DoD child care tops 50 states, report says

[unhappycamper]

DoD child care tops 50 states, report says
By Karen Jowers - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Mar 12, 2009 19:17:30 EDT

The Defense Department’s child development centers have extended their lead in providing high-quality child care and protections for children when compared to the states, according to a report released March 12 by the National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies.

“DoD has good standards and accountability. That’s the model we want for the nation,” said Linda Smith, executive director of NACCRRA. Smith also was the primary architect of the military child care system before joining the child care association.

The Defense Department’s child care center program ranked No. 1 for both regulations and oversight in 2008, just as it did in 2007, when NACCRRA first ranked the states. No other state made it to the Top 10 list for both elements.

Although the Defense Department ranked first, with a score of 131 out of a possible 150 points, it still received a B grade. No state earned an A, and 33 earned failing grades.

But partly because it used military child care as a model, Smith said, the District of Columbia moved from being ranked 25th two years ago, to second last year with a score of 111 — earning D.C. the only C in the group. “They rewrote their regulations, and they modeled a lot of what they did on the military child care program,” Smith said.


Rest of article at: http://armytimes.com/news/2009/03/military_childcare_rankings_031209w/%2e