Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 20, 1993 TAG: 9302200301
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BY WARREN FISKE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
CHURCH-RUN DAY-CARE RULES OK'D
Repeal of a 13-year-old law shielding church-run day-care centers from state inspection was virtually guaranteed Friday."I can go home and sleep tonight knowing that our children will be in safer environments," said Del. Joan Munford, D-Blacksburg, a sponsor of the legislation.
Under heavy lobbying pressure, the Senate Rehabilitation and Social Services Committee reversed a decision made two weeks ago and voted 12-3 for a compromise that would allow inspectors limited access to church-run day care centers.
Five Republicans switched sides and backed the compromise, assuring that the legislation has enough support to pass the Senate next week. Earlier this month, similar legislation failed 20-18 in the Senate when Republicans unanimously teamed with two rural Democrats to defeat it.
With the House of Delegates having already approved church-run day-care inspections and Gov. Douglas Wilder in their corner, supporters were elated.
"It seems like we're coming out of this pretty much the way we wanted," said state Sen. Stanley Walker, D-Norfolk. "I think we can get this through."
Regulation of church-affiliated centers has been the most controversial part of a wide-ranging effort to reform state child-care laws. More than 80 percent of Virginia's 600,000 day-care children attend unregulated facilities. One reason is that Virginia is among 10 states that exempt church day-care centers from licensing.
Church centers can avoid licensing by certifying they have a required ratio of staff to children and that all employees have had health checkups. About 270 churches - two-thirds of those offering day care - opt for the exemption.
Claiming that religious freedom was being threatened, the Senate had earlier rejected legislation that would have allowed inspectors to enter church centers once a year to verify information submitted to the state.
The compromise Friday erased mandatory annual inspections as a prerequisite to the state's exempting churches from more stringent licensing requirements that govern other day-care centers.
Instead, the panel agreed that the state should automatically grant license exemptions to churches that file required paperwork. But state inspectors would be free to enter religious facilities at any time to question the paperwork or respond to safety complaints.
Jack Knapp, director of the Virginia Assembly of Independent Baptists, a group of 400 conservative churches who opposed added regulations, declared the compromise "a victory for religious freedom."
"We don't have to come to the state to get pre-clearance to operate a religious ministry of our church, which is what we consider day care to be," he said. "But if the state finds we're breaking laws, they can close us down."
To gain that concession, Knapp and many Republicans agreed to drop their objections to a list of new safety requirements for religious day-care centers. Under the bill, church centers would be required to conduct criminal background checks on all employees, have someone trained in first aid present at all times and have all staff members wash hands after diaper changes.
Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1993