Reply to We need to expect better from infant care providers

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP the licensing standards in MD are exactly why you're seeing what you're seeing. Providers can only accept 2 children under 2. That means there are not a lot of infant spots in home daycares. If you can't afford a nanny but don't like centers, you look at in-homes. There's a lot of competition for the spots and people are more willing to look past some things. There are licensing standards against everything you mentioned. They simply need to be reported. The answer is not more ridiculous licensing standards. [/quote]

You mention a problem about the licensing requirements, but then go on to say that the licensing requirements are not the problem. I think it is a problem that it's legally acceptable for pets to hang out in the kitchen while children's food is prepared and that the animals are allowed to interact with newborns without supervision. I also think it's a problem that the ratio allotment is structured the way it is. In NOVA and DC, in-homes primarily provide care to kids ages 3 months - 3 years. Preschools, whether public or private, then hold the bulk of the care for older kids. But in MD, because the providers are limited to only two infants, they have to take on a bunch of kids who probably should be in preschool elsewhere - and the ratio get really out of wack with 6 kids to one adult in a very small space that simply isn't developmentally appropriate.

Enforcement is a larger issue though - I did not see a single in-home or even center with safe cribs for the infants and clean, cleared out space on the floor for tummy time and crawling. Places like that should not get a pass when applying for their license, nor should they get a report of "0 violations" on their annual inspections.

Again, I'm not claiming every in-home is like this. There are two in-home providers with wonderful reputations in my neighborhood who I did not get to tour because they had no space, but I suspect their offerings were more up to snuff. My claim is that what I did see included a lot of violations and disregard for basic safety & sanitation that could be corrected, and would be corrected, if the providers & owners of these centers were told - I'll be back in 30 days and you're getting shut down if you don't take the fluffy pillows out of the cribs, get the dogs out of the kitchen, designate an place for infant crawling & tummy time, and throw out these choking hazards. In DC and NOVA, that's how it's done and the bar is higher there. The bar could also be higher here in PG county if we expected very basic safety standards to be met, and reported them when they weren't. [/quote]

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