By: Jake Marszewski
Missouri’s child care crisis was debated again Wednesday, with a bill changing provisions for licensed in-home child care facilities passing through the state House.
State law allows up to two children aged 5 years or older that are related to the operator of a child care facility to be exempt from the maximum number of children for which the facility is licensed. A bill sponsored by state Rep. Jeff Farnan, a Republican from Stanberry, removes the age minimum with hope to increase space in day care facilities.
“At unlicensed day care facilities, we don’t know if these kids are getting the care that they deserve, so hopefully this bill will increase the slots in licensed daycare facilities,” Farnan said in an interview.
Lawmakers originally pushed for changes to the state’s in-home child care provisions after the legislature approved “Nathan’s Law” in 2019.
According to previous Missourian reporting, the law was written to limit the capacity of unlicensed child care homes. It is named after Nathan Blecha, a 3-month old who died at an unlicensed in-home day care in 2007.
While the exclusion limit was set for unlicensed day cares, the same wasn’t set for licensed ones. All children had to be counted regardless of age. Child care providers around the state were then forced to stop serving families so they could care for their own.
A bill was eventually passed in 2022 permitting licensed care providers to exempt up to two of their children as long as they are 5 years old.
Legislators recalled Nathan’s Law when during Wednesday’s debate.
“The reason we have ratios in place in day care centers is to ensure that every child there has the proper care that they need,” said state Rep. Keri Ingle, a Lee’s Summit Democrat. “This is unfortunately one of those bills that is trying to address a problem and will create an even bigger one. At stake are the lives of the children in this state.”
Safety of child care facilities is just one facet of the state’s child care crisis. According to previous Missourian reporting, 54% of Missourians live in child care deserts.
Emily van Schenkhof is the executive director of the Missouri Children’s Trust Fund, the state’s foundation for child abuse prevention. She testified against the bill during a March hearing in the Committee on Children and Families.
“We maintain that we need to solve the state’s child care crisis without decreasing the safety of children in Missouri, so we are disappointed that this bill is moving forward,” van Schenkhof said.
The new bill moves the state away from best practices of child care capacity limits, she said.
Farnan said he shares the same concerns about safety, but believes that licensed child care providers receive adequate help from the state.
“They have fire services, they have food services and they have people that come check on them regularly to make sure that they are getting the care that they deserve,” Farnan said.
Still, van Schenkhof said solving the crisis without decreasing the safety of children is difficult.
“It’s hard to change the root factors that are causing the child care crisis,” van Schenkhof said. “Even though passing a bill isn’t easy, it’s easier than the financial investments we’d need to make to solve our child care problem.
The bill passed by a vote of 103-39. It now moves to the Missouri Senate.
This story originally appeared in the Columbia Missourian. It can be republished in print or online.