Cuomo Enacts New Rules To Step Up Child Care Safety
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP)-- Governor Andrew Cuomo is vowing to make day care facilities safer for children.
After the Democrat-controlled State Assembly killed a measure to crack down on unsafe and illegal child care services, Cuomo issued new regulations giving the state more power to suspend or revoke the licenses of child care providers, WCBS 880's Rich Lamb reported.
"I'm not going to allow children to be abused because of political reasons. I'm not going to have parents drop off a child and have to wonder whether or not their child is safe. I'm not gonna do that," he said.
The new regulations will add the inspection history of a provider and list any violations incurred at a child care facility for the proceeding six years. Standards govern child-to-provider ratios and sanitary conditions and prohibit acts such as physical punishment. The state already had the power to suspend or revoke licenses but the rules were deemed too vague.
In addition, Cuomo's directive increases fines for providers found to have committed "serious'' offenses involving problems such as fire, safety and health hazards.
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