Bill introduces idea of sick-child day care in Ohio
Devita BUTLER COUNTY — Douglas wants to open a sickchild care center for working parents who usually need to work from home or take
— off work for the day when
— a child is ill.
But state law currently doesn’t allow for this type of facility, and parents cannot take their children to a daycare if they’re sick.
Ohio Rep. Wes Retherford, R-Hamilton, hopes House Bill 77, which had its first committee hearing Tuesday, will change that. It will allow Douglas, who has a background in health care administration, to operate her business, and she hopes to open multiple locations in Butler County or across the state if the bill passes.
“It’s like a panacea to many parents’ nightmares when they have sick kids,” said Douglas of Hamilton, who planned to open a facility in Fairfield recently but was told she wasn’t allowed. “They would have a back-up plan available when their child can’t go to school.”
Retherford said his bill, which was also introduced at the end of the previous General Assembly session, is “a multifaceted piece of legislation which I believe serves a need that every part of our state has.”
“This need is something different from the service that hospitals provide as it is not a treatment facility,” he said.
The bill would allow the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services to issue a license so privately funded sick-child care centers can operate. A spokesperson for the Ohio JFS declined to comment on the pending legislation.
Middletown Health Commissioner Jackie Phillips sees how this could benefit families, but sees plenty of “challenges.” “The concept is an excellent concept because it’s a problem, but I can see a lot of challenges that would have to be worked through,” she said. “It would have to be really worked out and thought through.”
It also sounds like a “really expensive” service, and sees it being subject to a lot of regulations, said Phillips, a registered nurse who’s been the city’s health commissioner for seven years.
“I think the people that can afford a day care like that can afford to take off or work from home,” she said.
Krysta Swartz of Madison Twp. is a nurse at Hospice in Dayton and thought of the idea years ago with a nursing friend, but didn’t pursue it because of their young children.
“We talked about it for years, and we always thought about it because it’s true you can’t take them to a daycare when they’re sick,” she said. “You can’t keep calling off work if your kids are sick.”
Swartz worked weekend shifts so she could be off if illness struck. She agrees with Phillips that it could be costly to operate — clients would likely be more affluent parents — “but I think it’s doable. I think it’s going to take a lot of work, a lot of planning.”
According to the bill, the centers would provide child care, including administering to the needs of schoolage children during school hours, for children with short-term illnesses or other medical conditions on a temporary, irregular basis.
Douglas said there would be nurses employed at the center, which would have a monthly membership fee, a one-time registration fee and a co-pay when the service is used. She said a person’s work-based flexible spending account could be used.
Retherford testified on Tuesday before the Ohio House Economic Development, Commerce and Labor on his bill. He said a person, organization or agency establishing a sick-child care center would need, among other things, to include a site plan proposal, the maximum number of children to be served at one time and the number of adults caring for the children. A four-to-one child to staff member ratio must be in place, he said.