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Time for scrutiny of child care centers?
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May 20, 2009 | 04:51 PM
In response to the recent death of a toddler at a Hicksville nursery school, state Sen. Carl Marcellino (R-Syosset) resounded his call for licensing of all child care centers in the state.
While day care facilities in New York are already required to get licensing, there is no similar process for child care programs that run under three hours long, Marcellino explained.
"They fall between the cracks. That's what the problem was here," he said, referring to the recent accident in which 2-year-old Olivia Raspanti choked on a carrot at Carousel Nursery School in Hicksville.
"If you keep children under 3 for less than three hours, you're a nursery school — an unregulated nursery school," he said. Under legislation that the senator has proposed, nursery schools would be licensed under the state Office of Children and Family Service, which inspect frequently, run background checks on employees and ensure that facilities pass fire safety requirements.
"Hopefully this terrible tragedy might have a good end if we could get this licensing issue taken care of," he added. "But it should never have had to come to this. Never."
Janet Walerstein, executive director, of the resource and referral service Child Care Council of Suffolk, said many parents send their children to child care centers unaware of the potential hazards. There needs to be more oversight, she said; right now, anybody can open up a nursery school.
"Nobody realizes how compromised children are," Walerstein said. "Unfortunately, it takes a tragedy to bring it to the fore."
The Rev. Kathleen Roche, founder and executive of Rainbow Chimes in Greenlawn, said she has spent years pushing for this legislation on behalf of the tens of thousands of children in New York who attend nursery school. Roche said she has witnessed nursery schools in basements, sheds and garages with a ratio of one adult to many children.
"Even the most well-intended person needs to know what's right to do. …" Roche said. "Nobody wants children in unsafe places where there is no fire safety and no background checks on the adults they're with."
Other states have stricter regulations of nursery schools, Roche said. "I don't know why New York would consider children in programs over three hours a day to be more precious than children who are in programs less than three hours a day. And that's the reality in New York."
Having discussed the matter of licensing with several camp and nursery school owners, Marcellino said everyone with whom he has spoken is on board with his proposal. "They don't mind being licensed and properly certified, because that takes out the bad actors from the business and the good people who are already doing the right thing."
Though he had presented a bill to license nursery schools in 2003, Marcellino pointed to resistance on the part of the Office of Children and Family Service. He said its officers claim they do not have the time, personnel or money to supervise nursery schools. The Office of Children and Family Service's press office did not return a call by press time.
"They gave me an analysis that said it would require in the first year something between $27 and $45 million to implement, which I think is nonsense," Marcellino said. "And a similar number for the second year." The senator said he believes those figures are highly exaggerated. "There is a reluctance on the department to take on extra work," he said. "That's what it amounts to."
Though he has not seen Marcellino's legislation, Assemblyman Andrew Raia (R-East Northport) said he would likely support it. "In principle, I certainly agree that all levels of child care should be licensed in some form or another. We'll leave that to the experts to decide what goes into the licensing process."
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