DSHS - Washington Child Day Care Providers Who Seemingly Believe Parents Don't Read

A legislative work committee was quickly called to session when a minority of child day care providers in the SEIU (Service Employees International Union) marshaled once again to delay implementation of child day care rules. For four and a half years some thirty of these providers and one lone parent met with the state to create rules using evidence based research. As you will read from my testimony below this group spent time and effort in their attempt to take away the first amendment rights of the lone parent on rule making work group.

Parents were left out of the process and have historically been largely ignored by DSHS (Department of Social and Health Services) and now DEL (Department of Early Learning). I signed up a couple of years ago on Google Alerts for news stories on "child deaths in day care". They come in DAILY. 

I give credit and kudos to DEL in this outcome of the writing the latest rules to be implemented March 31, 2012. I take this minority group of SEIU child day care providers to task for their disregard of the peace of mind of parents who must work and who must put their child in day care.

My testimony is copied here:

March 12, 2012

Dear Spokane City Council, Rep. Walsh, Rep. Overstreet, Dr. Hyde, Mr. McLellan and Stu Jacobson,

As a former licensor (for 13 years) turned whistle blower turned analyst/expert witness consultant I thank Stu Jacobson, Washington Parents for Safe Child Care for sharing the links below. I reviewed them all.

I admire the Spokane community's work on a community rights bill in the works for the last few years. Certainly, the question of local governance is unfolding and unrolling across our great nation in this time of monumental change with the wars draining the money out of the treasury (and taxpayers' pockets).

If the citizens (all the citizens) of Spokane want local governance to do oversight on child safety, kindness and learning in day care I suggest start forming those work groups now and sally forth with that plan to create a "crisis of jurisdiction" for the state to then grapple with. Included in that plan must be any of the federal issues that might come up (like funding issues, food programs and child care subsidies, etc). If citizen's taxes can go to a local plan rather than to the federal and state government a viable opportunity may be at hand (after much dedicated work).

In the 1 hour and 22 minute legislative committee work session I don't believe I heard the word "parent" once or any mention of what "parents" wanted in the revised WACs.

My subject line says "Back to the Future" because most of what is being reported by the media (not just in Spokane) is that these are "new" regulations. No they aren't.  The document is longer because now some areas are explained much better and in more detail.

The 2004 revision of the family home child care licensing WACs was poorly written so poorly written to be direct it was "crap". 

The safety regulations have always been there. The playground equipment ground cover has always been an issue. The 18 inch deck issues has always been an issue.  The platform issue is a fire code issue not one made up by the day care licensing agency. When it's a conundrum, be professional and request a consult with your local fire department. There was a yearly educational requirement started in 1999. DSHS DCCEL took it out in October 2004.

In terms of the child care regulations as one husband testified, parents wouldn't be allowed to keep their own children. Parental rights do trump a child care business provider's contractual privileges in being granted a license and the ability to keep the license.. A day care license is not a constitutional right (see Hardee v DSHS 2011, Washington State Supreme Court decision).

Mention was made of how SEIU's collective bargaining required the state to bargain with them (a small minority) regarding regulations. The negotiated rule making law is not about unions. Under the law it was a public review and process. Again if you review the one hour and 22 minute TVW video parents are almost virtually ignored.

There was one parent on the Negotiated Rule Making Team, Stu Jacobson, and the SEIU spent taxpayer money and time at the meetings in an attempt to take away Mr. Jacobson first amendment right of free speech under the United States Constitution because he spoke to the press. I was a witness at that meeting. They stopped the business of reviewing the WACs to figure out how they could punish him for giving an opinion to the press.

I heard on this TVW tape from a few who support a certain segment of providers, emotional language that 100s will quit on March 31, 2012. I want specific data. None was given.

I have been a big critic of DEL and I give credit when it is due. Bob McLellan in his testimony cited data and statistics. He cited the director agreeing with 90% of the work product of the Negotiated Rule Making Team's at the culmination of their 4 years of work. 5% Dr. Hyde had fundamental issues with were related to safety for children and development.

I was sorry to hear DEL didn't stick with no smoking. Smoking gets into fabric, furniture, carpeting, sofa cushions and the chemical can be smelled, if it can be smell it does damage to lungs and other tissue in the body. Little ones lung tissue is the most vulnerable.

Someone threw out the number that 900 day cares closed last year with a source not being cited. Bob reported looking at the statistics. Numbers maintained from 2008 to 2010 then a decline noted. The economy has been bad, really bad.

I'm glad to hear about the "tablet" and immediate recording of data into a computer data base. I went through by hand one year to see which WACs were most violated on my caseload.

