State Allocates Stimulus Funding to Strengthen Safety at Daycare Centers

Connecticut has more than 4300 hundred licensed daycare facilities from large centers to small home daycares. 

 

In 2009, two Yale researchers analyzed 1400 unannounced inspection reports by the Department of Public Health to measure how daycare providers met state health and safety regulations.

 

The report was published by the Child Health and Development Institute. Co-author, Angela Crowley, Associate Professor at Yale School of Nursing, says the analysis showed there's room for improvement in how daycare staff administers medicine to children 

 

"Many centers were giving medicines but not all centers had providers that were trained and not all medicines were always labelled or locked and out of children's reach. We also found that only twenty percent of family childcare providers were trained to give medicines."

 

One of the report's recommendations was for the state to update its medication administration training program for childcare providers including making it affordable and accessible.

 

The state Department of Social Services has allocated $200,000 of stimulus money to do just that, allowing the state to hire nurse consultants to conduct the training. Another widespread problem identified in the report was that 48 percent of daycares had hazardous playgrounds. 

 

So, DSS has allocated another $775,000 of stimulus money to hire inspectors and provide grants for safety enhancements. Federal funding also will help the Department of Public Health, the agency that licenses daycare facilities, to create an online database.  

 

Debra Johnson is head of child care licensing for DPH

 

"Currently the results of routine and initial inspections are put in the paper file. what we would be looking at once we have a more comprehensive system is how to make that information more accessible to the public."

 

Information that would be valuable for parents when researching which daycare is right for their children. Right now guidelines for choosing a provider are listed at 

http://www.ct.gov/dph/daycare