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Senators debate amendment to allow home child-care providers to operate on transitional credentials
Summary
A proposed amendment would let family child‑care homes open with ECE 1 credentials and use a renewable transitional license (up to six years in the draft) to reach ECE 2 education standards; committee members debated shortening the period to four years and added reporting requirements.
Senator Bongarts presented a floor amendment on March 19 to allow family child‑care homes to open with an ECE 1 credential and to be treated as ECE 2 for licensure while they complete additional education. The amendment would create a renewable transitional license — originally set as a two‑year period renewable twice for a total of six years — to expand home child‑care availability, especially in rural areas with workforce shortages.
Proponents said the change lowers the upfront barrier to opening a home center and could increase providers in locations where population density makes a brick‑and‑mortar center impractical. “It makes it possible to open while you obtain your next level of certification … we’ll have more home childcare centers in rural Vermont,” the sponsor said in presenting the amendment.
Opponents and some committee members urged caution about the length of the transitional period. Committee members noted that ECE 1 is primarily a 120‑hour certificate program, whereas ECE 2 generally requires an associate degree (a minimum of 60 college credits) or an equivalent combination of approved college credits. Several senators said that while online credits and scholarship programs may be available, six years could allow providers to operate long periods without the fuller educational requirements other providers meet. “Six years is a long time,” one senator said, and some members advocated shortening the total variance to four years.
The amendment also adds reporting requirements: the Office of Professional Regulation (OPR), in consultation with the Child Development Division, would produce a 2031 report listing changes in the number of registered and licensed family child‑care homes since enactment and recommending ways to encourage opening additional homes.
Committee members discussed implementation details — timelines, rulemaking, cohort effects for children served before a provider reaches full credentialing, and contingencies for funding and appropriations. The committee conducted a nonbinding poll of members’ preferences between the 6‑year draft and a proposed 4‑year compromise and asked staff to convey sign‑on interest and any suggested language to the floor sponsor.
No formal committee vote or final adoption of the amendment occurred in the session. Committee staff asked for further drafting to clarify renewal timing, reporting mechanics and effective dates; sponsors said they would transmit a cleaned version to members and to the Senate institutions committee for further consideration.
