Illegal day-care centers plague rural Missouri; bill would let rural counties opt out of state rules

Rep. Scott Fitzpatrick

Illegal day-care centers, run by people without a state license, have been a persistent problem in rural Missouri. Rep. Scott Fitzpatrick (R-Shell Knob) has a solution: let the state's 93 rural counties "to opt out of all state child-care licensing requirements and, if they choose, create their own rules instead," Nancy Cambria and Marie French report for the St. Louis Post Dispatch.

Fitzpatrick said at a hearing Thursday that the illegal day-cares "lack the staff to meet state standards for adult-to-child ratios," Cambria and French write. "He said they can’t survive under the state’s enrollment limits, which cap their number of paying clients. He worries the state will soon begin shuttering these facilities, leaving hundreds of low-income parents in the lurch." One of the problems is that's it's too difficult to get a license, he said, saying, “If they can bring that (licensing) bar down a little bit, they may be able to get some of those unlicensed folks to seek licensing. . . .  I’m not trying to kill babies or make kids unsafe. I’m trying to give counties the option to come up with their own licensing plan.” 

But safety remains an issue. According to an investigation by the Post-Dispatch, 50 out of 56 child care deaths in the state from 2007 through July 2011 occurred in unlicensed day cares, Cambria and French write. Even worse, they write, "Prosecutors often declined to take action against providers accused of caring for more children than allowed by law."

Rep. Sheila Solon (R-Blue Springs) "said getting rid of these regulations would eliminate the ability for the state to shut down dangerous facilities and keep information about complaints against providers from parents," Cambria and French write. “That information is important for parents to have when they’re trying to find a place to put their most precious commodity, their children. If children are in immediate danger, we want that ability for them to be able to come in and shut them down.”

Rep. Bill Lant (R-Pineville) said Thursday "he plans to file a bill as early as next week that would largely close a loophole to a law that limits how many children a provider can care for without a license. That number is currently set at four, but an exemption allows providers to care for an unlimited number of children who are related to them," Cambria and French write. Rep. Jeremy LaFaver (D-Kansas City) "also has filed a bill for the second year to license almost all providers in the state — a move that would bring thousands of unregulated facilities under state regulation. LaFaver said Thursday his bill is intended to be a starting point for conversation about creating stricter standards. He said he has reached out to Fitzpatrick to find another solution." (Read more)