WHAT HAPPENS IF CHILDCARE IS DEREGULATED?

🎙️ In this episode, Katy takes a deeper dive into the idea of childcare deregulation and what it could mean for families, providers, and children. She breaks down how regulations currently support safety, structure, and quality—and what risks could arise if those guidelines were removed or reduced.

From staff qualifications and ratios to accountability and consistency, Katy explores both the potential benefits and serious concerns surrounding deregulation. This episode encourages listeners to think critically about the role regulations play in protecting children and supporting high-quality care.

Whether you’re a parent, educator, or childcare leader, this conversation offers valuable insight into an important and often overlooked topic.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:12

Hello, hello, and welcome everyone to another episode of Childcare Confidential. My name is Katie Dink, and I'm so glad to be joining you all today. Today's topic, womp, womp, womp, important. Um, it's all about what happens if childcare really is deregulated, because that is a hot topic today. So let's try something for a second. Imagine you walk into your center tomorrow and suddenly everything has changed. There's no ratios, there's no licensing visits, there's no required trainings, there's no rules telling you how many children you can have, what your classroom needs to look like, or just even how your program should even run. It's just you. Complete and total freedom. Now, at first that might sound kind of nice, right? No paperwork, no stress, no issues about compliance, no last-minute scrambling before your licenser um or compliancer comes to visit you. But then I want you to sit with that a little bit longer. Take a moment, because the real question is what happens next? Today we're talking about something that's been debated, questioned, and honestly misunderstood. But what would happen if childcare was really deregulated? So before we get into any opinions or anything like that, let's just define what we're actually talking about, right? When people say deregulation, they're usually talking about reducing or removing things like licensing requirements, staff to child ratios, required training hours, health and safety standards, because we need to get rid of those, right? Um, inspections and oversight. Basically, fewer rules and more autonomy for providers. And I want to be clear, this conversation is about labeling deregulation as good or bad. It's not, it's not here nor there, but it's understanding the impact that it could have. Um, because less regulation doesn't automatically mean better or worse. It just means different. Um, and different does come with consequences. So let's be honest for a minute. There are parts of this field where regulations feel really overwhelming, and I mean like brittle bone overwhelming, right? The paperwork, the constant need for update, the pressure to stay compliant while also running a business and trying to support our staff, it's a lot. So I completely understand why deregulation sounds appealing, kind of. It could mean easier entry into the field. So these young teachers who are really trying to get into the field to feel out everything that has to offer, if this is truly their passion, their dream, their guide. Um, it might give us lower operating costs, which would be very beneficial, especially in this day and age, when even the case of BlackBerries is $9. Crazy. Maybe it gives us more flexibility in how our programs are run on a day-to-day basis, and it could potentially give us less administrative burden. And what I mean by that is, I mean, obviously, this job is stressful. And if you tell me it's not, I think you're lying. Because it is hard, it's very mentally complex, it's very mentally draining, and there's a lot of ins and outs that a lot of people from the outside can't see, but that's okay. But with that administrative burden being lessened, some providers that might feel a lot like relief. But here's really where we have to pause. Because just because something feels easier doesn't mean automatically it's going to lead to better outcomes. This is the reality check moment. This is where we have to get honest with ourselves. Because without regulations, there's no consistent standard. And this is the part that really just chaps my gears. Okay. One program might be incredible, but another one might be very unsafe. Because again, if we deregulate, then there's no more standard, there's no more level of care, so to speak, because there's no one that's checking in on them. But while one program might be incredible and another might be unsafe, families might not know the difference or may not understand the difference. Because not every provider comes into this field with the same level of training, experience, and understanding of child development. And although I do feel like as lifelong learners, as educators, we should, you know, constantly try to teach ourselves and train ourselves and become more vastly incorporated in the new ways of doing things. I totally agree with that. But not every single child educator that comes into this field is gonna already know those things, which is why it's so important that we have those standards of care to level up to. And when we start getting rid of those standards of care, it's kind of a free game, which is very scary. Regulations at their core are meant to create kind of like a baseline, okay? A minimum level of safety and a minimum level of quality, I would say. Are they perfect all the time? No. Do they sometimes feel a little excessive? Absolutely. But they are there for a reason, they exist for a reason. And without them, we're relying completely on individuals' judgment. And that is a very, very wild, broad variety, right? We don't want to vary that widely. We want it to be somewhat consistent because if not, like that would just it would just make everything really hectic and crazy and overwhelming for no reason. And this is where I want to ground us at, okay? Because this conversation isn't really about adults. I mean, we might talk about how this might be so helpful for us in the administrative, you know, side of things, and the deregulation might make things more easily accessible to us, but it's not about us. It's about the children, it's about the kids