Report: 49 deaths in Texas child-care facilities

Jan 22, 2009

By Kendyl Sebesta/Contributing Writer/The Daily Toreador @ Texas Tech University

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services Web site reported the deaths of 49 children in Texas due to unregulated child care from 2004 to 2007, but none of the deaths were reported in Lubbock County.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Web site reported several circumstances could cause death in young children. Cribs that contain soft bedding and do not meet safety standards, unsafe playground surfacing and maintenance, the improper use or absence of child safety gates, and the accessibility of hazardous clothing, window chords, and recalled products are the leading causes of child death in Texas child care centers and homes.

Greg Cunningham, spokesman for the Lubbock Department of Family and Protective Services, said Texas family child care homes and child care centers become unregulated and illegal when they are not listed, registered or licensed with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.

"Often family homes are not registered or listed with the department because they are not aware that the law requires them to," he said. "Once they become aware, they usually work with us without any problem."

Listed family homes typically care for one or two unrelated children and undergo background checks and initial inspections, Cunningham said, which require the homes to adhere to a set of minimum safety standards established by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.

"We do not conduct regular inspections of listed family homes outside the initial inspection," he said. "To get out and inspect all the homes is very hard. It is a question of scale and resources."

The absence of continual inspections also prevents the department from ensuring listed family homes meet the one-to-two child requirement for listed status, Cunningham said.

"The law requires them to report increased numbers," he said, "but there is no one going out and checking up on them every month."

Cunningham said listed family homes are monitored in other ways by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.

"Listed family homes are issued a certificate once they pass initial inspections," he said. "The certificates must be renewed annually and new background checks have to be submitted at that time too."

A annual certificate renewal and annual background check are the only departmental costs incurred by listed family homes, Cunningham said.

Registered child care homes are inspected by the department every one to two years while licensed child care homes undergo inspection every 12 months, according to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services Web site. Listed, registered and licensed child care homes all face inspection if the department receives a report alleging child abuse or neglect.

Child care homes that provide care for six children who are less than 14 years of age and six school-aged children must be registered with the department, according to the Web site. Licensed child care homes may provide care for seven to 12 unrelated children.

Licensed child care centers are held to the same standards and regulations as licensed child care homes, according to the department's Web site, but may provide care for seven or more children who are less than 14 years of age.

The Web site reported licensed child care providers must submit a non-refundable application fee for an initial license to operate, a provisional license fee, a fee for child care operation, and a annual fee for all licensed child care operators. Licenses do not expire unless revoked by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.

Carrie Hodnett, associate director of the Christine DeVitt and Helen DeVitt Jones Child Development Research Center, said the center legally must follow the standards of a licensed child care home.

"We are both licensed and accredited," she said, "which means we offer certain things like a much smaller child-to-teacher ratio."

Hodnett said the Child Development Research Center maintains a 1-to-9 teacher-to-child ratio in its preschool classrooms, a 1-to-7 ratio in its toddler classrooms and a 1-to-3 ratio for infant care.

"The ratios can actually be much smaller," she said, "because we typically have one or two extra assistants in our classrooms at all times."

Hodnett said licensed and accredited child care centers are subject to higher standards of care.

"Licensed facilities have accountability" she said. "I think when you don't have that accountability you are less likely to have the potential for a healthy environment."

The Child Development Research Center is inspected regularly by licensing officials, Hodnett said.

"Licensing officials can drop in unannounced to do regulation checks at any time," she said. "Typically they visit us once a year, but they can definitely show up at anytime."

Cunningham said parents can protect their child's safety by researching and visiting child care centers or homes.

"We would always rather there be more safe options for parents than not," Cunningham said. "We try to make sure child care providers are doing the right thing, but it is up to the parents to take responsibility for their child's safety."

Parents can avoid placing their child in unregulated care by visiting the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services Web site, he said, to learn whether their child care provider meets listing, registration or licensing requirements.