United Way of LaPorte County Recognizes Local Legislators for Advancing Early Care and Education

Local children will have access to safer child care thanks to the efforts of members of the Indiana General Assembly.

United Way of LaPorte County recognizes Rep. Tom Dermody, Rep. Scott Pelath, Rep. Ryan Dvorak, Sen. Jim Arnold, Sen. Karen Tallian and Sen. Ed Charbonneau for supporting efforts to improve quality care for children.

Four important early education initiatives were enacted this session and will go into effect in July. These include:

• New common sense health and safety standards will be required for child care providers that accept taxpayer funded Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) vouchers. This includes keeping medicines out of reach, requiring supervisors be at least 18 years of age and safe sleeping practices for infants. (SB305)
• National Criminal Background Checks will be required for all child care employees and volunteers in order to help keep children safe. Background checks have identified numerous individuals seeking to work in child care with violent or child abusing criminal histories. (HB1494)
• An early education evaluation program and early education advisory committee will be created. The evaluation will help document the differences in school readiness of children who have been in high-quality programs with lower rated or no programs. The advisory committee should make Indiana eligible for certain federal funds. (HB1004)
• The Budget included a pre-Kindergarten matching grant program ($2M/year) for use in high-quality providers on the Paths to QUALITY program (HB1001).

Kris Pate, United Way of LaPorte County executive director, said, “We’re grateful to have the support of our legislators to improve early childhood care and education in Indiana,” Pate said. “We are striving to provide all families with access to quality, affordable child care and prepare all children to enter school ready to learn.”