Nearly two years ago, the state increased standards for its Step Up To Quality program, which measures the quality of daycares’ teaching staff, training hours, curriculum and staff-child ratios. By 2020, all taxpayer-backed daycares must be enrolled in the program or lose state funding.
“We knew it was going to be a process,” said Ben Johnson, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. “Implementing this program will require some providers to make significant changes but … it’s crucial that child care providers offer a high-quality educational and developmental experience, not just a babysitting service.”
Of those that are now part of the program, only one center in Butler County meets the highest educational standards for children, according to state inspectors.
Parents sometimes face a difficult choice that might mean sending their kids to daycares closer to home that are more affordable but offer fewer educational options, said Karen Hurley, spokeswoman for 4C for Children, a nonprofit that works for parents to identify day cares and offers training for staff.
“Many parents, as much as they would love to pick that quality option, they say, ‘There’s a child care center down the street that doesn’t have any stars but it fits my budget,’ ” Hurley said.
‘Quality comes at a price’
Every year, state inspectors review the safety for nearly 300 day cares in Butler and Warren counties.
Inspectors look for violations — from checking that employees have background checks to ensuring tables are cleaned after meals — that could jeopardize the health or safety of kids. The facilities that watch seven or more kids get state inspections.
But of those 300 daycares, fewer than 60 are inspected for how they educate children.
Only three are rated 5-star quality and the majority, 35, are rated with one star. Statewide, 1,400 daycares are rated and the majority — 598 — are rated one-star.
Daycares enrolled in the program, even if they get a one-star rating, are still going above and beyond many of their peers, said Jeffrey Van Deusen, Ohio Job and Family Services child care licensing chief.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say a one isn’t a good thing,” he said. “It’s much better than not doing anything.”
Centers that are enrolled in the Step Up To Quality are judged based on their staffing ratios, how many staffers hold bachelor’s or master’s degrees, and what type of curriculum they offer, among other things.
Ohio only requires that staff working in a private daycare have a high school diploma so standard for an employee at a daycare that isn’t rated compared to a center that has a 5-star rating can be stark.
Butler County’s only 5-star daycare — Mini University at Miami University — employs teachers with bachelor’s degrees and has assistants on hand to help those teachers. The daycare cares for up to 120 children, and while the program is open to the public, students, staff and faculty at Miami University get priority to enroll their kids.
Often, teachers don’t think about a career at daycares or pre-schools, which makes it difficult for some centers to get the 5-star rating, said Christy Grundei, director at the daycare.
“When you talk to some programs, that’s a roadblock,” Grundei said. “It’s hard in this industry to find those people that are looking for this type of position, that have a bachelor’s degree.”
She described Mini University as competitively priced, but said the organization has invested in recruiting good teachers.
“Quality does come at a price, though,” Grundei said. “You need to be able to pay the qualified teachers. There’s that balance of being able to implement the quality and being able to run that business.”
To help offset some of those costs with better quality, the state offers additional funding for each child based on the star rating the center earns. A 1-star rated program can get an extra 5 percent in funding per child while a 5-star earns 25 percent more. The state reimburses different amounts based on the age of the child, but pays up to $200 for an infant’s weekly care in Butler County, for example.
Hurley, of 4C for Children, said her group has advocated for more state funding to daycares so they can invest in better equipment and paying well-qualified teachers.
“You got to put the money out, first, to make improvements,” Hurley said.
‘How many stars?’
Price and location are often factors parents consider foremost when selecting a daycare, Hurley said.
The group encourages parents to ask questions and look beyond the paint colors the center has on its walls. They also advise parents to ask about a center’s star rating.
“A lot of parents are really impressed if (the daycare) is colorful,” Hurley said. “Then when they start to ask questions like, ‘Do you have a star rating? Can I see your daily program for three-year-olds?’ Once they start getting a little deeper, they might find that they’re not so dazzled anymore. They really should be asking every provider, ‘How many stars do you have?’ ”
She cautioned, however, that some daycares might not get rated because they don’t receive public funding or they don’t think parents are aware of how the rating system works.
Grundei agreed that many parents don’t understand how the state’s educational rating system works, and hopes that changes as more daycares join the program.
“It will get these families that don’t necessarily understand the emphasis on quality to understand how important it is,” Grundei said. “Sometimes just feeling safe, doesn’t mean that’s everything.”
Jillian Kirchoff, a Springboro mom of 2-year-old twin boys, said she was looking for something more than just a place to drop her kids off during the day. She looked at several centers before choosing Wenzler Daycare & Learning Center in Kettering.
“It was a hard decision for us to send them anywhere,” Kirchoff said. “To put our children in someone else’s hands and be paying for it, we wanted the fundamentals and a little more. With the help of their teachers, my boys already know their ABCs, their colors, they’re learning how to count, they know their shapes.”
Checking online safety inspection reports with the state should also be a priority for parents. They also should look to see how daycare staff interacts with kids, said Shayne Piasta, an assistant professor at Ohio State University who works with the college’s center for early childhood research.
“It’s important that we’re focusing on the quality; we have an accumulating body of evidence that shows how important early childhood years are for kids’ learning and development,” Piasta said. “I would want to see adults (at daycares) being actively engaged with the children, talking with them, having conversations, being supportive.”
In Butler County, the county children’s services agency helps to provide parents with lists of licensed agencies.
“What I’ve learned being here is that parents are better off to go and tour the facility themselves,” said Joyce Chestnut, the division director of program eligibility for the agency.
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