Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 25, 1993 TAG: 9302250308
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BY WARREN FISKE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Long
DAY-CARE LAW REFORMS PASS LEGISLATURE
Ending a six-year deadlock, the General Assembly on Wednesday overwhelmingly voted to reform Virginia's day-care laws - considered by experts to be among the worst in the nation.Both the House and Senate approved legislation to allow state inspectors to enter church-run day-care centers for the first time in 13 years, close loopholes that allow many private home providers to escape licensure and increase oversight of for-profit centers.
The bill also imposes regulations on after-class day-care programs in public schools.
All told, the legislation will double - to about 230,000 - the number of children in day care who will be subject to minimum health and safety standards, according to Ray C. Goodwin, deputy commissioner of social services. About 600,000 Virginia children attend day care.
"I don't think there's any question that children will be safer," said state Sen. Stanley Walker, D-Norfolk, patron of the bill.
The House approved the legislation 99-0; the Senate vote was 33-6, despite predictions from several lawmakers that increased regulations will drive up the cost of child care and force many providers out of business.
"This bill will hurt low-income families and minorities," said Sen. Frank Nolen, D-Augusta. "Those who cannot afford to pay additional money for day care will be forced to withdraw their children. Where do they go?"
Nolen and two other Western Virginia senators, Virgil Goode, D-Rocky Mount, and William Wampler Jr., R-Bristol, were among the senators who voted against the bill.
Advocates said the new regulations are modest and will have little, if any, effect on costs.
The bill now goes to Gov. Douglas Wilder, who is expected to sign it. The law will be phased in over one year beginning July 1. The Department of Social Services will expand its staff of day-care inspectors from 28 to 50, at an annual cost of about $700,000.
The General Assembly began debating reform in 1987, when a report on day-care laws concluded that "the state's ability to monitor and correct problems is limited to criminal prosecution - after children have been harmed or abused."
Efforts to rewrite laws were blocked repeatedly by opposition to regulating day-cares in private homes, churches and schools.
A breakthrough came last fall when the state Board of Education dropped its longstanding objections to regulating after-school programs.
Most of the debate this winter focused on religious facilities. Virginia is among 10 states that exempt church-run day-care centers from licensing.
Claiming separation of church and state was in peril, an assembly of fundamentalist Baptists and many Republican legislators at first opposed any state inspection of church-run day care. But after Democrats made some minor concessions, most opponents grudgingly accepted church regulation.
Under the bill, inspectors may enter churches to investigate safety complaints or verify paperwork submitted annually to the state. In addition, church day-care centers will have to meet various health and safety standards.
Even with the regulations, churches will be under only a fraction of the rules governing private, for-profit centers.
\ DAY-CARE REFORM\ THE BILL WILL:\ \ Establish a statewide hotline for complaints about day-care services.\ \ Require before- and after-school child-care programs at public schools and recreation centers to meet state licensing standards.\ \ Require home day-care providers to count all but the children who live in their home toward the maximum of five they may care for without a license.\ \ Require home day-care providers to count children in before- and after-school care toward the maximum of five they may care for without a license.\ \ Limit home day-care services to no more than four children under the age of 2, including children who live in the provider home, unless the provider is licensed or voluntarily registered with the state.\ \ Allow state day-care inspectors to place problem child-care businesses on probation.\ \ Require day-care operators to post prominently any notice of probationary or provisional license status or any license denial or revocation at each business entrance.\ \ Provide additional sanctions for day-care businesses that consistently fail to meet standards, including: reducing enrollment capacity; prohibiting new admissions; mandating training for operators and staff; and withholding public funds.\ \ Require religious-run child-care centers to meet new health and safety standards, including: mandatory hand washing for staff and children before eating and after using the bathroom or diapering; posting someone at the front desk to monitor children as they come and go; providing health screening to identify ill children; having someone at the center who is trained in first aid; running criminal record checks for all staff; ensuring that children meet state immunization requirements; observing safety regulations when transporting children; following state procedures for reporting child abuse and neglect; and providing a safe environment, including playgrounds with resilient surfaces or sand.\ \ Allow state day-care inspectors to enter church-run child care centers to investigate complaints or confirm compliance with standards.\ \ Allow the state to revoke the religious exemption for any center found in serious or persistent violation of standards.