A Message from the Director

Let's Go For the Gold!

On June 22, 2017 Child Care Aware of America launched a new Child Care State Licensing Database. This innovative tool uses data from state licensing manuals and provides an analysis on how each state measures up to child care regulatory policies from Caring for Our Children Basics: Health and Safety Foundations for Early Care and Education, considered to be the gold standard for childcare practices.

Caring for Our Children Basics is a federal publication from the Administration for Children & Families (ACF) to provide guidance to states in creating basic, consistent health and safety standards across early care and education settings. It represents the minimum health and safety standards experts believe should be in place where children are cared for outside of their homes. This new database details how each state meets the challenge of achieving the ACF standards.

I checked out the Child Care State Licensing Database to see what it offers and how New York State stacks up. These are the topics/standards that are reviewed: Staffing; Infectious Diseases; Program Activities for Healthy Development; Nutrition and Food; Play Area/Playground and Transportation; Policies; Health Promotion and Protection; Facilities, Supplies, Equipment, and Environmental Health; and General.

After selecting New York State and a topic from the menu, I could see an overview of ratings for New York child care licensing regulations broken down into 72 sub-standards for Center and Family Child Care. I was shocked at the results! New York State Day Care Center regulations met only 5 of the 72 standards while Family Child Care met only 3! I was able to look deeper into each standard to compare New York’s regulation with the recommended policy from Caring for Our Children Basics. For example, New York’s regulations require one staff person/caregiver that is trained in CPR/First Aid be on the premises while the program is in operation, for both Centers and Family Child Care. The best practice standard cited in Caring for Our Children Basics requires that all staff/caregivers hold certificates in CPR/First Aid.

This new database was an eye-opener for me. I’ve known that New York State licensing regulations are the minimum standard for programs to meet, but now with additional new health and safety regulations/requirements we must raise the bar for minimum standards and aim higher for quality care. Some areas will take more work, more time, more money and a bigger commitment. But if we’re in the business of fostering positive long term effects for children through high quality early care and education, let’s go for the gold!