Broward County is dedicated to ensuring the 810 child care providers throughout the County provide a safe environment and quality care. The County actualizes this dedication through implementation of a local child care regulatory program [the Child Care Licensing and Enforcement (CCLE) Section]. The purpose of the Broward County Gold Seal Quality Care Initiative (Initiative) (Exhibit 1) is to establish voluntary goals to encourage Broward’s child care community toward a higher level of performance, including accreditation; to permanently embed within Broward County ordinances an ethic focused on assisting child care facilities to succeed both as a provider of world class quality child care and as a business; and to afford child care providers ready access to information and resources to help in their success.
The Initiative will be implemented using existing resources within the Environmental and Consumer Protection Division. To fully implement the changes, references to the Initiative and implementation of some of the incentives (reduced licensing fees and allowances to permit training in lieu of enforcement penalties) must be introduced into existing Ordinances. Approval of this motion will permit the County Attorney to proceed with drafting these proposed changes. |