Lawmaker To Unveil Report On Day Care

A state legislator today will unveil a report on the quality and safety of child care in Idaho, with an eye toward better oversight.

Sen. Gordon Crow, R-Hayden, is expected to report findings from several public forums at a 10 a.m. news conference at North Idaho College.

About 25 legislators, child-care experts and social workers last fall formed an ad hoc committee to review day care in North Idaho.

The review was initiated by Crow in response to critical media coverage and complaints from residents and day-care providers about Idaho’s lax child-care rules.

Idaho regularly is cited by national watchdog groups as a state that allows almost anyone to start a day care with virtually no oversight.

Crow’s interest also was piqued by an Idaho Spokesman-Review report showing that many day-care workers don’t bother getting required FBI background checks. At the same time, parents looking for day cares have almost no way to access complaints against individual businesses.

State health and welfare officials also will be on hand today to make public the report’s findings.

, DataTimes