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Show T Hard Times Loom in Utah Day-CaBy Gordon Harman Tribune Staff Writer Providers for children are in for a struggle if present trends in ' the business continue, according to a Division of Family Services official. of day-car- e e Mary Olsen, specialist for DFS, said there are definite problems day-car- within the e attracting interested, educated people to work with nt will at teachers. College teachers are paid the most, then high school teachers. con- tinue. Kindergarten teachers children. The government cant do a lot about low wages, she said. Its a real dilemma. If care providers want a professional staff, they have to pay the price. Most daycare centers cant pay the higher wages demanded and it's not that there arent some very qualified providers who work for minimal wages, she added. However, it is unreasonable to assume that a persons salary does not effect the quality of their work. Teacher Pay Scales Look the lowest, salary- - and prestige-wise. Some of these trends are reversing, Mrs. Olsen said, but until society values children, as a resource and are willing to pay to have the most skilled teachers work with them, the practice of and kindergarten-least-importacollege-most-importa- nt business that are not going to be solved right away: Low wages, increasing costs for food and quality service and day-car- junior high and elemen-- i a r y , she said. Kindergarten teachers are re- ceive starting salaries of about $8,000 to $10,000, depending on the district. For day-caproviders, the annual wage is half that, she said. Where is a qualified person going to want to work, in the public school ? The system or in decision is almost already made, Mrs. Olsen said. She said that a formal education, however, is not the only way a person can prepare for work in daycare. The Child Development Association, a national consortium which Mrs. Olsen has worked for, has tried to give people child re day-care- development credentials based on ability instead of education. They are trying to break out of the mold of thinking that people have to go to They college, she said. have set up an alternate model people can use to become certified for care provider work. She said Headstart (a preschool program) workers have operated this way for quite a while, allowing and parents of children in the class to work with the children, obtaining a Child Development Association certificate along the way. There has got to be other ways people can show their expertise, Mrs. Olsen said. When day-car- e providers complain about how hard it is to make it, financially, in Its the the business, truth, she said. But with altered staff ratios and higher nutritional standards, its a matter of burning the candle at both ends, as she described it. Understand Need We need to help the public understand the need as well for quality day-caras go to the Legislature and convince them to make funds available so the care will be adequate, she explained. Its a lot easier said than done. e, Mrs. Olsen said one poten- tial solution would be society were willing to sup- port child care in the early as it does the years, ages 2-- public school system. You dont get too many complaints from people about She the public schools. added that even though schools are supported by taxes, parents attitudes are different because they dont have to pay the money straight out of their pockets like they do for day-car- e services. There is support for public is education, but dav-car- e assumed to be the parents responsibility. If they cant take care of the children themselves, they will just have to find someone who can, she said. That is when day-car- e service is needed. Funding Problems We have not put the kind of money we need to facili- tate the highest quality care service into the daybusi- ness, she said. Where do you get that kind of money? She said with the Utah Legismood, lature in a extra expenditures will not You know be approved. what kind of legislature we have. They are not ready to start funding higher levels of tax-cutti- day-car- Sfe ... if e. Mrs. Olsen stresses daycare must be a learning experience, not just babysitting. You Sleepy hollow Sv3 Jjr g&s? v.- - LIKE DINNER ! A AT GRANDMAS ; cant separate learn- she ing from babysitting, said. Im not saying you should line up the and give each one a book early education is more informal. But, she added, young children learn by doing and there is a lot to be learned by playing with wooden blocks. She cited as an example how a child learns to read. Before a child can read the word, duck, before the concept of duck can have any real meaning, that child has to have some experience with real animals. Children have to be able to identify a duck from various angles, hear a duck, perhaps touch one. And then they must be able to recognize a in drawsymbolic duck ings and photos then store three-year-ol- re all the information in their memory. All this happens gradually in the early years, Mrs. Olsen said. Children cant read unless they have these preparatory experiences, she said. A lot of this learning goes on naturally, she agreed, at home or in a day-car- e atmosphere, but either way, it helps them when they enter the public education system. They need these experiences in order to cope with kindergarten, she said. She said if a child cant hop or skip, get dressed or sit still for ten minutes, they are going to have a hard time succeeding in the first years of school. Day-car- e must be education-oriente- d for these reasons. Federal support of daycare services is very important, but possible cuts in money available to the DFS might mean families now depending on social service would money for day-car- e have to make other payment arrangements or, possibly, go back on welfare, because they wouldnt be able to continue working. Some might find alternate child care, Mrs. Olsen said. Most is done now by friends and relatives. If people were eliminated from the states sliding fee scale for day-carit would definitely make it harder for them to become Presently, the DFS sliding fee scale determines how much money a family in services need of day-carwill receive. Usually, the e, es family is single-pare- nt (mother), working or attend ing a skills training program or trade school. The DFS WIN (Work INcentive) program pays day-car- e costs, as well as school tuition, to help build Sliding Fee Scale However, to qualify for any DFS day-car- e money, a family must make 74 percent or less of the states median income, set at $16,000 annually. At the 74 percent level, a single parent with one child would be required to pay practically all day-car- costs. If the monthly income was $671 $696, the family would be required to pay $92, with DFS paying the balance. A monthly income of $500 would mean a cost of $40 for the family and the rest being paid by the slate. If the family made between $0 and $316 a month, the Division of Family Services would pay the entire cost for day-car- e services. Mrs. Olsen said a recent increase was granted to daycare providers who handle DFS children. The rate they can charge was increased from $5.75 per day to $6 10 per day to cover the cost of increased salaries to meet President Carters minimum wage increase. The division sent out letters announcing the rate increase, at which time, many providers increased their employees wages. Overspending Budget The staff got to looking at the budget again and it was decided that the rate increase couldnt be granted, she said. We are already e overspending the budget. This minimum wage increase and denial of rate increase has created addie tional problems for providers. Some alternatives, Mrs. Olsen said, are to cut back the sliding fee scale from 74 percent to 60, 50, day-car- day-car- even 40 percent. And Utah is even exempt from some federal standards she regulating added. In order to qualify for day-car- e, Title XX matching funds, the state has to meet certain standards, which include instructor child ratios. Those ratios have been waived for Utah, she said. At the point when the federal government decides to no longer waive those ratios, Utah will have a very difficult time meeting the standards. Mrs. Olsen said. The state currently supports the highest birth rate of any state in the nation. We are going to continue and it is to need day-car- e going to be a struggle, she said. Ultimately, the consumer is the one who will have to deal with the e Pan Fried Chicken . Broiled Steaks SERVED FAMILY STYLE A LIMITED BUDGET SHOULDNT LIMIT YOUR ADVERTISING! With Endless Quantites of Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Biscuits, Honey, Buttered Peas. Beverage, Salad & Dessert. 2627 Parleys Way (BETWEEN & BLUECROSS) 'Try the "small sell" approach with the Holladay-MurraZone Edition. It works lor Jim Holder of Emigration Foodtown. y IT WILL WORK FOR YOU, TOO! Phone .467 - 4373 For Reservations Contact Newspaper Representative 4 by phoning today. 237-274- |
