[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 82 (Thursday, June 10, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1207]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E1207]]



                 THE CHILD CARE QUALITY IMPROVEMENT ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. FORTNEY PETE STARK

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 10, 1999

  Mr. STARK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce the Child Care 
Quality Improvement Act of 1999. As more and more families with infants 
and young children are forced to send both parents to work, the need 
for child care--especially infant care and care at non-traditional 
hours--continues to expand. As the need for care grows however, 
startling findings in a study on the cost and quality of child care by 
the University of Colorado at Denver's Department of Economics report 
that more than 80% of child care services in the U.S. is thought to be 
of poor or average quality.
  I want to make sure we're not missing the mark. Although it is true 
that child care is in short supply and is too expensive for many 
families to afford, we must not allow the demand for child care 
services to override the need for quality. It is critical that children 
receive care that promotes their healthy growth and development. We 
cannot allow them to be placed in substandard conditions.
  Today I am introducing the Child Care Quality Improvement Act of 
1999, to help states increase and meet their child care quality goals. 
My bill would provide funding for Quality Improvement Grants to be 
transferred to local child care collaboratives.
  Grants would be made by the Federal government to states which have 
established goals for child care quality improvements in six areas: 
increased training for staff, enhanced licensing standards, reduced 
numbers of unlicensed facilities, increased monitoring and enforcement, 
reduce caregiver turnover, and higher levels of accreditation. States 
would then make grants to local child care collaboratives to make 
quality improvements.
  My bill take a benchmarking approach that helps states define quality 
targets and measures the states' progress toward meeting their long-
term quality goals. State plans would be subject to the U.S. Department 
of Health and Human Services (HHS) for approval and monitoring. States 
would be required to report to the U.S. Department of Health and Human 
Services on their progress in meeting their quality goals in order to 
remain eligible for future funding.
  I am introducing this legislation in response to a report by the 
General Accounting Office (GAO) which found that most states lack 
strong standards for quality child car, such as requiring a sufficient 
educational training level of child care workers, keeping child to 
staff ratios low,and requiring safety and health provision on hand 
washing and playground equipment safety. The report further concluded 
that child care center staff turnover--which hurts the quality of care 
children receive--is very high and is largely due to the extremely low 
level of pay teachers in child care centers receive.
  I have sought the expertise of child care professional and early 
childhood development specialist across the country, including Dr. 
Edward Zigler, Sterling Professor of Psychology, former Director of 
which is now the Administration for Children, Youth and Families at the 
U.S. Department of Health and Human Service, and founder of the federal 
Head Start Program. Dr. Zigler tells us that a national policy to 
encourage an increase in state quality standards is of great value, and 
that the goal of this legislation--to improve child care services in 
the states--is both necessary and urgent.
  Congress has wrongly refused to require significant quality standards 
for the child care dollars we allocate each year. The federal 
government should give states the resources to raise state quality 
standards and improve child care quality at the local level, but only 
through a system of measurable indicators of desired outcomes. We must 
allocate these funds with the guarantee that incentive grants will 
continue to raise standards and improve the quality of care.
  As the father of a young son, I know the difficulty families face 
when choosing a caregiver for their children. My bill gives families 
peace of mind by encouraging the state and local facilities across the 
country to provide the high quality of care every child deserves.

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