July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Reader responds to editorial
Letter to the Editor
To the editor:
This letter is in response to the Hoosier Editorial in the March 20 issue of The Commercial Review. While it is true a faith-based daycare has fewer rules to follow in regards to licensing, they also have rules to follow that licensed daycares don’t. This wasn’t mentioned in the editorial.
Granted, the rule that stands out is the one pertaining to the staff-to-student ratio. The information in the editorial was misleading. The ratio for infants is 4:1 and toddlers (ages 1-30 months) is 5:1, but they didn’t mention as the ages increase so do the ratios. Daycare ministries are exempt from adhering to this ratio, but any that I have been associated with have used this as a guideline and many times have more staff than indicated. Not because it is a rule, but for general safety. As a parent, we want our children to be cared for and watched closely to try to keep them from harm.
An incorrect statement made was concerning the size requirements. In the article it stated that the space requirement doesn’t pertain to daycare ministries. The state fire marshal is required to do safety checks annually and in the application to the fire marshal a list of rooms used by the daycare, along with the dimensions of these rooms, must be sent in. They then use these numbers to determine the capacity allowed in the daycare ministry. Incidentally, the amount of required space happens to be 35-square feet per child.
As for being CPR and/or first aid certified, this is not a requirement unless you receive money from the federal government, such as voucher assistance money. If you accept these payments CPR and first aid certification is a requirement and documentation of the certifications are inspected prior to being allowed to participate in these programs. As a conscientious caregiver, and for liability reasons, I don’t know why they wouldn’t want someone on staff with these qualifications. All staff members at our daycare ministry are certified in CPR and first aid.
Any state registered caregiver is required to have a parent handbook which outlines requirements such as child illness policies, immunization, staff background check policies, no tobacco/alcohol use on premises, emergency evacuation and contact information. There is also a separate form from the state fire marshal explaining use of smoke alarms and fire drills.
Our church, Fairview United Methodist, opened a daycare ministry and I assure you there are many rules and regulations that must be followed just to get the application started.
The “red tape” is there for daycare ministries, as well. Daycare ministries must have a different board of directors for the ministry; have a written chain of command diagram; keep financial records separate from the church and have one member of the chuch (not the daycare director) sign a form assuming personal financial liability. Because we are in a rural area, we have a septic and well, which creates another set of rules and regulations to follow.
Our church pursued opening a daycare ministry to be an outreach for our church and to be helpful to our friends and neighbors in the community. We all are familiar with each other and family ties, so it is easy to ask around and find someone who knows any of our workers, church members, or the families we serve. Our intent wasn’t to circumvent any rules. It was to do the best we could as a church to follow the rules set forth by the state of Indiana for the well-being of our children.
As a former employee/director of another daycare ministry in Portland and current director of Praises and Pathways Daycare Ministry, I can assure you these two groups were in compliance with the rules of the state and also went above and beyond requirements to assure the safety and well-being of the children. Maybe the reason faith-based ministries now outnumber licensed daycares is that people are tired of God being thrown out of schools, courthouses and government. Maybe Christians are taking a stand to give our children an early message that God loves them and so do we.
Sincerely,
Beth Stephen
Portland[[In-content Ad]]
This letter is in response to the Hoosier Editorial in the March 20 issue of The Commercial Review. While it is true a faith-based daycare has fewer rules to follow in regards to licensing, they also have rules to follow that licensed daycares don’t. This wasn’t mentioned in the editorial.
Granted, the rule that stands out is the one pertaining to the staff-to-student ratio. The information in the editorial was misleading. The ratio for infants is 4:1 and toddlers (ages 1-30 months) is 5:1, but they didn’t mention as the ages increase so do the ratios. Daycare ministries are exempt from adhering to this ratio, but any that I have been associated with have used this as a guideline and many times have more staff than indicated. Not because it is a rule, but for general safety. As a parent, we want our children to be cared for and watched closely to try to keep them from harm.
An incorrect statement made was concerning the size requirements. In the article it stated that the space requirement doesn’t pertain to daycare ministries. The state fire marshal is required to do safety checks annually and in the application to the fire marshal a list of rooms used by the daycare, along with the dimensions of these rooms, must be sent in. They then use these numbers to determine the capacity allowed in the daycare ministry. Incidentally, the amount of required space happens to be 35-square feet per child.
As for being CPR and/or first aid certified, this is not a requirement unless you receive money from the federal government, such as voucher assistance money. If you accept these payments CPR and first aid certification is a requirement and documentation of the certifications are inspected prior to being allowed to participate in these programs. As a conscientious caregiver, and for liability reasons, I don’t know why they wouldn’t want someone on staff with these qualifications. All staff members at our daycare ministry are certified in CPR and first aid.
Any state registered caregiver is required to have a parent handbook which outlines requirements such as child illness policies, immunization, staff background check policies, no tobacco/alcohol use on premises, emergency evacuation and contact information. There is also a separate form from the state fire marshal explaining use of smoke alarms and fire drills.
Our church, Fairview United Methodist, opened a daycare ministry and I assure you there are many rules and regulations that must be followed just to get the application started.
The “red tape” is there for daycare ministries, as well. Daycare ministries must have a different board of directors for the ministry; have a written chain of command diagram; keep financial records separate from the church and have one member of the chuch (not the daycare director) sign a form assuming personal financial liability. Because we are in a rural area, we have a septic and well, which creates another set of rules and regulations to follow.
Our church pursued opening a daycare ministry to be an outreach for our church and to be helpful to our friends and neighbors in the community. We all are familiar with each other and family ties, so it is easy to ask around and find someone who knows any of our workers, church members, or the families we serve. Our intent wasn’t to circumvent any rules. It was to do the best we could as a church to follow the rules set forth by the state of Indiana for the well-being of our children.
As a former employee/director of another daycare ministry in Portland and current director of Praises and Pathways Daycare Ministry, I can assure you these two groups were in compliance with the rules of the state and also went above and beyond requirements to assure the safety and well-being of the children. Maybe the reason faith-based ministries now outnumber licensed daycares is that people are tired of God being thrown out of schools, courthouses and government. Maybe Christians are taking a stand to give our children an early message that God loves them and so do we.
Sincerely,
Beth Stephen
Portland[[In-content Ad]]
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