Family and Child Welfare

Family and Child Welfare 3 (3+0)

Lesson 31 : Child Care and Development - Day Care Service

Licensing

“Day care Licensing refers to the requirements by law that a license permit or certification be secured before a person, agency or corporation takes on care of children away from their own home during the day” (U.S. Senate, 1971). It may include registration, licensing and inspection. the licensing procedure rests on a delegation of legislative power to an administrative agency. The required for standards for care become, in effect, “little laws”. Licensing ensures the maintenance of some minimum standards of day care and reflects the community’s concern for the physical and psychological safety of its children (Day care development Council, 1970). By 1970 almost all states had made licensing of day care centers mandatory.

Licensing regulations are likely to cover such factors as physical facilities, safety standards, health standards, provisions for adequate number and training of personnel, and educational facilities and equipment. They may also indicate the special kinds of provisions to be made for special kinds of children; for instance, a higher ratio of caretakers to children may be required in day-care facilities serving the handicapped (Child Welfare League of America, 1960).

The state departments of public welfare are generally given responsibility for implementing licensing legislation; less frequently, such responsibility rests with the state department of health or the state department of education. In any case, the office responsible for licensing may provide supervision and consul­tation and arrange educational programs, institutes, and workshops to help agen­cies reach, and maintain, an acceptable level of service.

Social workers who implement the state day-care licensing procedures for the s ate departments of public welfare thus have two major responsibilities: a supervisory-regulatory function and a consultation function. The supervisory regulatory function assures the parent and the community that conditions at the day-care center are satisfactory. In discharging the consultation responsibility, the social worker helps the day-care center maintain and, if possible, improve con­ditions for the children at the center.