DESE Recommends Removing 177 Child Care Licensing Rules…

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo- The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's (DESE's) Office of Childhood completed its recommendation of changes to the Missouri child care licensing rules, as required in Executive Order 25-15. The order called for a 10 percent reduction of the state's child care licensing regulations to reduce duplication, improve clarity, and strengthen support for providers and families.

DESE made the following recommendations to the Governor's Office:

• Readability and Usability of Rules
  • Expedite Licensing Process
  • Simplify Language
  • Improve Organization and Layout
  • Consolidate Rulebooks
• Reduction in Rules
  • In the family child care home rulebook, 79 rules were flagged as duplicative, outdated, or unnecessary.
  • In the child care center rulebook, 98 rules were flagged as duplicative, outdated, or unnecessary.
  • If these rules were to be removed, the family child care home requirements would be reduced by 11.6 percent and the child care center requirements would be reduced by 12.17 percent.

The Office of Childhood's Implementation Report was provided to the Governor's Office on August 29.

"The Implementation Report lays the foundation for a modern, efficient Missouri child care licensing system," said Commissioner of Education Dr. Karla Eslinger. "A system that reduces red tape, supports providers, and puts children's health and safety first."

As part of the work behind this recommendation, DESE hosted 14 statewide listening sessions, created a 35-member stakeholder task force, and collected nearly 1,000 survey responses.

"I want to thank all of the child care providers and stakeholders who supported this work and participated in our listening sessions to ensure our work was meaningful," said Commissioner Eslinger.

To address these findings, DESE will launch a comprehensive review to create a unified rulebook with distinctions for specific provider types, and draft rules using plain language.