Over 50 day care providers, parents and others met with several state lawmakers Wednesday night in Marshall to talk about why providers are leaving the profession at such a high rate. In-home daycare provider Michelle Vavricka says she wouldn’t have become a provider in this state if she knew there would be this many regulations. “I would move back to Bay Area California and be a nanny in a minute — in a minute — because they are well spoken of, they’re treated better, they’re a part of the family,” Vavricka says. “But I watched my program go from something I was really, really proud of to something that’s been taken away step-by-step by every regulation, and now I’m afraid to do arts and crafts with the kids.”
Republican Representative Chris Swedzinski from Ghent says “it’s really important who becomes the next governor of the state and we just need to bring some common sense back into this.”