Transcript Slide 1

2012 National Child Care Policy Symposium
Child Care and Education: Unequal Opportunities
National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies
March 6-10, 2012  Washington, D.C.
A Look at Legally-Exempt Child
Care in New York State
Janice Molnar
NYS Office of Children
and Family Services
Marsha Basloe
Early Care &
Learning Council
Learning Objectives
• To inform participants about New York State’s
child care subsidy program, which served 246,000
children in FFY 2011
• To review the legally-exempt child care system in
New York State
• To offer a look at the research and qualityimprovement work in progress in New York State
• To participate in a discussion of strategies to
affect policy planning
Janice Molnar Overview
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Child Care in New York State
What is Legally-Exempt?
Promoting Health and Safety
OCFS’s Role
Additional Standards
Training & Professional Development
Next Steps
Regulated Child Care in NYS
Modality
Regulated Providers
Capacity
Child Care Center
4,089
273,289
Family Child Care Home
6,810
51,536
Group Family Child Care Homes
7,789
115,208
School-Age Child Care Program
2,570
239,648
Total:
21,258
679,681
(*Data as of 1/1/12)
Subsidized Child Care in NYS
Subsidized Child Care in NYS
• In FFY 2011, the modalities of care for children
receiving subsidies:
– 61% in regulated care (34% in licensed child care
centers, 27% in regulated family child care homes,
including group family child care)
– 39% in legally-exempt care, almost exclusively homebased setting
– 51,103 legally-exempt providers served 95,887
subsidized children over the course of the year
Legally-Exempt Definition
• NYS Social Services Law: defines “child day care” and
dictates which providers must be licensed or registered
to operate a child care program in New York State.
• Identifies types of child care that are not included in the
definition of day care and therefore not subject to
licensing or registration, “legally-exempt.”
Types & Distribution of LegallyExempt Care
• Legally-Exempt Family Child Care
– Relative: 12,862 Providers (22,284 Children)
– Non-Relative: 17,450 (25,903)
• Legally-Exempt In-Home Child Care
– Relative: 11,839 (20,148)
– Non-Relative: 8,517 (14,372)
• Legally-Exempt Group Child Care
– 435 (13,180)
History of Legally-Exempt in NYS
• 1990: Legislation enacted expanding Federal
support for child care
• New federal guidelines
• Late 1990’s: OCFS convened committee
• 1999: OCFS established minimum requirements
for NYS
History of Legally-Exempt in NYS
• 2004: Audit conducted by the NYS Office of
the State Comptroller, in conjunction with
OCFS
• Led to regulations focused on verifying
information from legally-exempt family and inhome child care providers
• 2006: New regulations required verification of
information from legally-exempt providers
History of Legally-Exempt in NYS
• 2006: In response to local district concerns,
“Legally-Exempt Caregiver Enrollment
Agencies” were established in regulation
• 2006: CCFS becomes system of record for
legally-exempt provider enrollment
• 2010: New legislation passed
• 2011: Child Care Time and Attendance System
(CCTA) developed
Legally-Exempt Providers &
Subsidized Children Served
Health and Safety
• Federal statute requires that all states have
requirements in place designed to protect the
health and safety of children.
• In NYS all child care providers caring for
subsidized children must demonstrate that
they meet basic health and safety standards
through one of the following processes:
Licensing, Registration or Enrollment.
Promoting Health and Safety of
Children in Legally-Exempt Care
• Legally-exempt enrollment process
• Current requirements
• Significant events in provider’s history
What OCFS Does
• Steps OCFS has taken to improve quality of
legally-exempt care:
– Enhanced rate for in-home or family child care
providers
– Legislative proposal
– CCFS enhancements
Additional Standards for LegallyExempt Providers
• 23 counties have additional family child care
standards
– 10 counties have a criminal convictions check
– 12 counties have a verification that the provider
gave true and accurate information regarding CPS
indications to the parent
– 4 counties require home visits
– 6 counties have an additional standard that is not
one of the four mentioned above.
On-site Inspections for LegallyExempt Providers
• OCFS requires on-site inspections of 20% of legallyexempt providers who do not participate in CACFP
• Of the 17, 926 enrolled legally-exempt family child
care providers, 3% (600) participate in CACFP.
• Counties with participation rates of 10% or higher
are: Chautauqua, Erie, Monroe, Essex, Washington,
Madison, Niagara, and Oneida.
Legally-Exempt Training and
Professional Development
• Enhanced subsidy rate for providers with 10
hours of approved training per year
• Partnerships with the unions
• Development of 10 hour legally-exempt
provider training curriculum
Next Steps
• Rollout of legally-exempt module in provider
database of record
• Regulatory review – Fall 2012
Marsha Basloe Overview
• Overview of Current Legally-Exempt Research Project
• Review of License-Exempt Literature
• Crosswalk of License-Exempt Child Care in NYS and
Other States
• Conducting License-Exempt Key Informant Interviews
• Policy Strategies/Recommendations
Work in Progress
• ECLC Legally-Exempt Research Project
– Investigate legally-exempt child care in New York State
– Literature review, survey of other states, key-informant interviews,
policy recommendations
• Research Questions
– What are the most recent research findings on license-exempt child
care?
