New Improvements for Child Care

Thursday, May 16th, 2013

In a welcome piece of good news from Washington today, the Department of Health and Human Services has proposed major new regulations to help protect children in child care centers and family child care homes. “Many children already benefit from the excellent care of high-quality child care providers who are meeting or exceeding the proposed requirements,” said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. “However, too many children remain in settings that do not meet minimum standards of health and safety. These basic rules ensure that providers take necessary basic steps to shield children from avoidable tragedy.”

I met recently with parents whose children had died in child care because these types of regulations did not exist. These parents have been working to help make sure that a similar tragedy wouldn’t happen to other families, and their advocacy has paid off. Child Care Aware of America has led the charge for safety and quality improvements, and we’ve been privileged to partner with them on their efforts. Most parents would be shocked to learn about the current minimal standards.

For all child care providers who accept federal funding through the Child Care and Development Fund, the new regulations would require:

• Health and safety training in certain areas
• Compliance with state and local fire, health and building codes
• Comprehensive background checks (including fingerprinting)
• On-site monitoring

States would also have to post information online for parents about health, safety, and licensing. The proposed regulations will be open for public comment for 75 days.

Parents Daily News Roundup

Thursday, May 16th, 2013

Child Care Centers Overhaul  Proposed By Federal Health Officials
Federal health officials say they will propose Thursday to overhaul federally funded child care centers across the country, beefing up safety standards including background and fingerprint checks for employees and requiring states to better monitor the facilities. (via Huffington Post)

Slightly high lead tied to less reading readiness
Children with even slightly elevated blood lead levels are less likely to be ready to read when starting kindergarten, according to a new study. (via Reuters)

Cracking the Tech Job Talent Crunch by Teaching Kids to Code
For all the parents losing sleep over their kids’ prospects in such a tightfisted job market, I can see at least one recourse: teach them how to code. The earlier, the better.(via Huffington Post)

Judge declines to nix ’79 NYC child-killing case
A man charged with murder decades after one of the nation’s most infamous child disappearances can be brought to trial, a judge ruled Wednesday, turning down the man’s claim that the case was too thin to proceed. (via Yahoo News)

Pop-Tart Gun Suspension: Attorney For Suspended Student Says No Resolution Has Been Reached With School
An attorney for the family of an Anne Arundel County 7-year-old suspended from school after being accused of nibbling a pastry into the shape of a gun says he met with school officials Wednesday in an attempt have the student’s suspension expunged, but no resolution was reached. (via Reuters)

Parents sue South Carolina, hospital over child’s sex assignment surgery
A couple filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the state of South Carolina for what they say was an unnecessary sexual assignment surgery performed on a toddler they later adopted. (via Fox News)

Parents Daily News Roundup

Friday, May 10th, 2013

U.S. approves Novartis drug Ilaris to treat childhood arthritis
Novartis said on Friday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had approved its drug Ilaris to treat a serious form of childhood arthritis. (via Reuters)

Give immigrants healthcare access: U.S. kid doctors
A group representing U.S. pediatricians said this week that its members should pay special attention to the healthcare needs of immigrant children and support health insurance for all – regardless of legal status. (via Reuters)

Pregnancy Interventions Widespread, Not Always Desired, National Survey Shows
Nearly 60 percent of moms said they believe giving birth is a natural process that should not be interfered with unless medically necessary, however the same women reported significant intervention when they were in labor, according to a new national survey. (via Huffington Post)

Texas May Soon Require Cameras In Special Education Classrooms
A bill that would require video cameras in all special education classrooms was passed in the Texas Senate in April and is currently being considered by the state’s House Public Education Committee. (via Huffington Post)

Kids of Tiger Moms Are Worse Off
In her controversial memoir, “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother,” Yale law professor Amy Chua defended her draconian parenting methods, explaining how being a controlling “Chinese-style” parent drives Asian-American children to succeed in ways that permissive “Western-style” parenting does not. But a recently released decade-long study of 444 Chinese-American families shows that the effect tiger parents have on their kids is almost exactly the opposite. (via Yahoo)

Parents Daily News Roundup

Thursday, May 2nd, 2013

Oregon Teachers Fail Active Shooter Drill As Masked Men Shoot Blanks At Surprised Faculty
Cammie DeCastro, principal of the Pine Eagle Charter School in Halfway, Ore., admits that the plan she had to protect her school from an armed gunman is in tatters after two masked men stormed in and appeared to open fire on a meeting room full of teachers last Friday, The Oregonian reports. (via Huffington Post)

Shedding Light On the Long Shadow of Childhood Adversity
Childhood adversity can lead to chronic physical and mental disability in adult life and have an effect on the next generation, underscoring the importance of research, practice and policy in addressing this issue, according to a Viewpoint in the May 1 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on child health. (via Science Daily)

Food, skin allergies increasing in children
Parents are reporting more skin and food allergies in their children, a big government survey found. (via Fox News)

Traffic noise linked with kids’ hyperactivity
Children who live near a noisy road may be at an increased risk of hyperactivity, according to a new study from Germany. (via Fox News)

