Home-based child care providers are fighting a Grand Prairie ordinance. Here’s why
A group of home daycare providers in Grand Prairie are fighting to change a local ordinance which limits the number of children they can care for and the amount of funds they can receive from federal and state grants by not allowing them to become licensed home daycares.
In the state of Texas there are multiple classifications of home daycares allowed, including listed, registered and licensed.
Registered and licensed homes are both able to care for up to 12 children, but registered homes can only care for six children the first half of the day and another six after school, while licensed homes can care for 12 children all day.
Licensed homes are also inspected by the state once a year, while registered are only inspected every other year.
While the requirements are almost identical, licensed homes are eligible to receive greater amounts of funding from both state and federal resources, both of which were increased greatly amid the pandemic.
But many providers in Grand Prairie already adhere to higher standards including yearly inspections in order to receive subsidies, along with receiving specialized training and certifications in order to participate in a state quality rating program called Texas Rising Star.
Jerletha McDonald, the CEO and founder of Arlington DFW Child Care Association, wrote a letter to the city to urge officials to follow state guidelines, similar to other cities in the Metroplex.
“Family child care in Texas is licensed or registered through the Texas Workforce Commission, to ensure the health, safety, and well-being of children in care and meaningful support for the child care workforce,” she said. “The difference between licensing and registration in our state is about the size of the program, and how many children are enrolled.”
She went on to underscore the impact of the city’s decision, which was made decades ago.
“However, years ago in Grand Prairie, city officials decided to only allow registered family child care homes,” she said. “No family child care programs are licensed in Grand Prairie.”
Ordinance restricts childcare as growing city faces shortage of available seats
Roslyn Chaney, who runs a 24-hour daycare in Grand Prairie, is one of many providers with a growing list of parents waiting for seats to open up.
As the city grows, access to child care is becoming increasingly hard to come by, McDonald said.
“There is not enough child care in Grand Prairie and expanding the potential to serve can help,” McDonald said.
According to a child care desert map created by the Center for American Progress, areas across Grand Prairie have scarcity of child care.
Rosemary Simon, another provider, said she has seen the demand grow along with the population.
“Grand Prairie is booming over in my area … they are popping up so many houses and apartments, and these people are going to need child care,” she said. “I have one family in particular that I was watching their older son from 2-11 and they want me to take the baby. If I was licensed I could.”
But without the license, Simon is at capacity.
The provider has also been on a single income since 2006 — making the ability to take care of as many kids as she can a necessity.
Ordinance is meant to ensure safety of children
Grand Prairie is one of only two municipalities in the Metroplex that regulates child care beyond what is required by the state.
Cindy Mendez, the director of public health and environmental quality for the city, said the decision to regulate the homes was made decades ago.
“The City of Grand Prairie in the ‘80s made a decision to regulate and to have an extra layer of protection for children who are being cared for in a home or in a licensed childcare center,” she said. “Any extra protection you can give to children is better.”
But providers who spoke to the Star-Telegram argue that they are already operating as licensed providers — with yearly inspections and higher training as required to accept subsidized childcare vouchers and to participate in Texas Rising Star.
“Before I came into childcare, I had a bachelor’s degree in psychology,” said Chaney, who runs a 24-hour daycare in Grand Prairie. “So I am qualified to become a licensed home provider. Basically it is just the wording we would have to switch over to become licensed providers.”
Camille McClinton, who has been operating a home-based daycare with her mother since 2013, has all of the requirements to become a licensed childcare provider also.
“As a licensed childcare provider I could become a director, which affects my ability to have a higher Texas Rising Star rating,” she said, referring to the state Quality Rating and Improvement System in Texas. “And that affects my ability to earn income and the amount of children we are able to allow with current funding as a registered provider.”
Mendez, the public health director, said that after hearing concerns from providers in December, she worked to put together a presentation with possible changes and the current ordinance to present to the city.
An agenda item describing the presentation also mentions building and fire codes that “do not permit more than five children to be cared for in a home without meeting additional requirements such as fire sprinkler systems.”
The providers, some of which can not make it to the meeting Monday since they will be working, shared confusion about that description — pointing out that as regulated daycare homes they have taken care of more than five children without the addition of sprinkler systems for years.
The city’s Public Safety, Health and Environment Committee will hear the presentation reviewing the ordinance and possible changes on Monday.
Lack of license costs providers thousands in relief dollars
Providers have made calls and sent letters over the years in attempts to urge the city to make changes.
But earlier this year, when federal dollars approved as part of the American Rescue Plan began coming down, that was “the straw that broke the camel’s back.”
McClinton said she lost out on more than $2,000, despite fulfilling all the requirements to become a licensed child care provider — money that saved her business during several shutdowns due to COVID-19.
“It was a lifeline,” she said. “It gives you breathing room, as we saw when COVID hit again, you are hopeful it won’t affect your center but that’s not always the case.”
McDonald underscored that sentiment in a letter sent to the city at the beginning of January.
“When federal and state resources are limited to those who are licensed, it leaves out Grand Prairie programs and the wellbeing of the child care workforce suffers financially,” she said. “These funds are crucial for program operations, for a healthy sustainable business and for compensation that enables child care to thrive to keep Grand Prairie working.”
State funding through Texas Rising Star is also increased depending on the classification of the program.
Simon said that she is hopeful that a change will be made to the ordinance to allow for greater flexibility and higher compensation as she moves into the next stage of her life.
“I’m getting older now, I’m 54,” she said. “When I was younger I could do more and go traveling to go pick up the kids after school — and that’s what I need to do just to make enough money to pay my bills.”
“If I was licensed I wouldn’t have to worry about that, because I could just have students full time and I wouldn’t have to juggle so much around with the kids.”
