Negotiating the child care maze

Negotiating the child care maze

By Andrea Sullivan
Tuesday, 01 March 2011 01:00

Parents magazine’s list of Best Cities for Babies in the United States ranks Fort Wayne No. 2 in the nation!
As expected, large cities like sunny Phoenix and picturesque Seattle are on the current Best Cities for Babies list, but they were ranked below Fort Wayne, which was ranked No. 2 in the entire nation. (See parents.com.)

The editors rated cities on the basis of population, quality child care, infant safety and health, recreational opportunities and affordability.So, how did the Summit City knock out such big competitors like Phoenix and Seattle with their beautiful locations, big city amenities and hip downtown scenes? The answer can be found on your computer.

That is where parents can find a website devoted to finding and comparing child care providers within the state of Indiana. The website, childcareindiana.org, a project of the Indiana Association for Child Care Resource and Referral and the Indiana Bureau of Child Care, allows parents to put in their zip code and find local childcare providers that fit their families’ needs. It also gives parents vital information like staff-child ratios, hours of operation and an overall rating of the facility.

The rating system, called Paths to Quality, was devised more than a decade ago by the Early Childhood Alliance, a nonprofit organization in Fort Wayne. The ECA started a quality-improvement system to rate the city’s child-care businesses based on health and safety standards, education of staff, and other factors. It became so successful, the entire state of Indiana has now implemented it.

Pam Leffert, program director of the ECA, says she has seen enormous strides in the quality of area child care since Paths to Quality began. “I have been at Early Childhood Alliance for 13 years and I can see a big difference in the quality of programs throughout the area,” she said. “I have also seen a real increase in the interest and commitment to quality child care from all types of child care programs.”

Participation in Paths to Quality is voluntary. Child care providers who participate are ranked on one of four different levels, from meeting children’s basic health and safety needs to the highest ranking of national accreditation.

One Fort Wayne parent who used the Indiana Child Care Resource and Referral system is Samantha Dunn. Before finding the Indiana CCR&R, the young mother said she felt overwhelmed when trying to find an appropriate day care setting for her infant daughter.“I was terrified. [The first place I called] I could barely talk to the woman on the phone because there were so many babies crying,” said Dunn. “All I could think was, ‘This woman has to answer the phone instead of taking care of the babies!’”

Many parents who have tried to find day care can relate to that feeling of confusion and fear. In the past, finding good day care was a hit or miss proposition, generally guided by a word-of-mouth recommendation and a “go with your gut” feeling.Luckily, parents now have an easier way to compare the different child care options available and find the best fit for their child.

Dunn says that not only did the CCR&R provide a list of childcare providers but also noted if it was a day care facility, single home care provider,or church based ministry, hours of operation, address and contact information. The website also featured a valuable list of questions that parents should ask child care providers.

“I would absolutely recommend it. There were so many questions that I didn’t know to ask, but I am so happy that I did,” said Dunn, who chose a church ministry setting for her daughter. “[The website] has pretty much done the homework for you. It was an amazing time saver, and there needs to be more information put out there to let people know that this resource is available.”

Finding child care is still a highly personal decision. What works for one family or child might not work for another. However, any tool that can help parents negotiate the maze of options available is valuable, and the online referral system is a good first step. Parents are still encouraged to follow through with phone calls, questions and personal visits to the child care provider before making their final choice.

”We would be thrilled if every family in Indiana had access to a high quality child care program that met their individual needs and was affordable,” said Leffert. “That is certainly something we will continue to work on and advocate for.”

Andrea Sullivan of Warsaw has journalism and English literature degrees from Indiana University, Bloomington, as well as several years of experience in public relations and advertorial writing for various business-to-business publications. She has spent the last few years at home raising her family. Contact her at (574) 269-9608 or amsullivan2000@yahoo.com