Issued May, 2007 Petition for legislation to protect Family Child Care Providers and the public-at-large from inadequate or under availability of homeowner’s insurance along with inadequate liability or accident medical insurance. It is to be presented to the 2008 Virginia General Assembly.
Honorable State Senators and State Representatives:
Virginia’s licensed Family Child Care Providers (Providers) classified by the Department of Social Services as Family Day Homes need your help. As a result of inadequate or unavailability of home owner’s insurance or liability/accident medical child care insurance Providers and the general public are at risk. This risk is due to some Provider’s inability to obtain homeowner’s insurance. Providers fortunate enough to have homeowners insurance are faced with the possibility of cancellation or non renewal once the insurance carrier is notified that the Provider is a licensed family day home.
Providers need child care insurance (CCI). CCI is insurance designed to protect the needs and finances of a child care provider. CCI policies offer general liability coverage that protects the Provider against claims such as negligent supervision and sexual abuse. These two claim categories account for over 50 percent of all liability claims. Some Providers are forced to purchase general liability insurance through companies that underwrites their home owners’ policy. The problem with this arrangement is that these policies are lacking in coverage (negligent supervision & child abuse claims are not covered) and is not an adequate substitute for CCI. This lack of coverage presents a major financial exposure that leaves Providers, their families, and the general public at risk. Would you knowingly engage the professional service of someone who is uninsured, under insured, or have the wrong insurance coverage?
Working parents are dependent on quality child care. Working parents and the community expect all children to be safe. Family child care is the preferred choice of child care for young children by working parents. Providers are entrusted with the responsibility of young children’s growth and development at the most critical time of a child’s life from birth to three years old. Virginia licensed Providers provide an essential public service. Providers need legislative intervention which assures us the right to freely access general liability CCI. The actions listed hereunder are recommended ways that you can provide assistance:
VA legislators could best protect providers and the public-at-large with a law that states a company cannot refuse to insure a home because there is an incidental child care business located in the home (it is primarily a residence, not a commercial business). The law could include a requirement that the homeowner insurance company be named in a liability/accident medical policy to receive a Certificate of Insurance.
CA, TN, FL and other state legislators have responded to this need to protect the public’s interest by passing insurance legislation regarding the child care industry. We know that Virginia may be different from the other states, but we believe that this need to assist providers with insurance problems through appropriate legislation also does apply to Virginia.
There are approximately 10,000 Child Care Providers in the Virginia Child Care Resource and Referral Services Data Base. This gives an insight into the magnitude of the problem. Left unresolved, this problem will ultimately lead to a disruption in services which supports working parents and Virginia’s economy. To avoid a disruption, we are requesting your help to implement the listed recommendations. Furthermore, we are recommending that child care associations in Virginia, such as the Virginia Alliance of Family Child Care Associations (VAFCCA), produce and publish a scorecard that identifies the names of both legislator supporters and non-supporters of this petition. It is very important to keep the public informed as to which elected official protects the infrastructure that supports children’s safety and development, working parents, and the public-at-large in the State of Virginia.
Mail the petition below to:
Silvia Mills
1965 Mills Lane
Charlottesville, Va. 22902
We the undersigned, endorse the petition on behalf of Family Child Care Provider's that face inadequate and discriminatory insurance coverage in the Commonwealth of Virginia:
Name __ Address___ _______Zip Code_ __
1.
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