CHILD CARE SERVICES - THE OKLAHOMA CHILD CARE FACILITIES LICENSING ACT: 50 Years of Service to Oklahoma Families (MUSIC PLAYS) No Audio: Oklahoma Child Care Facilities Licensing Act (10 O. S. 1961 401-410, as amended by Senate Bill No. 168, 1963 Oklahoma Legislature, effective May 23, 1963.) No Audio: Francene Bryant, CCS Quality Assurance Manager 1986-1999 Francene Bryant: Miracle Hill was an orphanage north of Wewoka inside an abandoned old school building. Robert Stanley was from Oklahoma City and he operated an insurance company. And he and his wife went to someplace in the South to a conference and here he said the Lord spoke to him that he should open an orphanage in Oklahoma. So this home was home to... they wanted 500 children. But to my knowledge, he didn't have more than 246 children. I can't imagine 500 children in this facility. The conditions at Miracle Hill were frightening. There was a licensing law but it contained so many exemptions that nobody fell within the guidelines of the law. The orphanage only operated for three years, but it was quite the catalyst for people in child care to jump off of, to say "Hey these children need basic health and safety and nutrition needs." (MUSIC PLAYS) No Audio: The Oklahoma Child Care Facilities Licensing Act became law in 1964. No Audio: Lesli Blazer, Director of Child Care Services 2010-present Lesli Blazer: The regulation and licensing of child care was a turning point in Oklahoma. The law implemented basic requirements for child care facilities and put in place policies and procedures that each child care provider had to follow. People now are so used to having quality child care available, it's hard to remember that there was a time when there really wasn't any oversight of child care. So the Licensing Act was a very important piece of legislation. It was a milestone in the state's history. Some of the policies may have changed over the years, but our mission of protecting children has not. And families depend on us every day to make sure child care providers are well trained so they can keep children safe and help them achieve positive outcomes for emotional, social, and cognitive development of children. We're proud of that. No Audio: Kristi Simpson, Statewide Licensing Coordinator 2010-present Kristi Simpson: Prior to the time that the act had gone into effect, there was no kind of regulation for facilities for children who were cared for outside of their homes. As we have found out about some of the facilities that were in operation back in the early 60s, clearly there were problems and children were not being cared for in an appropriate manner; children were being hurt, children were being injured; and the people who went before us and had the knowledge to go ahead and put that act into operation, understood that there needed to be requirements and regulations in order for children to be safe when they're not in their own homes. No Audio: Judy Collins, Statewide Licensing Coordinator 1992-1998 Judy Collins: I think Oklahoma's licensing act is extremely important. It brought a piece of protection to the children that were in care away from their parents that had not been in place before, so it was extremely critical. The number of children that are being protected by this act are countless in our state. No Audo: Prins Anderson, Program Director of Child Care Services 1985-1999 Prins Anderson: I think it was probably one of the greatest things that happened in Oklahoma for young children. It was just the basic licensing protections for children. But as I look back over the years - how we have been able to build on that has just been magnificent. One of the critical things it gave us was the authority to develop licensing requirements, and that's where you make those changes that are necessary. The law is on the books but you can make the requirements as you are able to improve what is needed for children. You can make those improvements in the regulations without having to go back and tamper with the law. No Audio: Judith Bagby, Statewide Licensing Coordinator 2000-2001 Judith Bagby: The law gives you the foundation - just the starting point and the teeth - to start to protect children and you build on that. Of course, with the regulations and all the people that come together to work together to improve the care, I think it's been absolutely critical. It makes you feel really good, when especially maybe you've gone into a place that had some problems and they've turned it around and they feel good about it and you feel good about it. I think bringing everyone in and getting input from everyone that's involved is so important and I do think that's something we should be proud of - that we included everyone, we listened. We worked with the tribes, we brought them in, I think those were all positive things. Kristi Simpson: We're very lucky in Oklahoma that back in the 90s, they worked and came up with cooperative agreements with four of the tribes here in Oklahoma. We have those agreements with our Cherokee, Chickasaw, Muscogee-Creek, as well as Choctaw tribes and we work with them to license facilities. We share information back and forth with them. ItÆs been such a good cooperative relationship. We value the work they do and they value the work we do and we're able to do all that together to have the ultimate goal of having children safe. (MUSIC PLAYS) No Audio: DHS licenses approximately 4,000 child care facilities in Oklahoma, including: child care centers, child care homes, school age part-time, family child care homes, child-placing agencies, large family child care homes, 24-hour residential facilities, childrenÆs shelters. No Audio: Nancy vonBargen, Director of Child Care Services 1999-2005 Nancy vonBargen: The launch of Reaching for the Stars came about as a result of a conversation that a lot of stakeholders had around welfare reform. So it was a mammoth undertaking because Oklahoma was really at the forefront of developing the system and I have to say that QRIS - Quality Rating and Improvement Systems - are really now the standard across the country. But it really was a game changer in that it became an infrastructure for all quality improvement measures. But I don't think some staff realize how exemplary the state licensing program is. I look at our frequent monitoring which is