Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 14, 1991 TAG: 9104120320
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JANE SEE WHITE/ STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
"There are about 300 licensed family day-care homes in Virginia out of an estimated 48,000 homes - counting grandmas, aunts, neighbors who keep kids," said Cheryl Stover, a licensed home-based provider in Roanoke who serves on that state council.
As of March 1, just 31 providers in the Roanoke Valley were licensed. In the rest of the region, which includes Botetourt County, Pulaski County, Blacksburg, Christiansburg, Radford, Martinsville and Danville - 29 homes were licensed.
Those 60 licensed homes are a tiny minority. In virtually every neighborhood, there's an unlicensed sitter down the street who keeps a few children while their parents work. Most of these people probably fall under exceptions to the state's licensing law. And a great many of them may provide excellent care without any regulator looking over their shoulders.
"Licensing has almost nothing to do with quality," Stover said. And other experts agree that simply passing bureaucratic muster is no guarantee that a provider gives children a loving, safe, stimulating environment.
Still, getting a license or certification does translate into a few reassurances for parents:
That the provider and any other person who's regularly in the home when the children are there has not been convicted of a crime against children in Virginia (but whether they've been convicted of, say, bank robbery, or even of a crime against children in another state, isn't checked);
That the home is inspected at least twice a year by licensing or certification staffers;
And that the provider and others who are regularly in the home when the children are there have tested negative for communicable tuberculosis.
Here are the high points on how licensure and other regulations apply.
State licensure
Under the law, providers who keep six or more children must be licensed.
There are exceptions that allow an unlicensed provider to add to that number, however: For instance, she may care for five children full time and also keep up to five children before and after school. Now, she doesn't have to count any of her own or relatives' children whom she keeps, but as of July 1, 1992, she must.
The law specifies adult-child ratios. There must be one adult for every four infants under age 2, including those related to the provider, and one adult for every six children over age 2. (Exception: The before- and after-school kiddies aren't counted.)
Licensed providers also must observe a number of state rules: Children should be served "small-size portions" at meals, but must be allowed to have "additional servings"; the household temperature in winter must be between 68 and 72 degrees Fahrenheit; there must be indoor and outdoor play space; the license must be posted; there must be a working phone in the home; the children must be allowed to have drinking water at any time; and so on.
The law also spells out the limits of discipline: "Consistent methods should also be used in responding to a child's unacceptable behavior. These methods shall never be humiliating, shaming, or frightening to a child; they shall never include physical or verbal abuse, threats or derogatory remarks; and they shall never be associated with food, naps, or toileting procedures."
Social service certification
City and county social services departments certify some home day-care providers for various state- and federally funded programs for the poor, the working poor and others who can't afford the child care they need.
"It's the same procedure as the state - we do child-abuse checks, we check references, whether they have a smoke alarm, the philosophy of the caretaker," said Ruth Clark, day-care supervisor for the city department of social services.
Roanoke has 65 certified homes; Roanoke County has seven.
Voluntary registration
One frustration of home-based day-care providers is that only certified and licensed homes are listed by area information and referral services. Thus providers who prefer to care for fewer than six children don't get referrals from them.
But under a new measure passed by the General Assembly, home-based providers soon will be able to voluntarily register with the referral agencies.
"This will be especially helpful for people who are keeping maybe two children and want to keep four but are having trouble finding children," said Pam Kestner-Chappelear, director of community resources for Roanoke's Council of Community Services, which operates the Information and Referral Center of Southwest Virginia. She says she hopes the registration program will be up and running this month.
In order to be registered, providers will have to submit to the same criminal records check done for licensing or social-service certification. They'll also have to provide two references and undergo some training.
The food program
The U.S. Department of Agriculture operates a nutrition program that reimburses home-care providers for food served. The program is operated in Southwest Virginia by the Council of Community Services.
To be eligible, home-based providers must meet the program's adult-child ratios: No more than two children under the age of 3 per adult, and no more than five older children, including the provider's own children, per adult.
They also must meet nutritional standards, keep a record of what they feed to the children and submit to quarterly visits by program inspectors.
The money involved may not sound like much, but it can add up: 76 cents for each breakfast, $1.37 for each lunch or supper and 41 cents for each snack. That's $254 a month if you're feeding five kids breakfast, lunch and one snack daily.
Kestner-Chappelear says parents are surveyed regularly by mail to make sure that providers aren't accepting reimbursement for food that parents are providing.
As of February, there were 286 home-based day-care providers participating in the program in the region, which stretches west and south from Lynchburg, including Roanoke, Martinsville and Danville. About 125 of those homes are in the Roanoke Valley.
by CNB