Director of Communications, Research & Development
518-690-4217 ext 22
mstalker@earlycareandlearning.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
2/12/2013
What is legally-exempt child care?
(Albany, New York) The Early Care & Learning Council has released a report that takes a look at informal, but legal, child care in New York State. The report, Legally-Exempt Child Care: What does it mean in New York State?, is the product of an in depth look at informal child care in New York and eight other states. The report, prepared with financial support from the Rauch Foundation, also includes recommendations for addressing some of the quality and funding concerns surrounding this type of publicly subsidized child care.
It is widely accepted that high-quality care is important to future outcomes for children, families and society. Yet, a significant number of New York’s young children utilizing child care subsidies are receiving legally-exempt child care where the quality of care is largely unknown. Legally-exempt caregivers provide informal child care and are exempt from the regulatory process that licensed and registered child care providers adhere to. Legally-exempt child care providers can care for up to eight children full-time, no more than two of whom can be unrelated. If a provider is caring for children part-time, three hours or less a day, then there is no limit to number of un-related children allowed. Legally-exempt child care that takes place in a child’s home is not subject to inspection; only 20% of legally exempt care that takes place in the provider’s home is inspected.
Most states in the nation have some form of legally-exempt care. The level and source of funding vary from state to state. New York uses more of its federal child care funding on legally-exempt care than most other states. In 2011, 39% of all children receiving subsidized care in New York received legally-exempt care. In 2010, it was 40%, twice the national average.
“We are pleased to support the Early Care & Learning Council’s work on this project, said Jennifer Marino Rojas, Vice President of Grants and Operations at the Rauch Foundation. "The Foundation is dedicated to early success in children and strengthening early childhood options for all children. This report will help guide us in that mission as we learn more about this child care option.”
“Through this project we’ve been able to collect and analyze some solid data about legally-exempt child care in New York and throughout the United States, but there is still so much to learn,” said Rebekah Widrick, Research and Evaluation Associate at the Early Care & Learning Council and one of the report’s authors. “I am confident that this report will start a much needed conversation about how we measure the quality of child care.”
The report, Legally-Exempt Child Care: What does it mean in New York State?, provides a look at the legally-exempt child care in New York and identifies key issues for further research and discussion. The report lays out the known and unknown conditions and outcomes of legally-exempt child care with the goal of drawing attention to legally-exempt care and initiating a discussion on the accessibility and affordability of quality child care for all citizens of New York.
Click here to read the full report.
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Early Care & Learning Council: For more than thirty-five years, the Early Care & Learning Council has been a leading voice for early care and education in New York State. With its statewide network of child care resource and referral agencies, the Council has successfully fought for increases in funding to support early childhood programs and for the reform of child care laws, regulations and policies to improve safety and quality in child care settings. The Council was a founder and convener of both the Child Care that Works Campaign and Winning Beginning NY, both statewide advocacy coalitions. The Council and partners work to increase the quality, affordability and capacity of the early care and learning field and does so through training and technical assistance, data management and advocacy initiatives. For more information, please call (518) 690-4217 or visit www.earlycareandlearning.org.
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