The quantity and quality of child care services is becoming an enormous national challenge as two-earner families become the rule rather than the exception and with millions of former welfare recipients, most often single mothers, going to work. Public subsidies, through tax credits and grants, for child care have been rising steadily for a decade. Yet hardly a week goes by without the uncovering of some horror story about neglect, abuse, or mismanagement of child care centers, illustrating the need to give parents better information about child care providers that receive public funds.

Tennessee is a state that made an admirable decision to invest heavily in public subsidies for child care as part of its strategy for welfare reform. But far too little was done to provide accountability for the use of these public funds. Tragically, three children died in Memphis in separate incidents where child care providers left them unattended for hours in unventilated vans. A major investigative series in the Memphis Commercial Appeal turned up a witches' brew of neglect and mismanagement among child care centers, including companies heavily dependent on public support that paid exorbitant salaries to executives while under-paying and under-training actual child care workers. These revelations incited Tennessee State Representative Carol Chumney (D-Memphis) (a participant in last year's and this year's DLC National Conversation) to lead the charge for comprehensive legislation to provide safeguards and real accountability in child care.

After a long fight with industry lobbyists, and a successful effort to engage the initially reluctant Sundquist Administration in Nashville, Chumney won the day in late June with the enactment of major portions of her legislation. The centerpiece is a requirement for report cards for every child care facility receiving public funds that would simply and clearly inform parents of health and safety conditions; the number, training, and education of staff; programs for child development; accreditation status; and the adequacy of physical facilities. Many states have evaluation programs for child care centers, but thanks to Chumney, Tennessee has one of the first systems based on universal standards and clear, parent-friendly criteria.

Clear accountability for use of public funds is a fundamental New Democrat principle, whether the "user" is a state agency, a public school, or a private provider of public services. Accountability can be provided by detailed regulation and micromanagement, which is likely to reduce the supply of critical services like child care, or by basic safeguards, clear standards, transparency, and reliable information. Carol Chumney, and her state of Tennessee, are getting accountability right. (For more information, call Rep. Chumney or Sharon Peters, her legislative assistant, at 615-741-1855).