The Dexter Leader
A Heritage Newspaper
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Serious issues in day care program need to be addressed
PUBLISHED: August 7, 2008
The following is an editorial by State Rep. Pam Byrnes, D-Lyndon Township. If you have any questions, contact Rep. Byrnes at (517) 373-0828.
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In light of the State's recent audits of the Department of Human Services (DHS) Child Day Care program, it has become very clear that there are some serious issues within the department that need to be addressed in order to keep our children safe and ensure that the taxpayers' money is spent wisely.
According to the audit, hundreds of Michigan day care providers have criminal histories, including convictions for sex offenses and child abuse. A week later, another report was released that showed DHS overpaid at least $147 million for childcare between October 2003 and March 2006.
Not only are we letting questionable individuals take care of our kids, but taxpayers have been cheated by a system rampant with fraud, and inadequate checks and balances. The state has even been paying money to the deceased and the incarcerated. It needs to stop now.
Earlier this year, I introduced legislation that can address these problems with the department. Some of the highlights of the plan include:
• Require parent or guardian documentation of work, school or other qualifying activities to prove that paid care hours are, in fact, needed;
• Require DHS to go after money owed to the State due to fraud, and encourage prosecution of those responsible for defrauding the day care program;
• Restrict day care payments made to people living in the child's home; and,
• Give DHS the authority to perform enhanced background checks on day care providers.
In addition, by cleaning up the system, we can use the funds that are being misspent on fraud to reinvest in our legitimate care providers, which will allow more low income parents who need quality day care to get back to work. These essential reforms will result in safer places for our children, fewer inaccuracies, less fraud and more money saved by the State in the long run.
The fraudulent activities taking place in the child day care program isn't only putting our children at risk, but they are costing taxpayers millions and hurting legitimate day care providers. Most of the day care providers are honest, but the actions of a few are having a negative effect on many. I can't stress to the Senate enough how important it is that they pass this legislation to keep our children safe and save the taxpayers millions of dollars.
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