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The Knee Regulatory Research Center, a West Virginia
University-based academic research center dedicated to producing
research on the effects of government regulation, just released
the first-ever Childcare Regulation Index in the States.
Researchers said the Index was constructed to help visualize the
child care options that are available to U.S. families, as well
as the conditions that entrepreneurs face if they are
considering becoming licensed and entering the child care
industry.
The four major categories of regulation include data points for
group size and staff-child ratios by age range (6 months, 9
months, 18 months and so on) and training hours and educational
requirements by position (director or teacher), resulting in 17
total variables.
Researcher Anna Flowers said Illinois ranked 32nd in the country
for its regulatory restrictions on child care centers.
“It’s actually in the third most restrictive quartile that we
find and it looks like a lot of that is coming from the group
sizes and educational minimum,” said Flowers.
Flowers said there are important implications from the wide
range of U.S. child care regulations.
“There is a really big impact on cost and a negligible impact on
quality when it comes to things like group sizes or staff-child
ratios,” said Flowers.
The authors also found evidence that more stringent child care
regulation is associated with a lower fertility rate.
According to the index, Louisiana, Idaho and Florida have the
least restrictive child care regulations, while Massachusetts,
New York and Pennsylvania have the most restrictive regulations.
Last year, Gov. J.B. Pritzker proposed a new state agency that
will handle all early childhood development programs and the
funding that goes with it. The programs currently are split up
across three different state agencies, including the Department
of Children and Family Services.
State Rep. Steven Reick, R-Woodstock, said giving the day care
licensing oversight responsibility to a new agency does not
address the root problems.
“Ironically, he [Pritzker] is removing the day care licensing
function and responsibility from DCFS to this new agency,” said
Reick. “I don’t think DCFS has any business doing this or many
other things.” |
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