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Governor Steve Beshear's Communications Office
Kentucky Rises in Rankings of Child Care Regulations, Oversight
State ranks 17th in national survey
FRANKFORT, Ky. – A national child care advocacy group has released an updated report that shows Kentucky rising significantly in its rankings.
The National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (NACCRRA) “We Can Do Better” scores and ranks the 50 states, the District of Columbia and the Department of Defense (DoD) on 10 regulations and five oversight benchmarks for family child care homes. It is an update to NACCRRA’s 2006 report, which was the first of its kind.
Kentucky ranks 17th in the report released earlier this month. In its previous report, NACCRRA ranked Kentucky 30th.
“Every child is entitled to the safest and most nurturing environments possible,” said Gov. Steve Beshear. “Our regulations were created to foster atmospheres that protect and ensure high levels of health and safety standards. This report shows that not only are we on the right track, but have been working diligently over the past few years to improve.”
“The improved score reflects our efforts to improve health, safety and welfare conditions in our state’s regulated family child care homes,” said Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS) Secretary Janie Miller, noting Kentucky adopted new regulations last year aimed at improving safety standards at licensed child care facilities. “Each day, we strive to do more to ensure that children in child care are safe and properly cared for, and this report shows we are moving in the right direction. We are committed to remaining on this path.”
Two CHFS agencies directly serve child care programs.
The Division of Child Care (DCC) within the Department for Community Based Services (DCBS) promotes quality child care through planning and initiatives that support the improvement and expansion of statewide child care services and resources. DCC also oversees the state’s voluntary child care ranking program, STARS for KIDS NOW.
The Division of Regulated Child Care (DRCC) within the Office of the Inspector General licenses and investigates complaints against child day care programs, residential child care facilities and child-placement agencies. DRCC also certifies and investigates complaints against certified family child care homes.
The DRCC conducts annual, unannounced inspections to survey for regulatory compliance at child care facilities and works throughout the year to educate providers about safety standards.
“As the regulatory agency for licensed child care facilities, the OIG places great value in NACCRA’s findings,” said Mary Begley, CHFS inspector general. “OIG has dedicated the time and resources to make sure that Kentucky is meeting the benchmarks.”
DCBS Commissioner Patricia R. Wilson said her office considered NACCRRA’s original study in 2006 “a baseline report” and had expected to rise in current ratings.
“The study gave us several recommendations to build on our already solid program,” she said. “Division of Child Care staff provides critical support to child care providers by coordinating professional development and crafting policy and procedures.”
The NACCRRA report is available online at http://www.naccrra.org/.
Learn more about the Division of Child Care online at http://chfs.ky.gov/dcbs/dcc/ and the Division of Regulated Child Care at http://chfs.ky.gov/os/oig/drcc.htm.
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