– What are the similarities and differences between New York State and
some other states in terms of license-exempt child care?
– What are some of the experiences and expectations of key individuals
involved in the legally-exempt system in New York State?
– What can New York State do to elevate the quality, affordability, and
availability of subsidized child care?
Acknowledgments
• Rauch Foundation
– A family foundation that provides support for innovative
projects on children and families, leadership, and environment
– Linda Landsman, Vice President of the Rauch Foundation
• “We look forward to the study providing much needed information on
the legally-exempt child care program in New York State which covers
more than 91,000 high needs children.”
• Evaluation Advisory Committee
– Convened by the Early Care & Learning Council to solicit input
and feedback on research and evaluation efforts at the Council
– Representatives from Columbia University, Cornell University,
University at Albany, Center for Assessment & Policy
Development, Robin Hood Foundation
License-Exempt Care Research
• Informal; unlicensed; kin and kith; family,
friend, and neighbor (FFN)
• Nationally, between 33% and 53% of children
under five receive FFN care
• Strengths: Adult to child ratios, positive
relationships, trusted caregivers, flexible hours
• Weaknesses: Lack of education/training,
structured learning experiences, screen time
FFN in the Continuum of Child Care
Kreader & Lawrence, 2006
% of children in license-exempt care
participating in CCDBG
60%
50%
48%
46%
25%
24%
22%
20%
2006
2007
2008
2009
43%
44%
40%
30%
20%
NYS
USA
10%
0%
Source: CLASP
State Crosswalk
• Eight States
– New York
– California
– Illinois
– Michigan
– North Carolina
– Oklahoma
– Pennsylvania
– Washington
State Crosswalk
• Data Collection Process
– Review of existing state and crosswalk data
– Development of online survey
– Definitions
– Enrollment/Cost of Care
– Funding
– Program Support
– Inspections
– Termination/Disclosure
– Final Comments
– Follow-up email and phone conversations
State Crosswalk Key Findings
• Percentage in license-exempt care in 2009
Licenseexempt
MI
IL
NY
PA
CA
WA
NC
OK
63%
46%
44%
28%
27%
20%
1%
0%
Source: Greenberg, J. (Received March 2011). State by State Comparison of Subsidized Child Care (2009 Data compiled in reports by
National Child Care Information and Technical Assistance Center and Center for Law and Social Policy). Albany, New York: Empire
State Justice Center.
State Crosswalk Key Findings
• Relative care reported as the #1 indicator in
defining license-exempt child care
• Support for License-Exempt Providers
– 2 states (WA, NC) reported providing no support
for license-exempt providers
• Average Ceiling Reimbursement Rate
– NYS’s ceiling reimbursement rate was on average
46.8% higher than PA and 37.8% higher than IL
Key Informant Interviews
• Data Collection Process
– In-depth interviews with various groups and
organizations with different levels of involvement,
knowledge, and experience with the legallyexempt child care system in New York State
Key Informant Profiles
• All interviewees will have a long history of experience in
the legally-exempt system
– Parents
– Providers
– CCR&R Director of Regulatory Services or Legally-Exempt
Coordinator
– OCFS Regional Manager
– Union Representative
– OCFS Representative in leadership
– Legal Benefits Expert
– Researcher
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* Some agencies may need to obtain permission from legal departments.
Policy Considerations
• Substantial amounts of research tell us that
the quality of early child care matters
– “Children who have spent time in high quality
child care environments have lasting benefits from
the experience.” –Barnett, NIEER, 1995
• Very little is known about the quality of
legally-exempt programs
A Balance Game
Work Support
Quality/School Readiness
A study by the Families and Work Institute found that the quality of care by those who cared for one or two
children (many of whom were relatives) was less nurturing and stimulating than that of caregivers who
treated their work more as a business. (The study used measures of quality for formal child care homes to
evaluate the interactions between relatives and children.) Researchers pointed out that many of the relative
caregivers took children to help out the mother, not out of an interest in the children.
Collins & Carlson, 1998, p. 6
Policy Strategies
• Strategies to approach the legally-exempt
system moving forward fall into two
categories:
– Support and strengthen the legally-exempt system
as it currently exists
– Limit and reduce the amount of legally-exempt
child care provided with state dollars
Policy Options
Strategy:
Support and
Strengthen the LE
system
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Follows trend of the federal government (RTT-ELC absence,
NACCRRA study)
Provide Additional Technical Assistance
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Mandate CACFP Participation
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Legally-exempt offered as a choice for 2nd and 3rd Shift only
Set a cap on the number of children that are allowed to be
enrolled in LE care
Limit
and Reduce
LE care
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Alternate funding streams
Continue to professionalize the field of early care and
education
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Work with Caregivers to become licensed
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Questions
Panel Presentation Part #1
• How do we build quality in legallyexempt child care?
• Do we build quality in legally-exempt
child care?
Panel Presentation Part #2
• Do we need to look at legally-exempt
based on different shifts – in home and
out of home?
• How do we support families and also
support continuity of care?
Contact
Janice Molnar
NYS Office of Children and Family Services
[email protected]
Marsha Basloe
Early Care & Learning Council
[email protected]