PRINTER'S NO. 3585
No. 472 Session of 1998
INTRODUCED BY MANDERINO, LLOYD, SURRA, GEORGE, EACHUS, M. COHEN,
TRELLO, LAUGHLIN, COLAIZZO, ROBERTS, THOMAS, GORDNER AND
CAPPABIANCA, MAY 11, 1998
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON RULES, MAY 11, 1998
A RESOLUTION
1 Calling for the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to
2 update that portion of a February 1989 Legislative Budget and
3 Finance Committee Report on Salary Levels and Their Impact on
4 Quality of Care for Client Contact Workers in Community-Based
5 MH/MR and Child Care Programs pertaining to workers in child-
6 care programs.
7 WHEREAS, The child-care needs of Pennsylvania's families have
8 increased dramatically in recent years as women with children
9 have entered the paid work force in unprecedented numbers; and
10 WHEREAS, These families know that providing their children
11 with a safe and nurturing child-care environment can make an
12 important contribution to their children's healthy development;
13 and
14 WHEREAS, Recent changes in Federal and State welfare laws
15 require recipients with children to find work, which has further
16 increased the demand for both child-care services and jobs for
17 women with limited education and little or no job experience;
18 and
19 WHEREAS, A recent survey by the Center for the Child Care
1 Workforce, a nonprofit research and advocacy group in
2 Washington, D.C., found that 80% of the for-profit centers among
3 the 185 centers surveyed in Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Phoenix
4 and Seattle employed welfare recipients at an average salary of
5 $10,500 a year, well below the Federal poverty level of $12,830
6 for a family of three; and
7 WHEREAS, These centers reported an average staff turnover
8 rate of 45%, with one-fifth of the centers reporting loss of
9 half or more of their teaching staff in the past year; and
10 WHEREAS, The Department of Public Welfare has submitted
11 proposed regulations required for implementation of Child Care
12 Works, the department's plan for providing child care; and
13 WHEREAS, This child-care plan contains no incentives for
14 providers of care to improve the quality of that care, nor does
15 it contain provisions related to child-staff ratios, wage
16 standards, employee retention, caregiver education and training
17 and child safety, all of which have been proven effective in
18 promoting high-quality care; and
19 WHEREAS, The Legislative Budget and Finance Committee
20 conducted a study in 1989 and issued a report on the salaries
21 paid to direct-care workers in child day-care programs and the
22 possible impact those salaries might have in the quality of
23 care provided to children in those programs; therefore be it
24 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives call for the
25 Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to update that portion
26 of the February 1989 Report on Salary Levels and Their Impact on
27 Quality of Care for Client Contact Workers in Community-Based
28 MH/MR and Child Day Care Programs pertaining to workers in
29 child-care programs; and be it further
30 RESOLVED, That the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee
19980H0472R3585 - 2 -
1 report its findings to the House of Representatives by June 30,
2 1999.
E4L82DGS/19980H0472R3585 - 3 -