Unregulated child care homes are on the rise in DFW. Here’s why that’s a problem

North Texas has long led the state in violations and investigations into day cares operating out of homes without oversight or licenses. But the number of unregulated homes has nearly doubled in the last three years, according to recent data.

Without even basic safety and health requirements, advocates worry that this trend could lead to young children being neglected, hurt or even dying, as was the case in 2017 when a Weatherford mother lost her son after leaving him in an unregulated home.

Megan Norris, who worked in food service, posted an ad online looking for child care for her infant son. She quickly got a response.

“We interviewed her for an hour and I went to her home,” Norris said at the time. “I didn’t check every room, but I was told (my son) and another little girl would be the only children.”

On Aug. 7, she took her son to the house at 4:15 p.m, according to reporting from the time.

She took the child’s car seat inside, lifted the boy out and handed him to the caregiver.

“He was very happy,” she said.

It was the last time she saw him alive.

Later that day, John was placed in a walk-in closet in his car seat. He was one of nearly a dozen children in the home at the time, authorities said.

He died by accidental strangulation after his airway was cut off by the safety belt of the seat, the Tarrant County medical examiner ruled, according to the Star-Telegram’s archives. Police did not pursue charges in the case.

While injuries and even deaths have happened in home day cares that are registered or listed with the state, the complete lack of oversight in unregistered day cares increases the dangers with no safeguards, according to Health and Human Services officials. That makes the recent developments alarming.

“Unregulated operations are not inspected and do not require caregivers to undergo background checks,” said Jennifer Ruffcorn, a spokesperson for Texas Health and Human Services. “Unregulated operations also do not meet physical environment, training, and other basic health and safety requirements and can present real risk to children.”

“We proactively seek out those people who may be operating a child care operation without a permit,” she added.

The most recent numbers, which were presented to the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services at the end of last month, show that the number of unregulated operations in the Arlington region, which encompasses 19 counties including Denton, Parker, Tarrant and Dallas, rose from 350 in 2019, to 625 in 2021.

That finding — which worries child care advocates and providers — has local groups calling for more robust education for parents about the risks of unregulated programs, and more outreach to help prospective early childhood educators obtain the proper paperwork.

Officials don’t know what caused an uptick in unregulated child care

The uptick in unregulated homes tracks with the calamitous COVID-19 pandemic, which cratered the child care industry.

About 21% of child care organizations went offline between March 2020 and September 2021, according to a statewide analysis by Child Care Aware and Children at Risk. About 80% of those were home providers, expanding gaps that were already limiting care options in high-need areas.

That left an unfilled need, according to Kim Kofron, the director of early childhood education for Children at Risk.

“Parents were scrambling,” she said. “So if they found a neighbor that was caring for kids and they can care for them, and if they feel like they trust that neighbor, then they go for it.”

People who care for children at homes such as these, who may have developed an unregulated business during the pandemic shutdowns, may not even know they are skirting regulations, Kofron said.

“They’re just taking care of kids. They like kids and are trying to make income themselves and don’t realize they’re supposed to be regulated,” she said. “I am sure there are those trying to get around the system, but I think there’s also those that are just trying to make an income themselves and give parents support.”

Jerletha McDonald, the founder and CEO of Arlington DFW Child Care Professionals Association, which advocates and trains child care professionals, said that the surge in unregulated child care providers could be an opportunity to expand the child care workforce.

“There is a huge benefit of becoming a registered or licensed provider with the state of Texas,” she said. “You can actually build a business; you can make an income.”

McDonald said that unregulated providers, or homeowners who want to open a day care can use her services to become registered or licensed.

The requirements are also available on the state’s Child Care Regulation website.

Ruffcorn, the HHS spokesperson, said that the agency doesn’t know exactly why the unregulated industry has exploded in recent years.

“Statewide, a variety of factors are impacting child care operations, including pandemic-related child care closures and difficulty hiring staff to work in child care programs,” she said in a statement. “There is not a detailed analysis regarding the identified increase specifically in Region 3, which includes Tarrant County, Arlington’s county seat.”

The agency also pointed to the creation of a unit designed to proactively search for unregulated operations as a possible reason for the uptick. The operations could have been there the whole time, with agencies just not being aware.

But similar to McDonald, Ruffcorn said there is a focus on educating centers that are in violation of regulation requirements so they can file the proper paperwork before ordering them shut down if they don’t comply.

Arlington Mayor Jim Ross, who is a member of Tarrant County’s Blue Ribbon Committee on Child Care, said that he was unaware of the rising numbers — but that he hopes to work with the state to find a way to decrease unregulated care.

“It opens up a whole lot of questions for me as to why that’s happening,” he said. “So we’ll continue to work with the state and see if we can put some knowledge behind some of their statistics that they’re coming up with.”

Unregulated child care could impact quality of early childhood education

In addition to safety concerns in child care homes without oversight by the state, early educators say the educational quality isn’t guaranteed.

Sharlene Abraham, school readiness program director for Camp Fire First Texas, said that without oversight everything from the activities kids are doing, to the food they are eating is a question mark.

“Are there educational programs being done? Where children are provided with quality education and activities that promote development?” she said. “In these programs, there’s no way to monitor and know what’s happening on a day-to-day basis. So you have children that are being housed unsafely and not being engaged in the type of activities that we want.”

State, local tools allow parents to verify child care regulation compliance

Melanie Rubin, the director of the North Texas Early Learning Alliance, said that state and local governments can do a better job of educating parents on what regulations exist and what they mean so they can make informed choices.

“We need to do a much better job helping parents understand what unregulated means, and even what quality means,” she said. “I think we missed the mark on that, because I think parents should know and I think that information should be much more easily accessible.”

Rubin also noted that safety and quality concerns still exist in programs that are regulated by the state, making the need to research even more important.

Kara Waddell, the CEO of Child Care Associates, said that parents should do their research before selecting a provider.

“Parents with young children face tough choices in finding quality child care that’s a good fit for their family and their pocketbook,” she said. “However, I must always encourage parents to only explore child care facility options that are state-licensed or regulated. There are many important aspects of child care quality to consider, but by selecting a state-regulated center or home, you begin to check a lot of the boxes for what young children need.”

Those boxes include things like health and safety standards, criminal record and child abuse history checks, CPR training and administering medications, emergency protocols and regulated adult-child ratios, she added.

“State child care regulators partner with families so they don’t have to worry as much about the fundamentals of health and safety,” she said. “You are not alone.”

But how can parents find out whether their child care provider is up to regulation and doesn’t have any violations?

Ruffcorn points to the Health and Human Resources site TXChildcareSearch.org, which allows people to search for child care centers and child care homes in Texas, view the past five years of compliance history for each operation and read about the different types of child care operations in Texas.

“The HHSC website provides parents with a guide on how to choose child care, questions to ask a potential provider, and information about the importance of staying involved in their child’s care,” she said in a statement.

With internet searches tuning up dozens of directories for child care providers, a North Texas foundation has also spearheaded a one-stop-shop for finding child care at https://find.bestplace4kids.com/

The Best Place For Kids Child Care finder tool lets parents search for a variety of care options with filters based on their preferences.

“You can search all of your kids at the same time by your work or office,” said Sara Redington, the director of strategy and communication for the Miles Foundation.

“You can see special-needs accommodations, you can see the teacher qualifications, whether they have current real-time availability, and this is updated on a weekly basis for Tarrant County.”

This story contains information from the Star-Telegram’s archives.

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