European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 9, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Continued from Page 13 to roughly 70 youngsters. About 500 children Are enrolled in the existing centers in Hanau a Community heavily populated with troops who regularly spend time in the Field. In addition to the child development centers the Hanau military Community has 120 certified family child care Homes available to families needing child care services. Others on the waiting lists turn to the German Economy instead and place their children in local Day care facilities or seek out care providers from the local population. Some family member wives consider leaving their jobs and losing their family s second income. And others say they would have thought twice about following their husbands to Germany if they d known about the Lack of child care. Money would solve a number of the problems faced by the military child care Industry experts say. Military child care operations which pay care givers about $4 an hour compete with higher paying jobs in the Exchange and commissary systems to keep lower Echelon staff. And additional Money is needed for facilities. About 10 percent of Usa eur s 131 child development centers were built within the last few years. Many facilities now used As child care centers originally were intended for other uses including horse stables Barracks dining facilities Heaters and More. Frankfurt s seven centers All Are Between 45 and 50 years old and none originally were intended to be child care centers. Just keeping up with maintenance is a Challenge said Carolyn Moeller chief of Frankfurt s family support division. Among the problems posed by older buildings Moeller said Are old electrical systems that May take the lights out every so often poor locations and inefficient space that limits the number of children that can be accommodated but requires increased staffing. One example of a poor location is Frankfurt s Camp King child development Center which shares a building with a single soldiers dormitory. The soldiers daytime working hours prevent them however from having Contact with youngsters who attend the Center a necessity for child care authorities in restricting unknown unscreened adults Access to children in their care. In addition the building has been renovated to provide separate entrances for children and soldiers Moeller said. But having a new building is no guarantee of a perfect facility As engineers and child care workers in Pir Masens West Germany Learned. Is Dave Diehl Nick Batey chose his Job working with children at the Raf Mildenhall England child care Center because i d rather be Happy than  within three years of its $785,500 construction the Pir Masens child care Center had to shut its doors and move its operations to other quarters for five months to accomplish $263,150 in repairs to structural deficiencies. But the need for renovation did t end with last year s repairs. Recent standardized interpretations of army child care centers safety requirements some designed to protect children from child abuse will Force additional changes to Pir Masens 4-year-old building. Usa eur authorities said the Pir Masens situation was unique noting that the child care Center there was one of the first new centers to be built in the command. Quality of care the level of training required by care providers in the military child care systems is hotly debated by care givers and parents alike. Twenty hours of free training Are initially required for family Day care providers the people who open their Homes to care for others children. Family Day care providers living in government housing must be certified to operate a child care business in their Homes. Workers at Day care centers must take 35 hours of training within six months of their hiring. At an education program held last Spring in Baum older for pregnant gis one Young Soldier already the Mother of one child said she did t need a care provider with extensive training. The Cost of training drove up the Price of a Sitter she said. I just want some place to take my kids she said. Professionals disagree. If that child is just watched that child s potential will be lost said Bonnie storm child development services never ending search manager Usa eur Community and family support Agency. No one really wants that for his child. Maybe we be failed in our Job of educating parents and Why it s important to look for Quality care storm  then there Are parents like 2nd it. Dawn e. Reed Baum older who worries that her child who attends an army run child care Center won t be As Well prepared for kindergarten in terms of structured activities and academic learning As her Peers in the civilian world. When they get to kindergarten they have to know a fair amount How to write their whole name counting Reed said. I Don t like to see kids pushed too hard but i m not sure she s receiving enough education at Day care to prepare for  family members who provide family Day care in their Homes in government housing must be certified. But some opt not to take the training and care for others children regardless of the risk of being caught. If caught offenders usually Are Given a period of time to Stop the practice. In some communities offenders and their families face being forced out of military housing if they do not comply. A Baum older Soldier who asked not to be identified takes his three children to an uncertified care giver who works out of government housing. He said he preferred the Home setting for his children because of less exposure to disease and because of his work schedule. The schedule often requires Odd shifts and trips to the Field. I Don t think it s any of their business who takes care of my kids the Soldier said. Although some family Day care providers and Center workers enter the profession because they have few marketable skills others choose to work with children because they enjoy the work. Ann Cody 27, has a Bachelor s degree in English with an emphasis on literature. Formerly employed at an army run child care Center in Kaiserslautern Cody came to Germany on a tourist visa and could not find writing work other than As a Volunteer. Child care was the Only work among the jobs available to her that she was interested in. A child s learning capability develops Early. I was interested in being part of that stimulation Cody said. Foreign involvement in child care it is not Only americans who become involved in the . Military s child care system in Europe. In the 1950s and 1960s, the trend in child care for military households overseas was toward hiring local women As live in maids and baby Sitters. Local help still is often sought by those who Don t wish to take their children to someone else s Home or leave them at a child care Center. 