(SANTA ROSA, CA)  Assemblymember Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa), Chair of the Assembly Democratic Caucus, is pleased to announce her co-authorship of bi-partisan legislation unveiled today requiring the state to establish a licensed child day care facility rating system.

“Nothing is more important than keeping our children safe,” says Evans.  “This legislation will help today’s working families make the best choices for child care.”

The state licenses about 58,000 child care facilities that serving some 1.2 million children.  But there is little information readily available to parents about the safety and quality of this care.  Assembly Bill 313 requires that a child care facility’s rating be made available on the website of the Department of Social Services and in a conspicuous place at each child care facility.

“We want to create a system that mirrors the posting of restaurant ratings by county health inspectors,” adds Evans.  “This simple system gets useful information out to the public.  It doesn’t take rocket science.”

The goal of AB 313 is to provide parents and the public with readily available information to make informed decisions about child care and provide child care providers with feedback about their services so they can adjust and improve.

A January report from the non-partisan Legislative Analyst’s Office, available online at http://www.lao.ca.gov/2007/childcare/childcare.pdf, recommends that lawmakers establish a ratings system for licensed child care facilities.

AB 313 is authored by Assemblymember John Benoit (R-Bermuda Dunes).  Joining Evans as a co-author is Assemblymember Ted Lieu (D-Torrance).  Further information about AB 313 is available online at http://www.leginfo.ca.gov.