Childcare and Welfare Reform

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Childcare and Welfare Reform

During the past 150 years the family economy was revolutionized twice

(Hernandez 145) affecting children under the age of six whose parent or parents work. The first childcare revolution began more than 100 years ago, and affected children over five, as parents spent most of the day at jobs. Today, as global economic situations become an increasing concern, with instability of work, the increasing divorce rate, and out -of-wedlock childbearing households begin to experience change, corresponding revolutions in childcare have also occurred. For example in 15, 60% of children from birth to five years of age who had not yet enrolled in school1 million childrenparticipated in a non parental childcare or early education program. Childcare is no longer an experience for a few children; it is rapidly becoming the norm.

In response to President Clinton's passage of the 16 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, (PRWORA) also known as Welfare Reform, the United States is in the midst of a second childcare revolution, as children age six and over ,and then younger children, began spending more time either at school or being cared for by someone other then their parents. This Welfare reform bill has pushed a substantial new group of low income families into the work force and childcare market(Coley, Landale, and Li-Grining 1). For these households, headed typically by single women of young children, participation in the labor market is strongly linked to the need for childcare The childcare demand is escalating precipitously in response to the welfare reform mandate, more parents are left with no other resort than to place their children into childcare program, and has increased the amount of attention to the central role that childcare has in mandated time limits and employment for most on welfare. Childcare is often regarded essential for full time work and career development of single mothers, but sometimes the cost of childcare can be a barrier for entering the labor market, from this prospective one can see childcare as valuable or essential to society. Research has shown high availability and dependable child care to be a central issue for all families, perhaps especially for those with limited financial resources( Coley, Landale, and Li-Grining 1). This paper's aim is to provide a comprehensive look at various childcare options available to Pennsylvania's parents under the guidelines and regulations of the Department of public welfare.

For parents finding care that is accessible, dependable, and in agreement with their child rearing values and goals can be an integral part of managing the competing demands of employment and parenthood. There is no such thing as the perfect childcare setting, but in the quest to create the ideal place for children of working parents on welfare, borrowing the best elements from existing models might be a good place to start.

The follow brief descriptions from Pennsylvania's of children, youth and families web site are various childcare options and the basic responsibilities that providers must fulfill to be registered or licensed by department public welfare to provide such care.

Child Day Care Centers These facilities can serve an unlimited number of (but at least seven) children 15 years of age or younger. Child day care centers are subject to licensing and inspection by department of public welfare on an annual basis. Those centers that have met the minimal standards outlined by department of public welfare, including staff-to-child ratios, receive a certificate of compliance. Group Child Day Care Homes This type of care may be provided in a home or other setting to 7-15 children when the children are older school age (children from the 4th grade up to age 15), or 7-1 children of any other age level. Group child day care homes are subject to full licensure by department of public welfare. Renewal of a home's certificate of compliance is subject to an annual licensing inspection. Family Child Day Care Homes This type of childcare is provided to 4-6 children 15 years of age or younger who are unrelated to the operator of the program. Family childcare operators are obligated to pursue a certificate of registration. Once registration has been granted, family child day care operators must comply with minimal health and safety standards. They also must submit to criminal and child abuse background checks (although other residents of the home where the childcare is provided are not required undergoing such checks). Family child day care providers are required to submit to a renewal of their registration every two years. Department of public welfare does not have regulatory oversight responsibility for Unregulated Relative/Neighbor Care This type of care is common in Pennsylvania's subsidized childcare system, which serves low-income working families and families transitioning from welfare to work. In this setting, which is not regulated by, department of public welfare three or fewer children receive childcare from a provider unrelated to them, or an unlimited number of children receive care from a relative. The children's parents receive a financial subsidy from the Commonwealth to help pay for this care. Until 1, criminal and child abuse background checks were required within certain unregulated yet subsidized settings, but new department of public welfare regulations have removed all requirements to check the criminal or child abuse history of individuals paid to provide care to this population of children.(source)

As the United States continues to move toward an era in which a large number of young children will receive non-parental care, the need increases for quality and affordable childcare in a variety of settings. While mothers prefer the flexibility of unregulated home childcare environments, childcare centers best meet the developmental needs of their preschool children. More than half of the children in the study were cared for in private home settings, where care is often provided by a relative. Mothers say they like the accessibility of in-home care, where providers are more likely to accommodate the mothers work schedule. in addition, with an average provider-to-child ratio of one-to-one, mothers relying on unregulated childcare in homes feel they have open lines of communication with the people caring for their children.

Research conducted in Boston, Chicago, and San Antonio through Welfare, Children & Families A Three-City Study. Child Care in the Era of Welfare Reform Quality, Choices, and Preferences examines the consequences of welfare reform for the well-being of children and families.

Convenience may harm children in the long run, Only 1 percent of the unregulated homes in the study received acceptable ratings for developmental quality, based on child development research standards. The remaining 88 percent received minimal or inadequate developmental quality ratings.(source) In sharp contrast, 78 percent of the licensed child care centers in the study earned acceptable marks according to the same set of standards.(source5)

Based on those rankings and on other observational data, the study suggests, that formal child care centers provide the most developmentally supportive settings for children as well as the highest levels of safety and the greatest feelings of warmth.

The best child care options for low-income working mothers would combine the advantages of child care centers, such as early learning of language and of math concepts, with the flexibility and the greater trust that mothers find in unregulated care,. The best care would be stimulating to children, accessible, and satisfying to mothers.

Just as child care is becoming the norm for children, struggling to secure a child care arrangement is becoming the norm for parents. Parents face an almost bewildering array of choices friends and relatives, child care programs operated either publicly or privately, as either independent businesses or as part of a chain, either regulated by state agencies or not, and staffed by individuals with widely varying training and experience. Parents must weigh considerations of quality and convenience, of availability and affordability as they choose care, all the while worrying about whether they have made the right decision.

In 15, for example, 60% of children from birth to five years of age who had not yet enrolled in school1 million childrenparticipated in a nonparental child care or early education program. Child care is no longer an experience for a few children; it is rapidly becoming the norm

In the interviews, parents expressed the view that child care centers provide educational advantages over homebased care. At the same time, they believed that homebased care is more likely to meet their children's emotional needs, to provide an environment consistent with their own values, and to accommodate their often unconventional, unpredictable work schedules. As would be expected, parents' views depended on the age of the child in need of care. Parents of children aged to 5 many of whom reported having difficulties with home-based child care providers because they changed their hours or monthly fees without warning or did not provide sufficiently high-quality care saw center-based care as preferable. Parents of infants, in contrast, were uncomfortable with center-based care.

For all children in care, the overall quality of their programs is minimal on some measures and adequate on others, but shows signs of decline over the past few decades.

In sum, recent studies and national surveys indicate that children are more and more being cared for by someone other than their parents

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