1 when i went Back to work i was not Happy about dragging my kids out of bed five Days a week to go to a child care Center said Nancy Roberts who until recently lived near Ramstein a West Germany. Roberts hired a Middle aged German woman with grown is Lynda w. Sparks Forks spoons and fingers Are All put to Good use during meal time at the children s Center in Berlin. Children to care for her children at an hourly rate of 5 Marks or $2.89, for the two of them. That s roughly 30 cents More per hour than Roberts would have paid at an area child care Center. She comes to my House so the children can sleep in. She dresses them feeds them the whole routine Roberts said. She has become  Roberts care giver is so dedicated to her Job that when she s been ill she still would come As Well As on German holidays. She might dress them up real fancy and take them to see her family Roberts said. Although the Roberts Nanny does not speak English one of her daughters does. And Roberts believes her children benefited by having a German care giver particularly in developing German language skills at an Early age. How can they lose Roberts asked. In some instances local help May be less expensive than taking a child to a care Center. I in Turkey for example one week of full time care for one child at the Izmir child care Center costs $45. For about $35, a turkish maid will take care of several children for the same amount of time. Cheaper does t necessarily mean better in the View of child care professionals. The maids Don t provide stimulation for the child said Kitzi , director of the Izmir child care Center. At preschool time it s obvious which have gone to child care centers and which have had a turkish maid. The ones who had a maid for awhile Don t talk. They miss  for less than $5 a Day Vickie catch cot employs a turkish maid two Days a week who watches catch cot s two children mops sweeps dusts and washes dishes and clothes. American babies very Nice said the maid who is nicknamed Jamie by the american families she works for. Turkish baby too much play. I like babies and housework. I prefer american because they Are so kind and  catch cot said she does t see language As a problem but she does observe cultural differences in the turks ways of treating children. 1 turks let kids do anything catch cot said. Men in child care although men Are scarce in the military child care business they re not non existent. Take for instance tech. Sgt. Antonio Ruiz assigned to Raf Lakenheath England. Ruiz and his wife to believe they re the first husband and wife team of .-certified family Day care providers in the United kingdom. Although it s a career Field dominated by women Ruiz thinks men actually May have an advantage or two in caring for children. 1 it s the lower voice Ruiz said noting that the deeper tones May somehow impart a greater authority than a woman s voice. Children will always test you to see How far they can go. But they Don t really want to  Nick Batey is an englishman employed by the Raf Mildenhall England child care Center who chose working with children because i d rather be Happy than  the biggest misconception about his chosen profession Batey said has nothing to do with the provider s gender. Child care is something you have to be Good at Batey said. I think a lot of people go into it because they think it s an easy Job. It in t. You get no peace. You really have to be Able to relate to children. Choosing to work in a care Center should t be a Choice Between the Burger bar and a child care  tomorrow a portrait of a child care provider who wants children to feel love in her Home. Also contributing to this report was staff writer Janet Howells Tierney in Turkey question of Cost by Deedee Arrington Doke staff writer Hild care in t cheap. It is a Cost Many parents Don t consider when a new addition to the family already is on the Way. Military families in particular Are prone to expecting their services to meet their needs at Low or no Cost. And their definition of what is Low Cost May differ drastically from their Community or base commander s. What parents pay for child care in a base or Community child care Center depends on How much each Community is willing to support the centers financially. In army run centers the Usa eur recommended Range currently is $160 to $240 per month for full time care with discounts available for lower enlisted personnel. However a new fee Range of $180 to $220 per month which also leaves intact discounts for eligible soldiers has received tentative approval according to Bonnie storm child development services manager Usa eur Community and family support Agency. That Means that some child care centers which already charge at the High end of the existing Range will be forced to lower their rates once the new fee schedule is put in place storm said. Because of additional funding made available to child care programs recently by Usa eur officials storm said the centers forced to Cut their rates can t say they can t afford  at air Force centers in Europe fees Range from a Low of $42.50 per week or $170 per four week month to a High of $63 per week or about $252 a month for children Ages 3 and above. For infants the Range is slightly higher $45 per week to $72 per week or $180 to $288 for a four week month. The average Cost for child care at the Navy s child development centers in Greece Italy Spain and the United kingdom is $1.60 per hour or $50 per week adding up to about $200 a month. Although some programs Don t break even Many military authorities Don t  make the rates less affordable. Do we continue to raise the Cost for the Soldier we want to do that As Little As possible said Brig. Gen. Evelyn p. Foote Deputy inspector general of the army during a recent visit to Europe. We Don t want to make this a profit making program. Life in Europe is expensive  the children s defense fund estimates the average annual Cost of child care in the United states is $3,000. According to statistics provided by the National association for education of Young children the weekly rates of Day care centers in Dallas Range from $65 to $120 and $55 to $90 for family Day care. In Boston Day care centers Cost from $125 to $148 weekly and family care averaged $150. In Atlanta infant Day care costs $120 a week on the average and family care ranges from $35 to $150. In san Francisco Day care centers Cost Between $90 and $130 per week while family care costs $65 to $90 a week. Here Are some examples of rates charged by private Day care centers situated near military bases in the United states Sumner Wash near fort Lewis and Mcchord fab Charlie Brown s Library in Sumner wash., near fort Lewis and Mcchord fab at Tacoma charges $12.50 per Day for children under 18 months and $11.50 per Day for children older than that. Portsmouth a. Near Norfolk Collinwood Church Day care charges $60 per week for infants under 2 and $50 per week for toddlers Ages 2 to 9. Limestone Maine near Loring fab care primarily available in private Homes such As that of Frieda Durepo who charges $8 per Day for All children. Gulf Stone miss near Keesler fab kid s play child care Center charges $40 a week for one child Over 2 and $45 for under 2. Sierra Vista Ariz near fort Hua Chuca Sierra Christian Day care Center charges $62.50 per week for one child full time or $250 per month. For two children the weekly rate is $112.50 and the monthly rate is $450. The third child is free. However children must be at least 2 years old and toilet trained. Contributing to this report were staff writers William Bartman and Chuck the stars and stripes monday january 9,1989 the stars and stripes Page 15