You are REQUIRED to take a four-hour class to understand the rules and regulations for becoming a family child care provider. (from the MD Licensed Daycare site)
I don't think they'll get a degree in early childhood education in four hours..
And inspections? For one person watching one child?? You really think the state is going to waste their resources? I'm sure they can't inspect all of the day care centers with 50 kids let alone the one on one care givers.
And them coming to my house to watch my kids.. i don't think that matters in this great liberal state of MD.. if they aren't related, they must be licensed. Someone in the past saw another way people were making money without the state getting their 'fair share' so now they require BY LAW, that you have to be licensed.. and in doing so have to pay to get it.
It has nothing to do with the safety of your kids (on the most part) and nothing to do with early childhood education.. what it has to do with is making more money for the state.
This woman probably could have been a licensed day care provider IF she could have afforded to take the class and pay for the license.. she would have bene the same person and caregiver before and after the fact..
I can't speak for Connecticut, where this occurred, but you need to read further in the Maryland Regulations....that 4 hour course is only ONE course the providers have to take. In addition to that, they need to have current CPR and First aid certifications. They must take a course on SIDS and Shaken Baby syndrome...which right there would cover swinging a baby around, even without smacking them into a wall....PLUS another 10 hours of training before ever getting a license to operate. Effective July 1, 2008, that goes from 10 to 18 hours. And to stay licensed in Maryland, the current law is 12 hours of training every two years and as of 7/1/08 that doubles 12 per year.
Also, in Maryland, the poor overworked licensing specialist DO inspect Family Child Care homes, whether they have one child or even if they have none, because the state workers don't know how many kids are there, just that there MIGHT be kids there because they are registered for it. Just ask the woman who dropped by my house this week, just for that reason.
Where the overworked state employees tend to skimp is actually investigating
UNregistered providers who are reported to them as operating illegally. The reason they fail to fully investigate them is in large part because the people who know the most about them either won't talk or will lie...those people are the parents who put their children in illegal care. Talk to a licensing specialist sometime and they will tell you about all of the "cousins" these illegal providers suddenly have. Parents will write a letter swearing to it.
Of course, as soon as some child gets injured, those parents start talking about how they didn't know it was illegal.
As far as fees for licensing...the provider pays nothing to the licensing agency. The only fees are $45 to the fire marshal and if you have well water, you have to pay about $80 to have the health department inspect it. If you are on city water, you don't pay that... The 4 hours of training you mentioned is free because that is done by the licensing agency. CPR and First Aid could cost as much as $75 and could be as little as FREE, through St. Mary's Hospital. Other training hours run about $15 - $20 for a 2-3 hour class, but many, many classes are available for free through various grant programs. Plus the state has a program to reimburse training fees AND has a program for paying bonuses just to keep experienced providers, some of those bonuses are $1000 per year.
So, how do you figure that it's a money-making proposition for the state?
.....On the spot! It did sound like he was sick, but people like that don't get better IMO. I'm not a death penalty freak, but there is no place in my world for people who hurt children.
If my kid came home with that many bruises, I would investigate and/or yank them out of there no matter what my work situation was. Your children are your top priority and she chose to ignore it because work was more important.
