Memphis considers tougher local day care rules

The Memphis City Council is considering more stringent day care requirements, such requiring more educated employees. Day care centers already must adhere to state regulations to be licensed.

The discussion follows a case last week where a Memphis day care worker left a child unattended in the center’s van for about nine hours. State regulations require multiple checks of day care vans at the end of each trip. The worker, whose sexual offense conviction didn’t come up on a background check, was fired from Around the Clock Learning Center as were three other employees.

The girl wasn’t hurt, but four other children in Memphis have died since 1997 after being left in vans in the summer. Four other Memphis children were killed in a 2002 accident in a day care van driven by a man with drug conviction.

The city council voted 13-0 Tuesday to pay for extra training for day care bosses and teachers and for more background checks and drug testing for employees.

The council wants training beyond what the state pays for and employee screening each year instead of just when a worker is hired. Participating centers would also work to be accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children.

The plan is still in the works, so the council doesn’t know how much it will cost.

Council members say they want day care workers who are more like teachers and less like baby sitters.

“This could really change the tide in day care,” said council member TaJuan Stout Mitchell, who penned the proposal with Barbara Swearengen Holt.

The council’s effort is similar to that of Memphis Tomorrow Inc., which works with Head Start centers and day care facilities to improve quality.

Memphis Tomorrow, the group of CEOs from the area’s 25 biggest companies, have invested about $2.5 million to get 50 child care centers through the accreditation over the next year and a half.