Inaction on retransfer of childcare to PSS dismays BOE chair

The Board of Education has expressed dismay over the continued “inaction” of Gov. Eloy S. Inos on the Public School System’s repeated appeals to restore the administration of the CNMI Child Care Program to its fold.

In an interview with Saipan Tribune, board chair Herman T. Guerrero said that regulations and policies for the childcare program remain intact in the hopes that the program will be given back to the system.

“We haven’t repealed our regulations and technically, we still have the policies on childcare program because it’s an important component in our mission to develop the total package of a child,” he said.

Then-governor Benigno R. Fitial signed Executive Order 07-10 on Oct. 16, 2007, assigning the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs as the lead agency for the federal childcare and development fund program. The program gives the CNMI a $1.7 million annual grant from the U.S. Child Care and Development Block Grant Program.

Saipan Tribune learned that the Childcare Development Program was under PSS for the last 15 years before it was turned over to DCCA.

According to Guerrero, the absence of the childcare program under its auspices is now creating a gap in the system’s mission to take care of the total development package of every child. He believes that the previous administration’s decision was politically motivated, considering that PSS has historically managed the program well.

Since the Inos administration came to office in 2013, the BOE made attempts to have the childcare program restored to PSS, to no avail.

PSS currently administers both the Head Start and Early Intervention programs—both federally funded.

“It seems that they look at things more on a political perspective and not interested in the total development of a child, which is the national trend,” Guerrero told Saipan Tribune, referring to the federal government’s push for the CNMI and other states to consider implementing the Early Head Start program for 0-3 year olds.

Guerrero said the childcare program will play a pivotal role in the continuous development of each child from birth. This, he said, will mesh with the system’s Early Intervention and Head Start programs, which both cater to small children.

For Guerrero, childcare is more than a “baby-sitting” program. There are important related services that must be accessed by both children and parents that he believes PSS can provide, including the needed expertise.