A pair of county councilmembers are calling for a complete overhaul of the way the county decides which child care providers get much sought after space in county schools.
Friction between child care providers and the county’s Community Use of Public Facilities (CUPF) division has been bubbling for more than two years.
The CUPF, with oversight from its governing board (known as the Interagency Coordinating Board, or ICB, ) acts essentially as a leasing agent for county school facilities, renting out space for before and after school child care as well as gyms, auditoriums and playing fields for recreation, religious groups and other events.
After a controversial rebidding process for child care providers led to two lawsuits and many complaints about undisclosed conflicts of interest, unfair standards and school principals with too much sway, Montgomery County proposed a new set of regulations last month.
Many child care providers told the County Council last week that the new regulations were basically more of the same.
On Thursday, Councilmembers Hans Riemer and Nancy Navarro sent a memo to their colleagues asking them to reject the proposed regulations and help create “a dedicated Child Care office and give it a range of responsibilities, from developing a plan to increase access to care in the county, to managing public space needs, to supporting providers.”
“We believe that it is time for an overhaul of this process so that it aligns with our primary policy goal: bringing our communities excellent quality, accessible and affordable child care and after school programs,” Navarro and Riemer wrote. “The responsibility for developing these regulations and managing the selection process should be given to an organization in County government that is mission driven to promote access to quality, affordable care. The revenue that we generate from child care providers in public space should also be used to strengthen the county’s child care services.”
The memo came out hours before the Council’s Health and Human Services and Education Committees are set to meet with county officials in charge of drafting the new regulations.
That meeting is set for 1:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on County Cable Montgomery.
