REMARKS
Impact of Department of Health regulations on early childhood centers
1:16:52
ยท
43 sec
Council Member Stevens raises concerns about the impact of Department of Health (DOH) regulations on early childhood education centers. She highlights how these regulations affect the opening, relocation, and daily operations of these centers, emphasizing that this crucial aspect is often overlooked in discussions about improving the system.
- Stevens points out that DOH regulations significantly impact the process of opening and relocating early childhood centers
- She mentions that centers require DOH certification for both spaces and teachers
- The council member notes that there are only 75 inspectors for the entire city, creating potential bottlenecks
- Stevens emphasizes the need to include DOH regulations in discussions about expanding and improving the early childhood education system
- She calls for better coordination with agencies like DOH that have a significant impact on the system
Althea V. Stevens
1:16:52
And you know, I know there's also a whole other list of things that we never talk about in these hearings as far as the DOH and how that is a huge part of the system that no one ever talks about, about how that needs to be fixed around getting these sites up and running and even moving sites is even hard because they also have to get certified and get, SER clearances not only for the space but for the teachers and last time we did the DOH, hearing only 75 inspectors do that for across the city.
1:17:19
And so those things are things that we also have to talk about that's never part of the conversation.
1:17:23
And so I really wanna make sure that we're bringing that to the forefront too.
1:17:27
How are we also working with some of these other agencies that affect the system so much that hinders the expansion from happening?
Rita Joseph
1:17:34
Could you
Althea V. Stevens
1:17:34
talk a little bit about that?