Council member proposes home day care registration

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- One Houston City Council member is proposing an ordinance that she says will make home child care safer for children in the wake of the day care fire that killed four children last month.

Council Member Sue Lovell told us she is moving forward an ordinance that will require in-home day care providers to register with the city and would require an annual inspection of all the facilities by the fire marshals.

Currently, there is no annual inspection, as the state only comes in every other year.

"This will ensure the fact that they've been inspected and that they're safe, so parents can feel safe about taking their children to these facilities because the fire marshal has come in and done an inspection," Lovell said.

She also said there would be an online database to see which of the facilities have successfully completed the public safety inspection.

"Our goal in passing this ordinance is to make sure that all the children in the city of Houston that attend the home child care facilities are safe," said Lovell.

Home day care operators would pay a $100 registration fee and a $25 administrative fee. Lovell says if an operator doesn't comply with the public safety rules, there would be a $2,000 a day violation fee.

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