"If we believe that a set of minimum standards for childcare is necessary to protect the health, safety, and well-being of children, then why do we choose to protect some children and not others?"
-Sophia Bracy Harris, Executive Director. Federation of Child Care Centers of Alabama (FOCAL)

“I saw a center with 58 kids spread across three rooms and only one or two adults looking after them.”
-Food & Lodging division inspector, Mobile County Health Department

“A lot of the license-exempt centers are excellent quality, but there are a lot of centers who think they’re following the minimum standards, but in my view they aren’t. We need some kind of checks and balances of license-exempt centers.”
-Unlicensed childcare provider, Birmingham, AL

"Dog kennels get inspected more often than childcare centers in California."
-Kelly O'Connell, Deputy Executive Director: Options-A Child Care and Human Services Agency (Baldwin Park, CA)

“Reimbursement rates do not allow parents to have access to the best childcare possible, nor does it allow me to cover my operating costs on a continuous basis.”
-Oakland, CA childcare provider

 
2007 Child Poverty Rates in Alabama, California and Maryland, by Race (click here to enlarge)

Jefferson County (Birmingham) Licensed Centers vs. Unlicensed Centers, 2000-2009 (click here to enlarge)

Growth in Number of Alabama Counties With as Many or More Unlicensed as Licensed Centers (out of 67 counties)
(click here to enlarge) 

"While Maryland could be applauded for expanding its income eligibility requirements for the childcare subsidy program by 5 percent in January 2002 to 50 percent of the state’s median income, the eligibility level has in real terms been lowered because it is not indexed to inflation. Increasing the eligibility level to 75 percent of the state median income, as recommended by the federal Child Care Bureau."
-from Underprotected, Undersupported: Low-Income Children at Risk