State Of Delaware And Bank Of America Collaborate On New Resource For Home-Based Child Care Providers

New Guide Will Help Small, Home-Based Providers Understand Complex Rules and Better Care for Kids

For Immediate Release: Monday, February 17, 2011

Wilmington - Lieutenant Governor Matt Denn and Children’s Department Secretary Vivian Rapposelli announced today that the state and Bank of America had collaborated on the publication of a new guide to help small child care facilities operated from private homes better understand and comply with state regulations. The guide was suggested by the operators of several owners of these home-based child cares, which operate with minimal staff but care for over 15% of the state’s children enrolled in day care.

Prior to publication of the new guide, operators of small, home-based child care facilities only received a 43-page long, single-space typed copy of the regulations themselves. “The rules that small, home-based child cares are required to follow are almost as long and complex as the rules that apply to larger facilities that have much larger management teams,” said Lieutenant Governor Denn. “When I met with operators of these home-based facilities several months ago, they told me that they wanted to follow all the rules and do the best job possible for the kids in their care, but that they needed some help understanding the rules. That’s when we got to work on this new publication.”

The guide, titled “A Guide to Running a Home Daycare in Delaware,” was prepared by the Lieutenant Governor’s office in collaboration with the Department of Services for Children, Youth, and their Families. Bank of America published the guide, which was mailed to all licensed family-based child care providers last month and will also be made available on the Lieutenant Governor’s web site.

Among the subjects covered by the new guide are qualifications of providers, hours during which facilities can be open, discipline, napping, transportation, medical care for children, and emergency planning.

The announcement of the new guide was made at the family-based day care facility run by Evelyn Figueroa just off Airport Road in New Castle. “I am very happy to see the publication of this new guide,” Figueroa said. “We want to do the best job we can for the kids we take care of, and this will help us do that.”

"Child care providers are a valuable resource in Delaware," said Vivian Rapposelli, cabinet secretary of the Delaware Children's Department. "They play a vital role in laying a solid foundation from which our children learn and grow. I'm so grateful to our family child care providers for sharing with us ways in which we can help them be more successful, to the Lt. Governor's office for taking a lead role in finding a solution and to our friends at Bank of America for funding the end product."

Bank of America Communications Executive Tony Allen said “"Bank of America is committed to the well-being of all children in Delaware. And we believe their caregivers are deeply important to ensuring that -- in their earliest years of life -- children can be in a safe environment that is developmentally and socially challenging. Helping child care providers better and more easily understand the rules that guide their work is a critically important part of that process."