Representative Jack O’Malley today, along with two of his colleagues, introduced legislation seeking to improve child care regulations in Michigan.

O’Malley, of Lake Ann, said the measures would boost access to child care for many families – particularly in rural Michigan – and provide greater flexibility for providers by making improvements to current overbearing regulations. Furthermore, he stated that these bills are just the start, and he looks to continue work on this much larger issue.

“Child-care has been over regulated in our state for years. Currently, child care providers must comply with three separate departments (LARA, Education, and DHHS) in order to run a child care home or center. In-home daycares, which are heavily needed in rural Michigan, have been driven almost to the point of extinction because of issues like this,” O’Malley said. “How do we expect these folks to be able to run a successful business when they are constantly trying to comply with and navigate the rules of three massive departments? We need to develop cost-effective solutions to increase child care access for Michigan families and bring this issue out of the shadows.”

O’Malley said that he learned a lot about this issue on the campaign trail prior to serving in office, and now, those suggestions are coming to fruition.

“Today I am proud to let the families and daycare providers know that they have an advocate in Lansing,” O’Malley said.

O’Malley said the legislation hones in on child-provider ratios, before and after school child care and implementation of new rules issued by the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA). The plan:
• Increases the child-provider ratios for family home child care and group home child care. Family home child care facilities would be able to care for a maximum of seven children per one adult, up from six children. Group home child care facilities would be able to care for a maximum of 14 children per two adults, up from twelve. The legislation allows providers to voluntarily increase their child-provider ratios if they have at least three years of experience running the child-care home and are in good standing with LARA.
• Increases the number of children allowed at a child care center before and after school hours by three for family child care homes and by five for group child care homes without it counting against child-provider ratios.
• Provides a grace period of at least 90 days for child care providers to comply with any new rules issued by LARA.

“With schools considering extending classroom closures and job providers itching to return to full operations, child care access is going to be on the forefront for many families with young children,” O’Malley said. “Our state cannot fire on all cylinders without access to child care. This legislation will open up more capacity and allow in-home child care providers to be more profitable and avoid some onerous regulations along the way.”

The legislation, House Bills 5975-5977, will be formally read in Thursday and is expected to be referred to the House Families, Children and Seniors Committee for consideration.

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