Anchorage Assembly reviews proposed updates to municipal child care code (AO 2026-69)

The Anchorage Assembly held a work session on May 15 to review AO 2026-69, a package of proposed updates to Municipal Code 16.55 governing child care licensing, the Health Department told members.

Don Skeet, child care licensing supervisor for the Anchorage Health Department, and Kimberly Rash of the department briefed the Assembly on the proposal and accompanying handouts, which include the ordinance text, a code-to-state-regulation crosswalk and two letters of support from the Anchorage Child Care and Early Education Fund (ACE Fund) and Thread.

The changes are billed as a “round two” cleanup following a prior set of edits. Skeet said the round-two goals are to align municipal requirements with state regulation, remove duplicative or outdated provisions, increase operational flexibility and clarify language for providers and staff. “We want to be really clear that the goal is never to weaken oversight or to reduce protections for children,” Skeet said.

Why it matters: staff reported roughly 92 licensed child care homes, about 98 centers and approximately 8,069 licensed child care spaces in the Municipality’s jurisdiction. Providers told staff they remain at or near capacity and face staffing shortages, especially for infant care; survey outreach (190 surveys sent, 32 returned) informed the proposals, staff said.

What changed in round one: staff summarized prior amendments that eliminated renewal licensing fees, removed a municipal liability-insurance requirement, increased initial home capacity from six to eight children in the first year and aligned caregiver-to-child ratios with state standards. Staff told the Assembly the previous round reduced startup and operational costs for some providers and did not appear to cause a drop in voluntary insurance coverage.

Key proposals in round two: staff outlined multiple administrative and programmatic edits. Administrative items include definition cleanups to match state terminology and removing the requirement that an administrator live in a licensed facility. Staffing and training proposals include increased flexibility to hire adolescent caregivers (16– and 17-year-olds) for after-school programs and broader options for online training.

Health and safety edits: staff proposed eliminating a municipal rule that requires annual physicals for staff (a requirement that exceeds state rules), removing duplicative nutrition provisions already governed by state regulation and USDA standards, and deleting an unused provision that established a licensed “sick child center,” which staff said was never implemented.

Safeguards and enforcement: Skeet emphasized that proposed edits are intended to reduce duplication while retaining enforcement and monitoring: licensed facilities would continue to be inspected and subject to state and municipal licensing regulations, and facilities must comply with zoning, fire and food-safety requirements.

Questions and member comments: an Assembly member asked whether the Municipality could eliminate the associate-administrator (AA) requirement; staff said state rules still require an AA but the state has revised an earlier AA ratio and now requires only one AA per facility, so the municipal edit is primarily a definitions cleanup. On adolescent caregivers, staff said they do not have an overall percentage of caregivers who are adolescents and are reviewing limits for that age group. Assembly member Gregor praised removing the annual-physical requirement as a cost relief for families: “I think that’s going to make things a lot better... it’s expensive for parents,” he said. Member Baldwin Day asked that future surveys better disaggregate responses by whether respondents are home operators or centers; staff said the prior survey included that question but not all respondents answered it and they will consider improved disaggregation in future outreach.

Economic impact and next steps: staff said this round has no estimated economic impact (the prior round’s fee removal produced about a $30,000 impact). The Assembly will hold a public hearing on AO 2026-69 at its May 26 meeting; staff said they did not anticipate bringing additional substitute language at this time.

The Assembly adjourned the work session after the briefing; the ordinance will be before the body for public hearing on May 26.