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ListenIowa must strive to do better on child care inspections
Iowa needs to improve its system for inspection of registered in-home child care providers.
A story in the Sioux City Journal reported on Iowa’s poor record for providing these important inspections. By state guidelines, the Department of Human Services should inspect in-home child care providers once every two years, but in fact the state historically inspects only about 20 percent of those providers each year.
One in-home provider said she was inspected last year for the first time – 8-1/2 years after she was registered by the state and opened her business.
In a 2012 national study, ChildCare Aware of America (a nonprofit advocacy organization based in Arlington, Va.) ranked Iowa 43rd for the quality of its in-home child care due in part to poor inspection practices (Iowa scored a zero on the survey for not inspecting these facilities before they open), according to the Journal report.
The study showed Iowa has 408 facilities per employee responsible for inspecting registered in-home facilities – the worst ratio in the nation. ChildCare suggests the ideal ratio is 50 facilities per employee.
Under legislation passed in 2009, the Department of Human Services was supposed to incrementally increase the percentage of annual inspections of registered in-home child care providers until 100 percent of them were inspected each year. However, DHS expects to fall far short of those goals due to lack of resources.
In simple terms, this is a funding issue. Iowa needs more DHS employees dedicated to inspection of in-home child care facilities. The challenge, as it is in meeting any need, is finding money in the budget. We understand this.
Still, because this is about the care and safety of children, the most vulnerable of all Iowans, this need should be moved up on the priority list beginning with the next session of the Legislature, in our view.
Before Gov. Terry Branstad would consider support for a gas tax increase, he directed the Department of Transportation to find $50 million of savings in its budget. As a pre-condition to funding for more in-home child care inspectors, perhaps DHS should first be directed to mine its budget for efficiencies.
This much appears clear to us: Iowa is falling short in meeting its oversight responsibilities in this area. We aren’t suggesting the state can vault to No. 1 in the nation for inspection of in-home child care facilities overnight, but with the proper commitment it can and should strive to move up from its last-place inspectors-to facilities position.
Editorial Opinion
23 August 2012
