report discusses potential strategies that address the children's social and educational needs, measures aimed at improving the parent/child relationship, ways to help parents meet the goals of welfare reform while providing a safe environment for their children, and recommendations to policymakers and service providers designed to assist young children in high-risk families. A copy of the report can be obtained at www.nccp.org.
Recent Study Finds Low-Quality Care for Moms on Welfare
Remember the Children: Mothers Balance Work and Child Care under Welfare Reform, discusses the findings of a poverty study. The study, conducted by the University of California , Berkeley, and Yale University, attempts to determine how both mothers and children are faring under the new guidelines of welfare reform. Tracking 948 single mothers in parts of California, Connecticut and Florida, researchers found that their children experience low-quality care because of too little interaction with child care providers. The study also revealed that these children, who spent about 40 hours per week in child care centers, are disadvantaged in language and social development. The study also addressed the mothers' success in working with and breaking the cycle of welfare dependency and the quality variations among different child care centers. Copies of the report can be ordered by contacting the Graduate School of Education - PACE, University of California, Berkeley 94720, (510) 642-7223.
States Using TANF Money for After-School Programs
The Center for Law and Social Policy's recent publication, Tapping TANF for Youth: When and How Welfare Funds Can Support Youth Development, Education and Employment Initiatives, examines how states are using TANF funds to help children succeed in school and avoid high-risk behavior. The report describes when it is allowable to use TANF funds for youth services, including after-school programs. The publication can be ordered at www.clasp.org.
States Implement "Seamless" Child Care Subsidy Programs
The Urban Institute's recent report, The Social Safety Net at the Beginning of Welfare Reform: Organization of and Access to Social Services for Low-Income Families, examines the changing structure of the social support system, including child care assistance, during the initial stages of welfare reform. The report discusses efforts by several states to develop "seamless" child care subsidy systems so families' access is uninterrupted as their status changes. TANF changes, general assistance, food stamps, job training programs, child support, Medicaid and other public health insurance programs for low-income families also are specifically discussed. The report includes a state-by-state comparison of the percentages of families that are using such services and a discussion of the individual state child care, child support and job training programs. Copies of this report or others in this series may be obtained at www.urban.org.
Study Outlines Benefits of Quality Preschool Programs
The nation's largest longitudinal study of government-funded preschool programs, Long-Term Benefits of Participation in the Title I Chicago Child-Parent Centers, indicates that providing low-income children with quality preschool programs can save money and substantially reduce their chances of dropping out of high school. The study, conducted by Arthur Reynolds of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, focused on a comprehensive preschool program offered in child-parent centers throughout the Chicago area. Researchers found that children who attended the quality preschool programs were 26 percent more likely to complete high school, 35 percent less likely to be charged in juvenile court, and 40 percent less likely to repeat a grade. Boys who participated in the preschool program were 40 percent more likely to complete high school than boys who had not. The study reported that providing preschool for children from low-income families produces an $8 return for every $1 invested and a $10 saving per $1 for boys. Comprehensive qualities of the program included efforts to bring parents into the schools and educate them about how to work with their children at home, a variety of services that extend through the third grade, and a stronger academic focus than many preschool programs. This report can be obtained at www.waisman.wisc.edu/cls/.
Collaborative Efforts Produce Positive Child Care Programs
A recent U.S. General Accounting Office report, Education and Care: Early Childhood Programs and Services for Low-Income Families, analyzes collaborative early childhood care and education programs in Colorado, North Carolina, Ohio, and Oregon. Typically, early childhood education and child care services are separate programs. The report shows that collaborative efforts produced positive results by providing for the child care and educational needs of children from low-income families. This report can be downloaded at www.gao.gov.
Report Outlines Special Need Strategies for Infants and Toddlers
Better Strategies for Babies: Strengthening the Caregivers and Families of Infants and Toddlers by the National Center for Children in Poverty considers efforts aimed at meeting the needs of infants and toddlers in low-income families. The report examines access and quality issues related to child care for very young children and efforts to encourage strong parent-child relationships, while providing support for low-income working parents or those moving from welfare to work. The report is available at www.nccp.org.
