SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (ABC 4 News) - Utah isn't making the grade when it comes to our daycares. A recent child care study gives the state a "D".
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The National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies gave Utah the barely passing grade for failing to meet its criteria in education and background check safety practices.
Kids Stop, an American Fork child care facility is doing “A” work according to the national criteria. They only hire teachers with degrees in early childhood education. Lisa Gillman, the director at Kids Stop says it’s a priority. "We want people who know child development who know how children learn, who know what their talents and abilities could be and can bring out that creativity."
But according to NACCRRA'S national study, the Kid Stop standard of daycare is rare in Utah. The lowest grade came in teacher education. The "D" is for failing to require lead teachers to have credentials or associates degree in early childhood education. But it may not be just an individual daycare problem. Licensing falls under the Utah Department of Health. Charla Haley says state requirements are being met. "We feel like we do a really good job of making sure that the people who are looking after our kids are looking after the health and safety of the kids which is our primary concern."
The State does insure teachers are following guidelines for cleanliness, physical safety, and first aid training. By Utah law, it is their only concern. Julia Mohr is with Utah's Mountainland division of Child Care Resource and Referral. "That's all they have been allowed by statute so they have no authority over the curriculum, and they have no authority over the training."
Money is also a major issue. The average salary for a full time child care provider is $18,640 dollars a year for a full-time, year round child care provider.
There are exceptions like Kids Stop, which is subsidized by Intermountain Health care. Teachers there have benefits, vacation time, and make more than most. Still, Gillman says it’s sometimes difficult to find employees. "It's hard to find people who are qualified.”
Julia Mohr says many people who start out in early childhood education switch to elementary education where compensation is better. "A lot of people go into teaching and into the school system and make more money."
Julia Mohr also says studies show teacher turnover has a negative impact on kids. "We want to keep good people in the field because it's very important for child development to have a continuity of care." She says study after study has proved the importance of the first years of life.
Lack of education is not the only factor pinpointed in the report. It advises the use of fingerprints and checks of state child abuse, and sex offender registries before a teacher is hired. Utah was found to only partially meet those requirements. Haley says that information is misleading because the Utah Department of Health takes it as step farther. "The association wants you to use sex offender registries to check the background. We don't use that because we go directly to the source. We check the criminal court records which is what the sex offender registry is based on." She says if a person has recently moved from out of state they are fingerprinted and all registries and records are checked.
Haley says according to Utah law, the licensing division is successful at providing quality, safe, childcare. She says the overall picture is better than the one painted by the NACCRRA. "There are a lot of rules that we follow that this particular association I don't think looks at, it gives an unfair look at what exactly we are doing”
But daycare providers say it may be time for lawmakers to take a closer look at laws and funding.
Mohr says "We've got to put more emphasis on early childhood and more emphasis on teaching children while they are young and if we would do that, we would have fewer problems with children in the future."
Currently, Utah daycare providers receive about two thousand dollars less a year than the national average, but Utahns pay about three thousand dollars more for daycare. Childcare experts say the disparity is in the amount of state and federal funding received to care for children.
To see a copy of the We Can Do Better: 2011 Update, visit
http://www.naccrra.org/publications/naccrra-publications
For more information about childcare in the state of Utah visit: http://health.utah.gov/licensing/
For information about programs to improve the education of childcare professionals contact the Utah Professional Development Programs for Early Childhood Educators at (801)-957-5344
