Reports cite gaps in Nevada day care

Art Nadler

Tuesday, Jan. 12, 1999 | 11:51 a.m.

Day-care centers throughout the state are lacking in quality of care, two newly released UNLV reports have concluded.

The reports -- "The Nevada Child Care Strategic Plan: Improving Quality Child Care" and "Effects of Additional Child Care Subsidies" -- were released today by the university's Nevada Institute for Children. The organization surveyed 1,048 child-care centers around the state.

The reports showed, in part, that 41 percent of child-care providers at centers either had no high school diploma or were only high school graduates. Eighty-three percent of the teachers had less than a college bachelor's degree.

In Clark County, a higher percentage -- 49 percent -- had no more than a high school diploma or had not completed high school.

The ratio of teachers to children was also below what the National Association for the Education of Young Children recommends. While the association has determined that the ratio of teachers to infants should be 3 to 1, Nevada allows 4 to 1. The ratio of toddlers should be 6 to 1, and in Nevada, as high as 10 to 1 is allowed.

Working Mother magazine recently ranked Nevada 47th in the nation for child care. The magazine found that only six centers in the state were accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children.

The institute recommends that Clark County day-care centers provide 339 more teachers to improve the ratios. Also, with 1,618 children on waiting lists to enter day-care centers in Clark County, it recommends that $4.3 million in vouchers be provided to parents.

"Do we want workers at these centers who just take care of children, or do we want teachers with more education?" Vince Juaristi, executive director of the institute, asked.

The institute found that the average day-care worker earns $6.83 an hour, he said, adding that day-care centers can't attract educated individuals for those wages.

The reports will be presented to the state Department of Human Resources, which handles funding for state-sponsored child-care programs, Juaristi said. He said the state, counties or private enterprise should address the problem of Nevada's poor child-care rating.

The institute's findings are consistent with what the state's Department of Human Resources has found, according to Charlotte Crawford, its director. She said her department's budget request has come through the budget process with few cuts so far, at a time when all state agency budgets are under heavy scrutiny.

But one state legislator said the state has been stingy with money for child care in the past.

"One time I tried to get money for working parents for day care, but I couldn't," Assemblywoman Vivian Freeman, D-Reno, said. Freeman added that she's been trying for 12 years to get the Legislature to appropriate money for child care. "There was money for a historical museum, a livestock barn for the Clark County Fair, but nothing for working parents. I wouldn't want to be a poor parent in this state."

She said she plans to introduce another bill at this legislative session. She wants to address all the problems brought out in the state and national reports, in addition to allocating funds to provide day-care inspectors.

Gov. Kenny Guinn expressed his support for child care in a written statement to the Sun. He did not indicate whether the state would provide more money for child care.

"Child care has been and will remain one of the most pressing concerns for our state's low-income, working families," the statement said. "As such, it will be my goal as governor to ensure the state's responsibility in meeting these child-care demands. Adequate child care is a cornerstone of the process by which working families thrive."

The governor is expected to release his budget when he gives his State of the State address Monday.

Clark County Commissioner Erin Kenny said she plans to launch a six-month study within 30 days called the "Standards of Care" to help families make informed choices on child-care facilities.

She hopes the program will address some of the findings brought out by the Nevada Institute for Children survey, she said. Kenny added that she would like to see the Clark County Business Licensing Department regulate all child-care facilities in the county, including ones in incorporated towns such as Henderson, Boulder City and North Las Vegas, which set their own child-care regulations.

"Clark County already has social workers who could go out to do inspections,' Kenny said. "We are looking at a plan to bring all child-care workers under one umbrella."

When Kenny proposed the "Standard of Care" program in September, she estimated it would cost the county from $50,000 to $75,000 to start a pilot program.