that we serve, the the reason that we're even in this position in the first place. Children need, need, not want, they need safe environments. And what I mean by that is no pointy, you know, detrimental items that are gonna, you know, cut someone. That's why you have playground checklists, that's why you have um admin that go around to check all of the toys and toy bins so that no one's getting those cuts, bruises, no trips, slips, or falls, you know, all that stuff. They need predictable routines, something that they know is coming, they can pre-plan for, they're ready for, they they are expecting it. They need that predictability. And if you don't have it, I'm gonna tell you your day is gonna be a little rough. And they need trained and responsive caregivers. And what I mean by that, I don't mean trained in the sense where like you have to be the best of the best, like you just rolled out of a kindergarten classroom. I'm not saying that you automatically have to have that. What I'm saying is you need to be trained on how to handle a situation with, you know, conflict and how they can resolve that between the children, or you need to be trained on if there was an emergency situation, what do you do? Because at the end of the day, these are, you know, three, four, five-year-olds, sometimes even younger, sometimes older. They don't know what to do. They're expecting you to know what to do. And so if we don't have these baselines, we're basically leaving it up to the interpretation of each individual educator. That is scary. And I don't care what you say, that's scary. But without these standards, those things are no longer guaranteed. Instead, what we could see, which I feel like a lot of people aren't talking about, they're they're erring on the side of caution and they're like, oh, I don't know. But without these standards, we could see larger group sizes, which, yay, thank you, Indiana. We just actually updated our ratios not here too long ago. So if that goes up, yay for us. There's gonna be less supervision, which in childcare, I don't know how many of you are scared, but I know I am because less supervision means more accidents, more issues. Not a fun. Fewer trained educators because now we're pushing these new teachers who are excited and ready and vibrant into the field with less training, less education, less background, that's frightful, and less focus on development. Any childcare provider that I have ever spoken to has at least some kind of idea of child development, how it works, how kids need to grow and bend and mold. And if you don't have any background on child development, how are you possibly gonna know the safeguarding that needs to be done and these expectations that need to be followed to help these kiddos succeed in your classroom? And here's the truth that might be a little hard to hear, honestly. Children don't get a second chance at early childhood. I'm gonna say it again, okay? Children don't get a second chance at early childhood, right? Think back when you were young and you remember, like probably good memories, probably some, you know, not so great memories, but you know that because it's in your childhood, and those are things that are paramount to how you grow into the adult that you have become or are becoming. You don't really want to mess up their beginning stages of life because that just trickles in a long-term effect later on in life, and that's not fair either. The experiences they have in these years specifically shape everything. How they learn, how they regulate, how they connect with others, how they can interpret on different things that are happening around them, just their whole perspective on life. This is what it shapes. So when the quality drops, the impact is long term. And I'm fairly certain that government entities aren't taking into consideration that when the quality drops, that the impact is long-term and they need to start because that's really where it's going to hit the hardest. Now, let's talk about these providers because this affects us all directly, right? Some people might thrive with more freedom. I mean, honestly, they say if you give people the chance to grow on their own, a lot of them do, and they show up, they might create incredible innovative programs, which would be fabulous. And I I hope nothing less. But the others, without guidance, structure, or even accountability, because again, we deregulate, then that means less people coming around to check and verify those standards. But without guidance, structure, or accountability, it becomes overwhelming. Because regulations don't just protect children, but they also protect us as early educators. And I really hope that people pay close attention to what I mean by they they support us as educators, but they protect us. Think about it this way: if I was given a list of things that I needed to do, right? From A to Z. And it said, do this, this, this, and this. And if you don't do this, this is gonna be the consequence, right? That's gonna make sure that I stay in line and I'm gonna do A through Z just as I'm supposed to, because I wanna make sure I'm in compliance. I know somebody's gonna check up on me. I have to be prepared. You get rid of that person that's checking up on you. And do you think we're gonna do A to Z the right way or the way that we should be doing it? Probably not. That's scary. Oh, so when I say that they support educators, I mean that they're providing the clear expectations, the defined standards, and then a framework to build from. And my favorite part of the framework in early childhood education is that is left up to so much personalization. It's it's just a solid-out frame of opportunities, endless opportunities that you get to shape and mold to be the best and most innovative portion of your program. They just give you guidelines so that you can make sure that you're continuing the success of the children while also incorporating these really cool things within your system, which is great. But without that, everything else becomes subjective. And that can lead to inconsistency, that can lead to burnout, confusion, especially for our new educators. Imagine when you were a brand new um teacher, a brand new provider, a brand new anything, and you walked in, tell me you were not like, I don't know what I'm supposed to do, I'm a little overwhelmed, I have no idea