New CDF Report Analyzes Recent State Early Childhood Developments
The Children's Defense Fund's (CDF) publication, State Developments In Child Care and Early Education 1999, discusses state efforts to expand and improve child care, early education and school-age child care programs. The report, a supplement to two previous annual editions, features innovative state financial investments, including the use of TANF, CCDBG and state funds. The report raises concerns about income eligibility, parent copayments, reimbursement rates, child-to-staff ratios, lack of training among child care teachers, and the low number of states that have a refundable child care tax credit. To obtain this report, contact CDF at (202) 628-8787.
New Report Focuses on Child Care Concerns
A recent report by the National Council of Jewish Women highlights many of the familiar concerns related to child care, such as affordability, poor provider compensation, lack of access, and minimal training requirements. Opening a New Window on Child Care: A Report on the Status of Child Care in the Nation Today provides statistics about low child care wages and inadequate benefits and how this condition has increased turnover in the field, leading to shortages of workers in the industry. It cites a range of well-known studies that have linked good early childhood care and education to healthy outcomes for children later in life. The report's recommendations include an expansion of the federal Child Care and Development Block Grant, Head Start, the 21st Century Learning Centers that support after-school programs and the Dependent Care Tax Credit. The report also calls for improved licensing standards and evaluation, better provider compensation and training, better outreach to businesses, and expansion of resource and referral services for parents. The report is available at www.ncjw.org.
More Preschoolers on Ritalin
Fifty percent more children ages 2 to 4 received psychoactive drug prescriptions between 1991 and 1995, according to University of Maryland researchers who examined 200,000 children for the study. The medications, including Ritalin and other anti-depressants, are intended to help children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and often are prescribed for short-term use. Because the researchers found that these medications are prescribed for children who are much younger than the patients for whom they originally were developed and that little to no data support their use, they noted unresolved questions such as the long-term safety of the medications. The study's co-author questioned how hyperactivity could be distinguished in 2-year-olds, considering that experts reportedly thought that children that young could not meet depression criteria. In March, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton called for efforts to ensure that preschool-age children are being properly diagnosed and treated. A Michigan study uncovered that 60 percent of children age 3 or younger who are diagnosed with ADHD receive mood-altering medications, as opposed to a 25 percent who receive psychological services. Read more about this study in a Journal of the American Medical Association article, "Trends in the Prescribing of Psychotropic Medications to Preschoolers," at http://jama.ama-assn.org/issues/v283n8/full/joc91250.htm.
GAO Documents State Actions, Options for Enforcing Child Care Regulations
A recent U.S. General Accounting Office report, Child Care: State Efforts to Enforce Safety and Health Requirements, highlights state efforts to ensure child care health and safety through various licensing and enforcement activities of regulated and nonregulated child care providers. These activities include background checks, monitoring visits, sanctions, reducing caseloads of and providing training for licensing staff. According to the report, most states meet or exceed recommended monitoring practices for regulated centers and homes. Many states rely on provider self-certification to make sure that nonregulated providers who receive federal child care funds meet required health and safety standards. Twenty states conduct background checks on nonregulated providers and at least two states make monitoring visits. The full report can be found at www.gao.gov.
Urban Institute Finds State Variations in Use of Child Care
In announcing its recent findings of its Assessing the New Federalism project, the Urban Institute reported that three of every four children of employed moms are in non-parental child care arrangements. The type of care, hours in care and number of different arrangements vary greatly among states, according to the report. The report states that nearly 40 percent of these children have more than one caregiver per week and that formal and informal care combinations are common. Some states have more center-based care and others had more family child care or relative care. Children of low-income families and infants and toddlers were most likely to be in relative or parent care. The research found that 3- and 4-year-olds spend more time in child care than infants and toddlers. The policy briefs are available at www.urban.org.
Acknowledgements
Contributors to this issue include Scott Groginsky and Julie Poppe of the NCSL child care project; Andrea Wilkins of the NCSL welfare project; Lee Posey; Sheri Steisel; Lee Dixon; Cheye Calvo; and Jennifer Jones. Barbara Houlik of the NCSL child care project provided editing assistance. The NCSL Child Care Financing Advisory Committee assisted in reviewing this document.
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