Amusement rides linked to 4,000 injuries in children each year
Nervous parents may fret about dangerous-looking roller coasters with precipitous drops, or rusty Ferris wheels in traveling fairs, but it turns out that for young children, coin-operated rides in malls and restaurants may be more of a cause for concern than expected, according to a new study. (via Fox News)

Kiera Wilmot, 16, Arrested And Expelled For Explosive ‘Science Experiment’
Wilmot, a Bartow High School student, was arrested at her school last week for allegedly detonating a water bottle filled with an explosive concoction of common household chemicals. (via Huffington Post)

Parents Daily News Roundup

Monday, April 22nd, 2013

Boston Schools Reopen After Vacation Marked  By Marathon Bombing, Manhunt
After a week of April vacation bookended by a tragic marathon bombing and a manhunt that killed one suspect, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, and brought the other, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, into custody, Monday marks a return to class for students of Boston Public Schools (via Huffington Post)

Rick Snyder Defends Secret Project To Reform Education System
Gov. Rick Snyder on Friday defended his administration’s involvement in a secret project that is trying to develop a cheaper way to deliver public education through a voucher-like funding system. (via Huffington Post)

Student Charged After Refusing To Remove NRA Shirt
A West Virginia student was charged with causing a disruption at a middle school when he refused to remove a T-shirt that displayed the National Rifle Association’s logo and hunting rifle. (via Huffington Post)

Just say no to “cinnamon challenge:” pediatricians
Pediatricians today cautioned young people against participating in a popular dare known as the cinnamon challenge, which involves trying to swallow a tablespoon of ground cinnamon in a minute without drinking water. (via Reuters)

Parents worry after Montgomery teacher’s arrest on child pornography charge
The initial news was bad enough. A music teacher at their children’s elementary school in Montgomery County was in jail, accused of keeping child pornography on his laptop computer. (via Washington Post)

Parents Daily News Roundup

Thursday, April 18th, 2013

Infant mortality rate in US drops again 
The infant mortality rate in the United States declined again in recent years after reaching a plateau in the early part of this century, according to a new government report. (via Fox News)

Texas School Evacuated As Precaution After February Planned Burn At Plant
A school near the Texas fertilizer plant that was leveled by an explosion says it wasn’t warned about a controlled fire at the plant in February and evacuated its students to another school as a precaution. (via Huffington Post)

Harms of Harsh Discipline Are Softened by a Loving Mother
A new study published in the journal Parenting: Science and Practice suggests that painful effects of harsh discipline can be moderated by the child’s feelings of being loved by their mother. (via Science Daily)

Warstler Elementary School In Ohio Shuts Down Mindfulness Program Due To Parent Complaints
Recent research may tout the benefits of mindfulness programs in schools — including improved test scores and decreased stress — but some parents aren’t convinced. (via Huffington Post)

Chicago Teachers Union Political Activity Hones In On Ousting Rahm And Shaking Up School Board
The Chicago Teachers Union has said Mayor Rahm Emanuel is destroying their jobs in the wake of a massive proposed closing, so now the union is gunning for his. (via Huffington Post)

Parents Daily News Roundup

Monday, April 15th, 2013

Lullabies and other music may help sick preemies
Singing or playing womb-like sounds in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) may help slow the heart rate and improve sleep and eating patterns of premature babies, a new study suggests. (via Reuters)

Children, Ages 5 And 7, Drown In L.I. Pool
A 5-year-old boy and a 7-year-old girl drowned Sunday afternoon in a backyard pool in Suffolk County. (via CBS News)

Education Reform: Starting at the Beginning
School officials in Atlanta have been accused of racketeering for cheating on tests in order to gain bonus pay and status for their schools. (via Huffington Post)

Sexist ‘Avengers’ T Shirts Tell Boys To Be Heroes And Girls To Need A Hero
Marvel, the comic book publisher, is now contributing to the boys are strong/girls are weak dichotomy with two t-shirts based on the popular “Avengers” franchise. (via Huffington Post)

People, networks may sway parents’ vaccine choices
The people and information sources parents surround themselves with may influence their choice to vaccinate their children or not, according to a survey from one county in Washington state. via Reuters

Hidden Danger

Friday, April 12th, 2013

Here in New York, we’re finally getting a long-awaited taste of spring,but before you open your windows to let the breeze in, consider this: approximately 4,700 children annually in the United States require treatment following a fall from a window, according to the American Society for Testing and Materials. What’s worse: About 18 children per year die from such falls.

So, as part of National Window Awareness Week (April 7th-13th), Anderson Windows’ LookOut For Kids window safety program is offering materials and tips to help keep our kids safe. Some of the most critical guidelines:

• Position beds and other furniture away from windows
• Never leave young children unsupervised
• Do not depend on insect screens to keep children from falling out of windows
• Don’t paint, nail or seal windows shut. They can provide an escape in an emergency
• Consider installing window guards (metal bars that deter kids from falling through an open window) or window opening control devices, which limits the amount a window can open

Who knew that window falls were so common? Thankfully, these small steps can assure us all a safe, happy spring.