where to even start, right? It's scary, it's overwhelming. That's a normal reaction, a normal feeling. But that's why you have to have those defined standards because at least in that moment we know where we need to start from. And you might not have all the answers, but you at least have a few, and a few is better than none. So here's what I want to challenge you, okay? Especially if you're a director, an owner, or a leader. If there were no regulations, what would you keep? Would you still maintain the ratios? Would you require any training if the state didn't require you to do so? Because I know that um one of our schools is dual accredited. We've got NECPA and NACI accreditation, and then the other one is our NACI school, which soon hopefully will have the dual accreditation as well. But for that, we're at like 30 something hours a year, in addition to all the trainings we've already done that you have to maintain. Honestly, sometimes I do think it's a little bit excessive, but looking back on it, I know that my teachers are way more qualified, knowledgeable, and able to help in any situation that may transpire simply because they do those trainings. So they seem redundant, they seem frustrating and overwhelming and kind of annoying at first. But when you take a step back and really look at what they're providing to your teachers, it's beneficial. And then the ratios, don't get me started about those. Um, in the state of Indiana, we just raised our ratios already. Um, and not all of the classrooms got raised, but enough of them did to where some of my teachers were on edge already about it. So I cannot imagine if we did it again and how big those classroom sizes would become. Stressful. And then would you still prioritize safety standards? And what I mean by that is, are you gonna go out and do the playground inspection checklist before every day before the kids are allowed to go outside? Are you gonna go around classroom to classroom and make sure there's no bins that have any rips or broken pieces that a kid could get stabbed or poked on? Are you going to ensure those things are being taken care of even if nobody is behind you ensuring that you are? Sure, you might. But maybe you won't. And that's where we get into the issue. It becomes subjective, it becomes a optional thing and not a required thing. And a lot of us like the optional because we don't have to do it. But if you would still maintain those ratios, require the trainings, and prioritize those safety standards. If the answer is yes, then I want to ask why. Why would you do that? Because that right there tells you probably the most important piece of what we're talking about. It tells you that those standards matter, that they mean something, not just because they're required, because they're right. They're they're gonna help you make sure those children are safe, those teachers are safe, and that your schools are safe. So the real question becomes if no one was watching, what kind of program would you choose to run as a provider? And yes, that is subjective. However, I know the majority of providers in our area, at least um, like locally to us, and I know all of them would probably stand on the side of we don't want things to get deregulated. We like the fact that those standards are there. They're there for a reason, a purpose. It keeps everybody consistent, everybody safe. This conversation isn't really about regulations, like specifically. It's about values, it's about the accountability piece, and it's about what we believe that our children and students deserve in our programs. Because at the end of the day, we're not just running businesses, right? We're shaping early experiences that impact a child's entire future forever and ever. We get to do that. We single-handedly get to be frontrunners in ensuring these children are set up for success for years to come. And that responsibility doesn't just go away because the rules do. So, as people are talking more and more about this, if childcare is deregulated, what does that mean? I hope and I pray that providers and other facilities and all of that good stuff continue to uplift and uphold the standards and regulations that we all have. I hope so. So I'm going to leave you with this. If childcare was deregulated tomorrow, what would stay the same in your program? What would change and why? Because the answer to that question says everything about your values as an educator and also as a leader. I think that people need to really take a moment to sit with this to decide if deregulating, and what I mean by people, I mean the government entities and people who are above board that get to dictate whether or not this takes place, especially in the state of Indiana. Thank you. Um is this gonna be beneficial? Is this gonna help our children? Is this gonna harm our children? Is this the smart move? Is this gonna hold anybody up for accountability? No, it's not. It's gonna think make things more challenging, it's gonna make things more difficult, it's going to be overwhelming, and it's gonna be a new normal that we're going to have to get used to, even though we just did that back in October. All I'm saying is when it comes to regulation standards and all of this talk about possibly or potentially deregulating childcare, stay intentional and keep doing the work that matters. Because as much as the outside world that is not in this field is unable to see all the hard work and things that we do behind the scenes, the work we do does matter. We are those stepping stones for young children to grow and thrive. And we really are the beginning pieces that help form what this young child will grow up to be. So I hope all teachers, all providers, all educators hear me when I say you matter, you are important, and the work you do matters and is important. My name is Katie Dink. This is Child Care Confidential. I'm so glad that you were able to listen in today on our episode. Stay tuned for more. Hopefully, our next time we can get Miss Jessica back in. I know she's had some stuff going on, some family visiting, so we've just been tag teaming. Um, like, follow, share, um, give us any comments, and don't forget to submit your stories. We've got some new ones coming in, which I'm super excited about. Some of them are quite good, so you aren't gonna want to miss out. And we will see you next time. Bye.