Child Care Centers Ready for New Crib Regulations
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If your children spend their days in child care, be prepared for a possible increase in the amount you pay. A state crack down on cribs is aimed at keeping babies in all daycare facilities safe. But the new regulations have many local childcare facilities in a bind trying to meet the December 28, 2012 deadline. West Jackson Baptist Church has more the 40 cribs at its church and Child Development Center. Soon, all of them will be disassembled and disposed of. “We can’t do anything with them,” said WJB Child Development Center Director Deborah Stephenson. “That’s the bad thing. We have to dispose of those. We can’t give them away. We can’t sell them. We have to dispose of them where they can’t be reassembled at all,” she said. Once a $40,000 investment, the cribs no longer meet the new federal safety standards, requiring strong construction, tougher testing, and no drop-side railings. “We’re in the process of looking into different companies and trying to find the very best quality bed that will meet our needs,” said Stephenson. They also need beds that will meet their budget. New cribs, manufactured according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, became available June 28 and run about $200 a piece. West Jackson Baptist will need fifty. “We’re redoing our budget,” said Stephenson. “As of right now, we’ll probably have to look at increases all across the board for everyone to be able to deal with that expense.” Stephenson says insuring child safety is worth the price, but hates to see her old investment thrown out the door. “The fact that we’ve just got to do away with those beds and not be able to use them in any capacity,” said Stephenson. ” [I] think that’s the hardest thing for me because when I look back at what we paid for those beds when we moved into this facility and think we’ve just go to tear those beds up and throw them away, it just seems like such a waste.” The new guidelines are only for child care facilities and family child care homes. It’s up to parents to do safety checks in their own homes and babysitters’ houses.
