Mothers Plead for Child-Care Bill : Tell Senate Panel of Drugs, Brutality at Day-Care Centers

Mothers told a Senate subcommittee today of their children being shaken and drugged to death in unregulated day-care centers and tearfully begged lawmakers to pass a $2.5-billion child-care bill.

The bill, to be introduced Wednesday, would set minimum national standards for day-care centers and would provide money for poor working families to get day care for their children. It is a revision of a bill that failed in Congress last year.

Jane Snead of Springfield, Va., said her daughter, Ashley, died at the age of 10 months of a massive overdose of an anti-depressant that had been prescribed to her baby sitter. Snead said she later discovered that the baby sitter had given the girl the drug over several days to keep her quiet.

Referred by County

Snead, in urging strict regulations of day-care providers, told the Senate Labor subcommittee she had found the baby sitter through a county referral service. But after Ashley’s death, Snead said, she discovered that the woman had earlier been convicted of neglecting her own children. The baby sitter was convicted of neglect in Ashley’s death and is now in prison.

“She said she charged a little more because she would provide extra-special, loving care,” Snead said, weeping. “We can’t let our children down.”

Cheri Robertson of Temecula, Calif., said her 10-month-old son was shaken to death by a day-care worker who “didn’t know that shaking could hurt a baby.”

“We accept the responsibility of putting our children in day care if you’ll accept the responsibility of setting some standards,” she said.

Don’t Want to Worry

Maryland Gov. William Donald Schaefer said parents want to be free of worry when they leave their child for the day.

“You can do anything to me, but don’t touch my kid,” said Schaefer, explaining how parents feel. “You (the federal government) don’t have to over-regulate, but if you’re going to get in the game, stay there.”

Vermont Gov. Madeleine Kunin also urged the panel to set minimum federal standards for day-care centers that would complement state and local regulations.

But Sen. Dan Coats (R-Ind.) cautioned against an “antiseptic big-brother approach,” saying the “long arm of the federal government” would not eliminate all child-care problems.

Safety the Bottom Line

Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), the chief sponsor of the bill and subcommittee chairman, said, “What is so novel--so threatening--about using federal funds to establish a floor--a floor, my friends--of safety protection for all children?”

Dodd’s bill, known as the Act for Better Child Care, authorizes $2.5 billion for expanded child-care programs and sets up a temporary commission to set minimum standards for health, safety and program content in day-care centers and would give states up to four years to comply.