Spell What’s Wrong With Day Care S-T-A-T-E

Wed., Dec. 17, 1997

Elden Sorensen Special To Opinion

I own a child-care center that operates on a cash basis. I have no bills. I pay everything as I go.

We serve about 60 children and employ 16 staff.

Our center is respectable. We use developmentally appropriate curriculum that meets and usually exceeds the state’s standards. The center is always very clean and serves excellent, home-cooked food. The staff really cares about the children.

Early in November, I had to loan the center, which is owned by our family corporation, $5,000 in personal funds to meet the payroll. Then, on the 15th of the month, federal taxes were due and that meant $2,000 more. At the end of the month it was the state’s turn for another $500.

And, of course, there are the regular expenses of operating a business.

Why am I complaining? Why not just clean up my business management and make everything all right?

Let’s look at some of the problems.

First, more than 25 percent of our clients are state-subsidized and the state’s payment rate is 30 percent under the break-even point. Therefore, the rest of our clients - the families that pay privately for their own child care - are also subsidizing the others.

Four different state agencies regulate our business but they aren’t connected and they don’t communicate well. We spend many hours trying to work out the problems this causes.

As an example, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s food program requires such intensive paperwork that we spend about $650 on labor to get $850 back.

The state Office of Child Care Policy administers a book of minimum requirements that must be met before they will grant you a license. However, there’s the state Health Department and they don’t always agree with the OCCP. The Health Department says it’s in control, which it is in some areas such as food and medical considerations.

But these agencies have a problem coordinating their authority. I could go on for pages about the state and the wasteful expense it costs our center.

We operate on a day-to-day basis. When I can no longer pay the bills, 60-plus children’s parents will be looking for a place to take care of them. And 16 people will be looking for a job.

MEMO: Your Turn is a feature of the Wednesday and Saturday Opinion pages. To submit a Your Turn column for consideration, contact Rebecca Nappi at 459-5496 or Doug Floyd at 459-5466 or write Your Turn, The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210-1615.

Your Turn is a feature of the Wednesday and Saturday Opinion pages. To submit a Your Turn column for consideration, contact Rebecca Nappi at 459-5496 or Doug Floyd at 459-5466 or write Your Turn, The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210-1615.

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