My comments come from the perspective of a military parent.  It is extremely difficult to find childcare, as all the vast majority of the base child development centers are at capacity.  We finally found a place that could care for 3 of our small children, that provides a wonderful home-like experience for them, but would be greatly hindered with several of the below proposed actions. 

CPR/First Aid - It is more reasonable to have a 90 day grace period for new staff requiring certification.  This allows more flexibility at the daycare centers if at least 50% are always certified - then the remainder have time to gain their certifications.  The teachers awaiting certification can also help with the remainder of the class during an emergency if another teacher is performing CPR or first aid.

Serious Injury - Real time reporting would slow the teachers down.  Serious injuries could be reported thru the semi-annual DSS visits.  If serious injury is anytime a doctor has to be called, that could add up to hours of wasted manhours for the teachers, as most children have frequent doctors visits for colds, ect.  Serious injury in this case would need to be more clearly defined - broken bones, burns, ect - before enacting this proposal.

Group Size - Our current daycare center is not designed for this restriction.  Daycare centers that are currently certified should be grandfathered in, to alleviate extreme expenses put on the facility and the parents.  This is also unrealistic in our highly populated, hi demand area for childcare where there is a waitlist almost everywhere.

Director Qualifications - In an already limited pool of qualified people to choose from, it would be better to expand the qualifications.  Associates or BA/BS degrees in any field, with child related courses preferred, or 12 college credits in a child related subject area, or a CDA would be preferred qualifications

Teacher Age Restrictions - We have younger aids that do beautifully with the children.  We need these 16/17 year olds to work independently at the beginning and end of the school day to relieve our full time teachers by 5pm daily.  The director is always there, but we feel confident with the 16/17 year olds with the children.  It is similar to leaving them in your home to babysit for your child for a couple of hours.  As long as they are properly vetted, this is not a problem.

Consistent staff care - Our center's goal is consistent staff in each classroom, but we as parents understand that personnel changes must occur to best run the center.  Putting a strict policy limits most daycare centers, who may be faced with moving staff around due to absent teachers, or anything else that may pop up unexpectedly.

Please consider the parents that have worked so hard to find safe and affordable child care for their children.

Thank you!