really exceptional, I look at our comprehensive standards, our wonderful staff development program including the scholarships. We have strong but reasonable enforcement. We have a quality assurance process. I mean these are all things that other states aspire to have. Judy Collins: So we put systems in place to approve trainers, to update the training that was available, and to deliver the training to the providers all across the state, not just in Oklahoma City and Tulsa, but from the panhandle down to Idabel. I was with the National Child Care Information Center for seven years and spent many of my days in airports and planes flying all over the country talking about quality ratings systems because Oklahoma was the first quality rating system - the Reaching for the Stars was very successful. So I was kind of like the Johnny Appleseed of quality ratings systems and would go out and kind of "seed" the idea in various states and it grew from there. No Audio: Child Care Services. Ranked #1 in the U.S. for standards and oversight of child care homes and #4 for child care centers. 3,960 monthly average of child care facilities that were licensed with a combined monthly average capacity for 132,625. 63,270 children received subsidized child care so their parents or caregivers could participate in employment or education. Kristi Simpson: We're ranked #1 in the nation for standards and oversight of child care homes and in the top four in the United States on centers. And how they look at that is they look at our requirements as well as how we monitor our facilities. And the fact that we're able to do so well in comparison to other states is such a positive for Oklahoma that we are truly one of the leaders in the nation in what we do and how we do it. I've very proud of us for having that program show how we rank against the other states. No Audio: Janice Matthews, Statewide Licensing Coordinator 2002-2010, Interim CCS Director 2009-2010 Janice Matthews: I believe that children need to be protected and although people may have the best intentions at times, without some help with rules, regulations, and a standard for their care, you get a hodge-podge. And this gave us a way to give consistency to our providers and the children they care for. In Oklahoma, we are very proud of the fact that we are able to provide training to the providers. Our staff works with them and sometimes our staff are the trainers. It is a job that has changed over the years. You wear so many different hats as a licensing worker because you are a friend to the provider, you may be a trainer to the provider, but at the same time if you have a complaint, you are also the investigator of that complaint. So trying to balance all of that takes a very special person. It's a difficult job. Lesli Blazer: We've had some tragedies - and they were heartbreaking. We're committed to making sure each child care facility or home meets the basic requirements for child safety, and that providers receive the proper training in order for them to offer safe, quality child care. That's what the Child Care Licensing Act was all about: raising the standards and setting specific criteria for every child care home and facility in order to help ensure the safety and wellbeing of children in their care. Nancy vonBargen: I am so grateful that you are taking the time to celebrate this success because I think it's not often that we pause to reflect on all the blood, sweat, and tears that went into making this program what it is. And I absolutely loved my time with this program and I'm very proud of all the passionate people that made these things happen. But I'm especially grateful that Gandhi says, "You need to be the change you wish to see in the world." And I think this program gives all of us the opportunity to be a part of that change. Prins Anderson: When you talk about accomplishments, I thought about the ability to hire staff that were just absolutely committed to children and then for those supervisors or the staff from the state office to go out and hire field staff and train them - that were absolutely committed - and to have a diverse staff; to have people that bring different backgrounds, even different education, and to be able to think independently; you get a better product. If you can get people to challenge you, to encourage you then you get a better product. Kristi Simpson: We have such a wonderful staff, and they amaze me every day at the work they do in the field and the partnerships that they have with our child care providers and with our other community partners, and how they grow those partnerships and work on those relationships. They do an amazing job and I'm just proud to know that we can all work at this together. Janice Matthews: I'd like to say thanks to the licensing staff that I worked with during my time there; developed some great friendships; and we grew up together and it was a wonderful experience. And I thank them so much; and will never forget. Judy Collins: The licensing staff in Oklahoma are so lucky to have such good support, such great administrative leadership - right to the very top. And they have had that always. Always. And they are so lucky. And they have the best job in the whole world. Lesli Blazer: We have some of the most dedicated staff in the agency. They amaze me - the work they do - and how dedicated they are to the mission. I appreciate them and applaud them for their efforts of keeping children safe every day. (MUSIC PLAYS) No Audio: Special thanks to Prins Anderson, Judith Bagby, Lesli Blazer, Francene Bryant, Kathy Calvin, Judy Collins, Mark Lewis, Janice Matthews, Kristi Simpson, Nancy vonBargen ...and to all the DHS Child Care Services staff everywhere... past, present, and future. Archival photos - DHS Records Management. Photographer - Caroline Miller, DHS Design Services. ôOklahoma Tribal Statistical Areaö by Crimsonedge34 - own work. This image was created with CGIS. This vector graphics image was created with Adobe Illustrator. Licensed under Creative Commons Zero, Public Domain Dedication via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oklahoma_Tribal_Statistical_Area.svg#mediaviewer/File:Oklahoma_Tribal_Statistical_Area.svg Editor - Ray Leyva, Video Media Services University of Oklahoma. Producer - Debra Martin, DHS Office of Communications.