Fire at Mexican day care/other comments for discussion

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Childcare Chatboard

Fire at Mexican day care/other comments for discussion

by montmo

Jun 7, 2009

When I read about that tragedy it makes me so sad.I can not begin to imagine the horror those families are going through. I heard they only had one exit and there were almost 150 children in there with babies included.

I am going through licensing right now for a home care and it is so easy to think some of the licensing requirements seem so over the top and picky. I wonder if the day cares that are housed in churches(they have different regulations in our state then commercial and home cares and the rules are more "lenient")are prepared to not find themselves in a similar situation in an emergency where quick exits are necessary.

Another situation I wanted to discuss is the different regulations in our state regarding licensed and non licenced home day cares. I have found out that insurance coverage relates to this. In our state if a provider has a limited number of children in her home(I think it is 6 plus her own) she does not have to be licensed. To be licenced s...See MoreWhen I read about that tragedy it makes me so sad.I can not begin to imagine the horror those families are going through. I heard they only had one exit and there were almost 150 children in there with babies included.

I am going through licensing right now for a home care and it is so easy to think some of the licensing requirements seem so over the top and picky. I wonder if the day cares that are housed in churches(they have different regulations in our state then commercial and home cares and the rules are more "lenient")are prepared to not find themselves in a similar situation in an emergency where quick exits are necessary.

Another situation I wanted to discuss is the different regulations in our state regarding licensed and non licenced home day cares. I have found out that insurance coverage relates to this. In our state if a provider has a limited number of children in her home(I think it is 6 plus her own) she does not have to be licensed. To be licenced she can only have up to 10 children including her own if she has any child younger then 3 years. If she has all children over the age of 3, she can have up to 12 including her own children. That means if a parent has six children, she can have up to 12 children and not need to be licensed! Most insurance companies will not cover a home care unless it is licensed with those restrictions. They will not insure until that home is licensed. Meanwhile a provider can be operating a service that is not licensed and not have insurance coverage. Do parents not ask if that is the case? Why would a fewer number of children mean that safety precautions do not have to be met? Are those children not as precious as a child who attends a large day care? To me ANY home day care and any service that provides day care should be licensed. I don't understand why day cares in churches do not have to follow the same guidelines as any other provider. The regulations are not unreasonable.

I know. I know. It all comes to $$$$$$ and states don't have it. Anyone want to discuss any of this? montmo

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Terri in CA On 6/18/09, Schari wrote: > > The licensing requirements and ratios in some states astound > me. And did you say CA is considering not having annual > inspections of licensed homes? > I dont know about home day cares. But I know with the current cuts they are talking about licensing would not do random checks of centers (not the home...See More

Jun 22, 2009

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montmo Terri: I had my initial visit this afternoon and I brought up your mention of CA going to the initial visits and complaints only approach. I forgot what she told me her brother does in CA - something in the state gov't. She said that CA would not go that route cause they know what liability that would put the state from past experience when "things...See More

Jun 22, 2009

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Schari Congrats on your good inspection! Keep up the good work.

On 6/22/09, montmo wrote: > Terri: I had my initial visit this afternoon and I brought up your > mention of CA going to the initial visits and complaints only > approach. I forgot what she told me her brother does in CA - > something in the state gov't. She said that CA w...See More

Jun 27, 2009

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montmo On 6/27/09, Schari wrote: > Congrats on your good inspection! Keep up the good work. > > Thanks! I am glad I finally did it. Montmo

Jun 28, 2009

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msmichelle You might be mistaken somewhat, yes in general churches daycares do not have to be licensed meaning they do not have to abide by SOME childcare regulations. But they still have to abide by state health & safety rules such as having a fire extinguisher or emergency exits etc.. Any public building are by law to follow these rules children or no c...See MoreYou might be mistaken somewhat, yes in general churches daycares do not have to be licensed meaning they do not have to abide by SOME childcare regulations. But they still have to abide by state health & safety rules such as having a fire extinguisher or emergency exits etc.. Any public building are by law to follow these rules children or no children.

Just like home daycares that are not licensed or not required to be licensed still have to abide by some state regulations. The big difference is the unlicensed facilities are just not inspected periodically for violations.

On 6/08/09, montmo wrote: > On 6/08/09, Jan wrote: >> Churches are required to have adequate exits, in order to >> meet as a church. To my knowledge, church daycares follow >> the same rules.... but if they do not have to, the ones I >> know, actually have lower number of children per adult than >> public daycares. I have worked in church daycares in other >> states (I live in Ohio now)... And I have worked in public >> daycares. The situtations in the church daycares were MUCH >> better than in public. I can only share my experiences, but >> we had less children per adult, we had better qualified >> workers over all, and we were paid better. I just have not >> seen this as an issue. > > > It must just be our state then. Child care ministries do not > even have to licensed if is is being operated as an extension of > a church or not for profit religious organization. They can be > licensed if they can meet the requirements for a licensed center. > For an unlicensed child care ministry there is no staff/child > ratio,, no square footage requirements and the annual inspection > for fire is the same as the primary use of the building. Assuming > that the fire exits are sufficient, with no ratios, I can see > where here there might be a problem. Granted there are many,many > church ministries that are extremely careful and can and probably > do pass the licensing requirements for centers, I can see a > loophole here for a problem. The administrator has no educational > requirements and I would assume that goes for staff, too. I > just think of my inlaw's old church building that passes for fire > exits. There are so many steps, different levels, hallways > galore, etc. There is no daycare in there, but there could be if > anyone would ever want to and any parent would sent their child > there. Thanks for sharing.

Jul 2, 2009

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