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One of the biggest challenges that working parents encounter is finding affordable, trustworthy and nurturing day care for their children while they are earning a living. Unfortunately, we have made this obstacle a little greater for some families, particularly in rural Missouri. During the last legislative session, House Bill 397 was signed into law with an amendment that changed how many children a day care provider could watch without obtaining a state license. Under the new policy, caregivers must now include their own children and relatives in that head count toward whether or not they need to obtain a license. The bill also affected licensed day cares which when debated was not the goal of the legislation. Before this new law passed, if you operated an in-home day care you could do so without getting a license if you had four or fewer children, and children that were related to you were not counted. Now, you must obtain a license if you have more than six children no matter how many of them are related to you. This is causing many small businesses to reduce the number of children they can assist, and in some cases, close altogether. In some instances a grandmother is caring for a grandchild or grandchildren and also accepting other children for services. This arrangement allowed working moms to be comfortable with the care of their children and also allowed the grandparent to make a small amount of money. With the rules change this is no longer possible for countless day cares. Missouri has over one thousand home child care centers, many of which operate in northeast Missouri. This is why I have decided to tackle this problem and work toward a solution. Currently, I am working with my colleagues in the Missouri House of Representatives to develop legislation to address this important issue. Child care providers are few and far between, and now the state of Missouri has made it even more unlikely you can find a satisfactory day care for your children. Last year, legislation was passed in Jefferson City to change the laws for day cares. This is a perfect example of what happens when a bill with a bunch of amendments moves during the last week of session. This is a major problem I would like to address. What began as a decent legislative proposal turned into something almost entirely different and created what I believe to be problems and unsafe conditions for the very children we were supposedly “protecting.” A common fallacy in the Legislature is that “more laws make for a better state.” My experience is “more laws make for more problems and then even more laws must be passed.” In the concrete business, we make sure we understand the end result of changing policy and then only after speaking with those most affected. If we didn’t do this we would be implementing changes that are harmful to our business and customers. The state of Missouri could learn a lesson from this example. If you know someone that has been impacted by the unintentional consequences of this change in state law, please contact my office. I am going to do everything I can to find a solution to this problem. Parents, not the state, know what is best for their children, and they should be able to choose where and how their child is being cared for. As always I appreciate hearing your perspective on this and other issues presented in my weekly column. Please feel free to contact me in Jefferson City at (573) 751-7985. You may also email me at cindy.olaughlin@senate.mo.gov. |
Missouri Senate – 2020
Missouri General Assembly
