Child care centers can protect the children when the parents are not able to be with them. Licensed child care centers protect children in a safe environment that has been proved to be a safe environment for children with the limitations and requirements that are followed. Beth Walton, social issues reporter, points out that without child care the children will suffer socially and emotionally (Walton par. 7). If there are no child care centers available to watch children, then parents often find make-shift arrangements for their child’s care, such as, asking family members, friends, and co-workers to watch their children while the parents are preoccupied. Collins explains, "Those who are parents often deal with late and unpredictable schedules that require them to be creative--and sometimes desperate--as they seek safe and appropriate care” (Collins par. 8). Having a stable, reliable place such as a child care center is essential for children who have working parents.
Children’s safety should not rely on the parents ability to pay for child care centers that protect the children while the parents are busy. According to Walton, "A lack of affordable, accessible child care not only puts children at social, emotional and physical risk, but it threatens the retention of a quality workforce” (Walton par. 7). Parents need access to a reliable child care center to ensure that their child’s emotional and physical needs are properly being met while they are running errands or at work (Walton par. 7). Although the parents may trust the individual family member that they are leaving their child with, they do not realize the effects that these arrangements are having on the children. The research of how the presence of child care centers affect children is rapidly growing, and the recent studies are the most scientifically sound that they have been in many years (Elias par. 17). Although the research strongly supports children being cared for by child care facilities, parents understand that the non-licensed child care centers are not as safe as the licensed child care centers.
Opposition Non-licensed child care centers are not as safe as the licensed child care centers because these non-licensed centers do not have to be inspected. The parents that let their children attend non-licensed centers are allowing these centers to watch their children based solely on the trust they have in the child care provider. Laurie Monsebraaten, the Toronto Star’s social justice reporter, suggests that the non-licensed child care centers do not have to be child-proofed, nor do they have to be a healthy learning environment for children (Monsebraaten par. 36). These opposing parents believe that the parents of the children can keep them more secure than the centers, whether they are licensed or not. The non-licensed child care facilities have only few regulation rules that they are required by law to follow. In Monsebraaten’s article, “Who's Minding the Children,” Monsebraaten maintains that "They are required only to limit the number of children in their care; to inform parents in writing they are unlicensed; and to operate out of only one location” (Monsebraaten par. 36). The safe option for child care is choosing a licensed child care facility (Walton par. 11). Although the non-licensed child care centers could be unsafe for children, there are many licensed centers that are available in the United States.