Bob is also correct in saying the majority of family home child care providers will have no problem with this current revision. I had one provider on my caseload (when my caseload was 260) who asked me each time, "Why do you let them have a license? The regulations aren't hard to follow. Why do they get to keep their licenses?"  Why? It was because of the managers. That's where the inconsistency comes in.

The legislative comment about "extreme differences between regions" is entirely accurate.

Having 100-120 on one's caseload would be heaven in my experience and estimation. With non-expiring licenses monitoring can go way up now.

In my opinion as I believe Bob captured it, but I believe he was referring to it coming from Mary Kay Quinlan's perspective; it is not about a dialogue between provider and licensor. It is about how managers will operate and oversee the agency. Ms Quinlan in my expert opinion and in documents I've reviewed had (has?) a history of being inconsistent.

In my experience, witnessing and opinion the legislature needs to undo the so-called collective bargaining bills. The SEIU is not a friend to parents or children. Their friendship with only a minority of providers does not represent all providers and certainly represents no parents. SEIU and other so-called collective bargaining unions are getting free money from the taxpayer. With that money if legislators don't do their will, legislators have been threatened with losing their elections. It needs to not only happen with SEIU, but with AFSCME also.

This is the best management presentation (Bob's) that I have seen from DEL. I know it couldn't have happened without Betty Hyde. She must do that now with all of the management team. That will be the pivotal moment March 31, 2012 when the family home child day care WACs go into effect.

The plan for implementation cannot be "a dialogue between licensors and providers".

I've been writing for some time for applicants and providers to get a mentor from SCORE (Service Core of Retired Executives). They help small business folks, entrepreneurs. State employees have not experience with being business people and few providers also don't have that experience.

What we see play out many times is a manifestation of bickering like that between a child and a parent, between people who believe they are powerless and the ones that seemingly have the power. The real power lies with the managers, that's what must be studied and reported on in this process.

So I have kudos for DEL and a criticism. And taxpayer money going directly to SEIU must STOP. If individual providers want to cut them a check every month then fine, let SEIU do their work, earn their money and get paid by the providers who want to be in SEIU.

Same with AFSCME.

Thank you for your consideration regarding my testimony, of my experience, expertise in child care licensing and being the insider for 13 years,

Margo Logan
Child Care Consulting

In follow up testimony I sent to the Early Learning legislative work committee:

Dear All,

To bring the parent perspective into the fold of the Early Learning legislative work group, I'd like to add that I have been getting Google Alerts on "child deaths in day care" for a few years now. Those alerts come up daily in my inbox.  Daily.

There is a plethora of tragic stories in the news about day care and that's just in terms of deaths and maiming of children. Parents see and read those stories.

As a day care licensing insider I can testify to how parents calling in with concerns were discounted by the agency.  I can testify (and have a document) that as licensors we were not to "tell" parents about violations we'd seen.

One time I told a parent calling about the day care where her son got badly bitten by the provider's child (my supervisor would not go out and do the investigation on the complaint) to take the provider to small claims court. She did and got some measure of justice (including getting the medical bills paid).  The provider later complained about me doing that.

If attendance in day care is going down how parents feel must be figured into the equation. When a provider goes on television and scoffs at having a 3 day supply of food encase of an emergency, I'm thinking I'm not taking my kids there.  I had too many providers on my caseload who complained about not only doing a monthly fire drill but doing any fire drills at all. They flagrantly as well used the upstairs that had no fire escape exit.  And no my managers wouldn't take enforcement action.

There are more examples in my book DSHS SECRETS. It's on Amazon.com

On the Negotiated Rule Making Team (off the top of my head) there were about 30 providers represented. And one parent, Stu Jacobson, of Washington Parents for Safe Child Care. I all ready testified to that group's attempt to take away his 1st Amendments rights.

These complainer providers are a minority. Which brings up the question of whistle blowers. If the industry doesn't police itself then what are you left with? You're left with the citizen legislature who hears from parents, child advocates and sees the research, sees the data.

DEL to their credit in this go around sought and produced evidenced based research and data to uphold the regulations that were written. Kudos to them.

It's now at the juncture, in my opinion, on how the DEL managers will manage the agency, implement and/or enforce the WACs as well as creating some mechanisms to ensure parents are respected, heard and given transparent information about day care licensing that will be under the microscope. It will be under my microscope as my hypothesis has been for years that "failed" managers have not only stayed on, but were promoted to higher positions. Typically when "new" directors came on board they didn't know licensing, the "failed" managers would then tell the "new" director how it goes.

Dr. Hyde has produced a good work product here; and her top managers followed her leadership. Now the big test will be how her managers implement the good work product.

If Spokane wants to test a pilot program of local licensing, oversight, training and enforcement perhaps the legislature can get something passed to approve that as a test run of local community control and oversight.


Thank you
Margo Logan
Child Care Consulting