By Gus G. Sentementes , gus.sentementes@baltsun.com|January 31, 2009
Maryland has launched a new government Web site that gives consumers access to inspection results for thousands of licensed child care providers, but critics of the site say it is incomplete and unfair to the industry.
The Maryland State Department of Education's Office of Child Care created the online database, which indicates whether a child care operator was found compliant with 86 criteria in a "yes" or "no" format, and if the inspection was an announced or unannounced visit.
The site allows users to search by company name, jurisdiction and type of provider for results going back about two years. It covers roughly 2,700 licensed day-care centers and nearly 9,000 home-based child care providers, officials said.
In Baltimore, the site offers results of 889 inspection reports for day-care centers and home-based child care providers. In Baltimore County, the results of more than 2,000 inspections are available.
State officials said they are not yet able to provide full inspection reports online, but they wanted to start making information available to the consumers so they could better research providers. But providers said the online reports do not indicate the steps they take to address any problems discovered during an inspection.
"We just feel that it's not giving us a fair shake right now, by not providing all the information that parents need in order to make that informed decision," said Jennifer Nizer, president of the Maryland State Child Care Association.
Phil Koshkin, chief of research and evaluation for the state's division of early childhood, helped develop the online tool and said in an interview yesterday that it is meant to be used by parents as a "snapshot in time." He said the information that is available online are the results of the "primary" report that inspectors complete.
When an inspector finds a violation, more detailed information is included in a report, and the provider has a varying amount of time to correct the violation, he said.
"We encourage parents not to take that online report as the be-all and end-all," Koshkin said. "This is just an indicator, a snapshot in time, and we do encourage parents to follow up and contact the provider and discuss the inspection report."
"It's not a full loaf, but half a loaf is better than none," Koshkin said.
Carol Corbett, director of the Weekday Early Education Center, faulted the state for rushing to put out incomplete data that was unfair to providers who have been diligent in their responses to inspections.
