KSLA News 12 Shreveport, Louisiana |Taking steps to improve LA daycares

Taking steps to improve LA daycares

SHREVEPORT, LA (KSLA) – There’s bad news for Louisiana daycares. 

According to a new report, the state comes in next to last when it comes to the quality of child care agencies.  Of the nation's 50 states plus the District of Columbia and the Department of Defense, Louisiana ranked 51 and is one of 33 states that received an "F."  Arkansas daycares ranked 44 while Texas came in 12th. 

 The executive director of Northwestern State University says the number one reason Louisiana scored so low is due to licensing standards, plus daycares in the state are only asked to meet the minimum requirements in staff qualifications.  The director says to work in childcare you just have to be 18 years old, get a background check,  attend orientation, get 12 clock hours a year and some special health training.

But the LA Department of Social Services is trying to fix the problem.

Since September, the Louisiana Department of Social Services has taken steps to reform child care licensing.

Here's what DSS is doing:

1. Strengthening child care regulations and developing policies to improve child safety.

2. Restructuring the division of child care and the early childhood education licensing program.

3. Assessing all 1,906 child care centers in Louisiana over the next year.

A select number of centers with deficiencies on record have already been inspected.  According to Trey Williams, the Director of Communications for LA DSS, 12 of them were shut down after having their operating licenses revoked.  Two of them were in Bossier City.  Those two are House of Love #2 and Tender Times Incorporated.

"These centers had serious previous offenses that had not been corrected, and in nine of 12 cases, they previously had their licenses removed with new licenses reissued, only to repeat the offenses again,” said Williams.

But thanks to a new emergency rule issued in September, these centers won't be able to apply for a new license for two years. 

"Previously, centers could have their license revoked and immediately apply for a new license, and as long as they met the inspection requirements they could open up," said Williams.

Another positive change - now you can find inspection reports on daycare centers conducted after August 1st online.  Inspections prior to that date aren't on the web and you have to pay a small fee to get them. 

So what's a parent to do if you're trying to find good quality child care in Louisiana? 

Many daycares in Louisiana have signed up to be a part of a voluntary new star rating system called Quality Start.  The goal is to increase the quality of child care and early learning for children. 

"I've heard them talk about it, but I don't really know a lot about it,” said mom Margaret Walker.

It's one way parents can get some guidance as to the quality of a daycare center.  Nancy Alexander, the Executive Director of the Northwestern State University Child and Family Network described how the star rating system works. 

Centers can be issued one through five stars.  "One star is a little more than what licensing is.  Five stars would be what we would really consider high quality.  Three is a pretty good center," said Alexander.

Lindsey Wells Peery, Director of The Volunteers of America Highland Child Development Center, says it has three stars.

"We do follow the licensing standards which are the minimum requirement, but we try to do above and beyond that.  I think our children deserve more," she said.

It was awarded three stars because Lindsey says all of their teachers have their child development associate credentials, and many of them have either an associate degree in early childhood or a bachelors’ degree in education. 

When all of their teachers earn a degree, she says they'll go to five stars. That's important to Jena Williams whose son attends the center.

"The whole point of him coming here is to get him prepared for Kindergarten," said Jena.

Of the 132 daycares in Caddo, just 69 signed up for Quality Start and 45 of them have only one star.   Two have all five, and the rest fall in between. 

There are 49 centers in Bossier.  Nine centers signed on, and five have only one star.

"It's important to keep in mind that the Quality Star Program is new, and there are many good centers that because of logistics of working through it, aren't there yet," said Alexander.

There are other things to do as a parent to check out a center.  You want to take a tour of the place, and drop in at different times of the day.

"Of course you would want it to be clean, well cared for and safe.  That would be first.  Next would be what's going on with the children.  Are the adults there interacting with the children?  Are they providing activities?  Does it sound happy," said Alexander.

And make sure there's a good safe outdoor area.  Some daycares like The Highland Center go above and beyond. It offers children's view cameras in all classes, and parents have to use a security code to get in.

"I wanted to make sure she was going to a place where I felt comfortable and she was going to be safe at," said Margaret.

But, Alexander says unfortunately a lot of investigation isn't the norm when it comes to selecting a daycare.

"We've seen various research studies that surveyed parents and determined that most adults spend more time researching to buy a car than they do to find childcare," she said.

Also on ksla.com:
To see inspection reports on LA Daycare centers:  www.carefacility.dss.louisiana.gov
Quality Start website: www.qrslouisiana.com
NSU Child and Family Network - 318-677-3150

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