The state’s human services chief describes 98 mind-numbing pages of proposed rules for child- care centers as a “very early draft.”
“We are a long way from these rules being promulgated,” Human Services Department director Reggie Bicha told The Denver Post’s Tim Hoover after critics raised questions about the scope of the proposal.
We hope that’s the case, since some of the rules go too far in prescribing every facet of center operations.
Don’t misunderstand. Colorado has a duty to regulate child-care facilities to protect health and safety and to ensure a quality experience that aids in child development. The days when licensed operators could fulfill their duties merely by baby-sitting — plopping kids in front of a TV to keep them occupied, for example — should be long past.
That’s why lawmakers in 2000 passed a measure requiring the state to write quality standards, and why officials are updating them now.
So regulate, yes. But micromanage, no.
The draft regulations are dense with edicts regarding facility layout, nutrition, cleanliness, transportation, staffing ratios, staff qualifications, activities, physical care, medication, sun protection, field trips, and much more. Every one of these topics is important, and many of the proposed rules related to them appear necessary or least desirable. It may sound obvious — to cite an almost random example — to stipulate that hand wipes are no substitute for washing hands, but the rules are right to spell that out.
The trouble is that the state appears poised to dictate details of the entire gamut of classroom resources and activities. The rules require, for example, that at least 10 “Of the pictures and books in the classroom . . . shall represent nature realistically,” as if it would be intolerable if only eight did. Meanwhile, art activities “shall be provided daily,” but “teacher directed art projects shall be kept to a minimum.” What does that even mean? And why should the state concern itself with how involved teachers become with kids’ artwork?
For that matter, “children shall have at least two opportunities every day to experience the natural world,” at least one chance per week at “sand and or water play” (with at least two toys per child) and one music activity per day, with music equipment accessible for at least one hour. Dolls shall represent three races. Eye contact shall be “culturally sensitive.” Each classroom “shall have at least 10 visual displays,” with two representing diversity — and so on, rules piled atop rules, page upon page.
Do state regulators really believe that only one model exists for providing children with a rich, developmentally appropriate experience? And don’t they realize that when a rule book is so comprehensive that almost no one can master it, people will stop paying attention even to its more important requirements?
If human services officials truly are a long way from promulgating a new set of child-care center rules, then they have time to go back and delete those that are needlessly intrusive. This vital regulatory playbook needs to go on a diet.
