When I first heard about states deregulating child care, I wondered how child care teachers and programs were doing-- before and at the time when lawmakers decided to increase group sizes and ratios and put teen workers into these classrooms. After all, exclusive data provided to us by RAPID Survey Project found nearly 45 percent of child care providers said the quality of the care they offer has been affected by pandemic-related stressors. Are lawmakers making these decisions with full knowledge of what conditions are like and how hard it is to work in child care? (A Kansas lawmaker who cowrote a deregulation bill told me no, she was unaware of quality and safety concerns).
My colleague Sara Hutchinson and I looked through hundreds of pages of inspection reports in states that are deregulating to find out. It wasn't hard to find disturbing conditions for kids. Programs were staffed with teachers who were getting so frustrated, they were yelling at children — including swearing at them, calling them “pussies” and telling them to “shut up” — and abusing children or in some cases, ignoring them. Teachers withheld food as punishment. There were examples of abuse and hazardous items being left within reach of young children, including cleaning supplies, medication, a gun safe with ammunition inside and the key in the lock, alcohol, a rat trap, knives and a saw. These conditions suggested that teachers were already stressed out and overwhelmed, likely not receiving the support needed to handle even more children in their care with less training, like lawmakers were pushing. (As one child care director told me when I asked how higher staff-to-child ratios impact her: "Literally all you're doing is changing diapers and trying to keep them alive.")
Here's a look at how I started reporting this story, and what we found about conditions for children as we were tracking deregulation:
