The High Price Of Apathy - Inexperienced "Nannies"- Detriment To Childcare

SAN FRANCISCO, March 28, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Breaking news just out of California, childcare is in crisis. Higher income families are paying top dollar for what many early childcare advocates view as glorified babysitting. Statistics prove that early education for young children is vital. Despite the facts, working parents choose unlicensed and untrained caregivers to raise their children.

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At one time, a "nanny" provided security, quality care and a structured educational environment. Those days are gone. Considering inexperienced caregivers as "nannies" is a detriment to professional childcare. Working parents are paying up to $20 an hour for untrained "nannies." Parents with the means to provide their children with quality childcare in a secure educational environment are instead choosing the high price of apathy.

Informed childcare choices are essential to the future of California, according to Giuliana Halasz, CEO of PACEAPP, (the Professional Association for Early Childhood Education Alternative Payment Program). "Many high income parents are making choices the same way as many parents of lower income families. There is no discussion about early education or the child being mentally stimulated; it's strictly childcare," explains Halasz. "We are advocates for early education and are not as concerned about the formal description of a setting in which a child spends their days. We are interested in the bottom line: while the parent earns, the child learns."  

PACE, (Professional Association for Childhood Education), supports children regardless of their socioeconomic background. Early education is crucial to future life success, lower crime rates and more harmonious communities across California. Debbie Eison, Chair of PACE Central Region explains the far reaching impact of choosing untrained nannies over childcare professionals.

"They are missing out on the social and emotional development and interaction that is so important before children reach kindergarten," shares Eison. "In an unlicensed environment we don't know if the health and safety provisions are in place. In the exempt environment we don't know who is in the home, if they are fingerprinted or if they have a criminal record. Parents need to be given a choice of resources when determining care for their precious possessions. They are the greatest resource that California has, their children."

As high and low income families opt for nannies or license exempt care, the repercussions remain far reaching. Noble prize winner and respected early childcare advocate, Dr. James J. Heckman states: "Early learning begets later learning and early success breeds later success, just as early failure breeds later failure."

The nanny state is fueling dysfunction regardless of parental income bracket.

Whether the term is nanny, babysitter or exempt care, the bottom line remains the same. A large number of California's children are being deprived of early educational resources because of the uninformed choices of apathetic parents. Early childcare and education are the building blocks of a successful life. Depriving a child of quality care in the formative years can shape their character for a lifetime.

What could be more important than that?

About PACE (www.pacenet.org)

The Professional Association for Childhood Education (PACE) is a non-profit, California statewide organization established in 1955. PACE members operate in excess of 1,000 centers, serving more than 55,000 children in California.

Contact:
Giuliana Halasz/CEO/PACEAPP
415.828.0505

SOURCE The Professional Association for Childhood Education (PACE)