Private Equity Child Care Chains Drew 2x Complaints in 3 States, Senate Report Finds
Updated
Updated · The Washington Post · Nov 13
Private Equity Child Care Chains Drew 2x Complaints in 3 States, Senate Report Finds
2 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Nov 13
Summary
KinderCare and Learning Care Group posted roughly twice the complaint rate of other for-profit chains and nearly three times that of all other child care centers in California, Texas and Virginia over five years.
The Democratic Senate Budget Committee report also found the two chains had about double the rate of high-risk citations, with higher supervision-related citations in Texas and Virginia.
Sen. Jeff Merkley said the findings point to degraded service and faulted the companies for not providing most of the information he requested, forcing staff to rely on state licensing records, filings and financial statements.
Both companies disputed any link between private equity ownership and safety problems, saying stronger incident reporting and expanded safety protocols can produce higher reported numbers.
The findings add pressure to a child care sector where private equity has invested in 8 of the 10 largest for-profit operators and where Democrats will gain broader investigative power in January.
If corporate daycares score higher on formal quality ratings, why do they simultaneously generate double the safety complaints of independent providers?
Are private equity investors sacrificing critical child safety and staff stability to extract higher profits from the daycare industry?
Could the impressive accreditations of your child's corporate daycare actually be masking a hidden history of high-risk safety violations?