News item | 5/31/2023 | 5:33 pm
There are currently major differences in the quality of care that childminders offer. To counter this, Minister Van Gennip (Social Affairs and Employment) wants to lay down additional quality requirements in law. Such as an obligation to draw up a pedagogical work plan for every host parent, to continue to work permanently on development and to provide a backup for all host parents. To help childminders comply with the new measures, the maximum hourly rate for childminder care will be increased by 21 euro cents in 2025. Minister Van Gennip writes this today in a letter to the House of Representatives
Guest parent care is an important form of childcare. It is small-scale and often offers more flexibility to parents. As a result, host parent care sometimes better meets the needs of parents and children than center care. The National Childcare Quality Monitor shows that a large group of childminders offer high-quality childcare, while at the same time 1 in 5 childminders have low or very low pedagogical quality. This means that children are stimulated to a limited extent in their development. A missed opportunity, which is why there will be additional quality requirements to reduce the differences between childminders.
Minister Van Gennip: “Parents must be able to trust that their child is in good hands at the shelter. Fortunately, the Netherlands has a very high quality of childcare. Nevertheless, I see room for equalizing the mutual quality within childminding. I am now taking various measures to contribute to this. I understand that this means a major turnaround for some childminder agencies and childminders, but in the end this will lead to better quality childcare.”
Measures to guarantee quality host parents
Minister Van Gennip is taking various measures to improve the guidance of childminders by childminder agencies, to increase the professionalism of childminders themselves and to strengthen supervision. For example, pedagogical coaching becomes a mandatory part of the guidance of childminders by childminder agencies. Childminder agencies must therefore have pedagogical expertise at HBO working and thinking level. The number of mediation relationships that a childminder may have is also limited to a maximum of two childminder agencies.
Taking care of children is a profession. That is why childminders need certain skills to be able to practice their profession properly. To guarantee this, following a pedagogical module in the training is mandatory before someone can become a childminder. Host parents must also continue to develop. This means that host parents continuously pay attention to education (further training or courses). In addition, it will be mandatory to record in a pedagogical work plan how the childminder applies the pedagogical policy of the childminder agency in practice. Finally, it will be mandatory for all childminders to arrange a backup who, in the event of an emergency, can be on site within 15 minutes.
Since 2022, to strengthen supervision, at least 50% of the facilities for childminders must be inspected annually. Every childminder will be inspected at least once every three years. In this way, municipalities and GGDs retain scope to carry out risk-oriented supervision.
Maximum hourly rate up
The measures mentioned above ensure that the differences in the quality offered by childminders are reduced. Some of the childminder agencies and childminders already comply with these measures. For others, this will require an extra effort. That is why Minister Van Gennip is considering a transitional period for childminder agencies and childminders to support them as well as possible. In addition, the maximum hourly rate for childminder care will be increased by 21 euro cents from 2025.
Amendment of the Childcare Act necessary
The Childcare Act must be amended for a number of measures. The internet consultation for this will go online next week. Anyone who wants to can share his or her opinion that way. Minister Van Gennip aims to be able to present a bill to the House of Representatives at the beginning of 2024 and to have the amendments take effect in 2025.