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NAFCC Region 5 Report Region 5 - IL, IN, MI, MN, OH, WI Representative: Robbie Anthony |
| Minnesota |
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Better ways to keep kids safe at day care
With recommendations, state balances safety and affordability. State officials struck the right balance between safety and affordability with the pragmatic package of proposed day-care regulatory reforms. Among the smart changes to be pursued at the Legislature this session: increasing parents' online access to child-care providers' inspection records and requiring a physician's authorization before a licensed child-care provider can place an infant to sleep in any position other than the baby's back. Other sleep positions are a significant risk factor for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and suffocation-related deaths. But Minnesota families and providers are also well served at this point by what's not in the proposal from the state Department of Human Services (DHS). The agency clearly considers safety improvements a public health imperative after an alarming increase in the number of children who have died in licensed family day cares in the state -- there were three in 2003 and 11 in 2011. But officials wisely stopped short of lowering the number of children these in-home providers can care for, a change that could have reduced already hard-to-find openings and driven up prices. "Safe Sleep" Suggested regulatory changes sensibly focus on promoting and enforcing "safe sleep" practices for infants in licensed family day cares. A report released by a state child-safety panel last year suggests that three-quarters of the deaths reported in Minnesota licensed family day cares involved babies who died in a sleep environment. A 2012 Star Tribune series found that infants who died in day cares were frequently put in their cribs on their stomachs or in cribs with overly fluffy bedding -- a suffocation risk. Legislators should act quickly to pass and fund commonsense reforms to protect infants: increased safe-sleep training for providers, more regular checks on sleeping infants and fines for providers found in violation of safe sleep practices. Requiring a doctor's note for sleep positions other than the back is also critical; it not only will protect babies at day care, but it also sends a potent message to parents about safe sleep at home. |
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Minnesota Licensed Family Child Association (MLFFA) For more information visithttp://www.mlfcca.org For further details |
| Ohio |
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Ohio Connection State Family Child Care Association For more information visit http://www.ohioconnection.org |
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H.A.P.P.Y. Homes President - Barbara McVicker This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
| Wisconsin |
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Wisconsin Family Child Care Association(WFCCA) For more information visit http://www.wisconsinfamilychildcare.org/
May 16-18, 2013 Keynotes: Hans Meyer (Friday Music for Grown Ups! Music for Fun! David Stokes (Saturday) Naturalist, Humorist, Educator Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells, WI For additional Information and to register |
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2013 WECA Annual Conference For more information |
nafcc.org -
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OACCP has been involved in regulatory work to inform state leaders of the impact of licensing regulations on providers, most recently focusing on CRIBS and SWIPE CARDS. There past efforts have involved van and bus transportation, nap time, fingerprinting rules and day camp registration. They have focused on representing the diverse needs of providers to ensure a mixed delivery system of early care and education. 
