A few weeks ago I wrote about the value of Cincinnati’s child care licensing law – and a proposal to preserve only a few of the provisions.  I testified before the Board of Health and followed up with letters to the Commissioner, the Chairman and two City elected officials. Last night the Board of Health met again and eliminated the entire ordinance without a word about alternative plans. The ordinance is officially dead and gone after 41 years of protecting children.`

HOWEVER, I am pushing hard for a task force to consider our proposal to have child-to-staff ratios and square footage re-introduced.  Among some former supporters of the City law there is some ambivalence because of the tough economic situation and because there are some flaws in the law as it was.  However, those same (former) supporters have expressed a desire to restore the best of the law.  While I haven’t heard back from anyone at the Health Department, I approached their public information officer last evening at the meeting and learned that Commissioner Noble Maseru has referred the issue to their attorney.  We know from past experience that the attorney will warn against licensing, but we have had it for more than 40 years with no law suits or even threats, so I’m not buying that as a barrier. As you can see, there is still fight in me for this – particularly for the infant ratios!   

Loss of the City standards adds an extra burden on our community’s voluntary efforts to increase school readiness. I hope you will join 4C in the effort to restore some of the standards.  If you know anyone at the Board of Health or the Mayor, you might make a call!