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Should public park and recreation agencies run child day care centers? POINT... By Thomas J. Richardson Why not? Are you concerned about your pristine philosophy of recreation? Competition with the private sector. That hasn't bothered the many who advocate building or buying golf courses, tennis clubs, ice centers, water slides and golf driving ranges. It is a social/educational need, not a recreational one. How many of us offer recreation programs such as playschool, nursery school. Mom's Morning Off, kiddie cooking, open gym and others that commence all morning or right after school adjourns and continue until Mom or Dad can pick up their children after work? We run a recreation agency, not a baby-sitting service. Then why have drop-in summer playground programs gone the way of the pet rock? In their places have sprouted half-day, full-day and overnight camps that we can see in virtually every summer brochure. How often do we string out or piggy back programs for preschoolers to keep them with us from early morning until after lunch? We can't be all things to all people. Why, then, do we keep coming up with new programs, facilities and services like college entrance exam preparation; mini theme parks; birthday party packages that offer room rental, food and entertainment; pre-natal exercise, as well as nutrition tips to members of our senior citizen clubs? This is recreation to education, pre-cradle to pre-grave. We already attempt to do it all. We haven't stopped expanding up until now, and we won't in the future. The only thing that can restrict us is our own creativity or the law.
Legal implications The law? Yes, the private day care lobby is so strong in Virginia that public park and recreation agencies are under legal attack. This is not because they are attempting to run competing day care centers, but because they continue to run traditional after-school recreation programs. The private day care centers say these programs are keeping parents from enrolling their children in private after-school care facilities, and they are allegedly in violation of existing anti-competition laws in that state! That kind of threat could make many people revert to the sublime philosophy of recreation we were so proud of in college. Recognizing the need However, there are other realities we cannot escape. Sixty percent of American mothers work outside the home and of five million employers nationwide, only 2,000 corporations have addressed the child care needs of their employees. Eighty percent of the women now in the work force are of childbearing age, while estimates show that 93 percent of those will become pregnant at some point in their careers (Glencoe Park District Day Care Market Study and Recommendations, 1988). Even Presidential candidates unanimously agree that proper preschool care now will reduce the expenditure of public money for incarceration and other forms of rehabilitation in the future. Too many children who are left with inadequate child care providers are potential risks to our own agencies. After a few years, some of those same children may become problems in our schools and recreation programs, or vandals of our Illinois Parks and Recreation 8 May/June 1988 Point facilities. Low-income and affluent communities, alike, have and will continue to be affected because society has changed, and children don't have the guidance they need to be productive citizens. Setting the trend Public park and recreation agencies can help or, at least, be a catalyst. The private sector and the public schools have not provided the resources to address this need. Public recreation agencies don't necessarily have to strain their already strapped budgets to do this, either. A proper mix of sound financial planning with the community's social needs and the agency's ability to intertwine a proper recreational philosophy should go a long way toward a very positive community asset. In some cases, it is possible to pay for all costs of the program with enough left over to put back into the general recreation programs of the agency.
Final thoughts If such a venture does not appear to be encompassed by your philosophy, at first glance, perhaps a cooperative arrangement among the public school, library, park, village and social service agencies could be worked out. Thus, all would share in the public relations as well as in financial benefits of a day care program. But, don't lose sight of the benefits to the children. Many of us already run preschool programs which properly combine recreational activities with learning and childhood development through play as a focus. Most public recreation agencies have the trust and confidence of their residents. If there is a need, if you have the space and wherewithal to provide a professional day care operation, and if the service isn't already being adequately offered in your community, it is your responsibility to open your mind and look at this issue.
Illinois Parks and Recreation 10 May/June 1988 Should public park and recreation agencies run child day care centers? ...COUNTERPOINT By Gerald M. Oakes Day care seems to be the rage. Everyone wants to get into the day care business and, now, park and recreation agencies think it's their responsibility to tackle this issue, too. Park and recreation agencies in Illinois have been successful over the last 20 years because they have recognized what their mission is and worked at it in a businesslike manner. During that time all kinds of ideas have come down the pipe: ice centers, golf courses, skateboard parks, tennis centers, and water theme parks, to mention but a few. Some of these have been successful ventures for park and recreation agencies, and others we'd rather forget about. But all of these ideas had one common theme. The primary purpose of their being was leisure activity. Now we have the new idea — day care. Day care centers operating 12-14 hours per day have only a limited leisure service value. Day care has grown out of a need created by our changing society, but that does not make it a responsibility of park and recreation agencies. A social issue Day care is a social welfare issue, not a park and recreation issue. If it belongs in government at all, it should be the responsibility of the city or village Human Services Department. Proposition 13 gave governments throughout this country a clear message: people want less government, not more. For park and recreation agencies to step in and spend taxpayers' dollars to provide day care services when they do not have the tax money to meet all the leisure needs of the community would be inappropriate.
Another perspective Let's face it; our changing society has created a social problem. Families now need two incomes to make ends meet, but the children suffer if the situation isn't properly handled. But why limit our thinking to children? Elderly adults need day care for the very same reason. They live in two-income households and cannot be left home alone to care for themselves. Does this mean we also have a social responsibility to provide elderly day care? There are more social issues out there than the park and recreation profession can solve. Let's not take on all of them and forget that our real mission is leisure service. A business approach A number of park and recreation agencies are already in day care. This appears to be a trend. And, whether it is right or wrong, we should look at day care as a business, a revenue-producing program. Day care should not displace any recreation programs in park buildings. It should not occupy the time of the recreation staff. If park and recreation agencies are going to get into the day care business, then it should be on a revenue-producing basis. It should be established as an enterprise fund, and be responsible for all direct and indirect operating expenses and capital costs associated with it. Day care is a major undertaking in any community, and once a park and recreation agency assumes the responsibility, the community will not allow it to turn Illinois Parks and Recreation 9 May/June 1988 Counterpoint
back. It's like a black hole, a bottomless pit. We better know what we are getting ourselves into, or we may never find our way back.
Illinois Parks and Recreation 10 May/June 1988 |
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