A while back in my state they caught a bunch of daycare center and homes that didn't actually even exist. People were claiming they owned a daycare and were getting food program money when in reality they had no daycare, licensed or not. Several of the "centers" were actually just empty lots. Still, the fact that the food program was actually sending them money for a while is pretty concerning. Of course, they're much stricter now.

And I don't know if it's just my state, but even our regulations have educational requirements in them. Maybe I'm weird, but I think that the regulations (AKA the bare minimum) should be strictly about basic health and safety. Actual health and safety, like realistic ratios and locking up dangerous chemicals and background checks, not washing hands every two minutes and sanitizing everything that gets touched.

If you WANT to have a standard curriculum and sanitize everything and have enough blocks for three children to build independent structures out of the way of traffic, then awesome. That's your choice. But trying to force every daycare center and home to check all those fancy boxes is ridiculous.

On top of all that, the bare minimum to be a center worker (any position other than director) is a high school diploma. Which is fine, but you want people with just a high school diploma doing all this educational stuff? And expecting it done right?? You only have have to take orientation within the first 90 days and that's pretty darn basic. I have to actively work to keep my room meeting all the requirements and I have a CDA and years of experience.

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