i. What policy is being discussed?/Brief description of issue that prompted the policy response.
The policy being discussed here is the health and safety of child health care. The policy covers the need for licensed and competent health care providers to children as well as inspection of such facilities. This was a policy that was carried out in order to assess the facilities that provide routine health care children. It was carried out unannounced in order to find out those operating without licenses and the number of routine health care centers that provide adequate and sufficient health care services to children as stipulated as requirement during issuance of license (Shonkoff,2000).
ii. Discuss the particulars of the policy? In other words what is contained in the legislation?
The legislation supports continued support to child health care providers in order to realize sustainable and safe early care and education programs to children. The legislation as well as contains licensed state health care inspection report that provides valuable data findings for strategic planning efforts (Shonkoff, 2000).
The researcher also found out the number of licensed healthcare providers and the services they offer to children as per the regulations. The policy stipulates the requirement safety standards for the playground and other essential services (Shonkoff, 2000).
iii. What are the research questions that the article answers?
The research questions that the policy answers are;
1. What is the number of licensed child health care providers that practices the available regulations?
2. Does the routine child healthcare provider contain safe facilities to administer care to children?
3. Does the routine healthcare providers offer playground for children and other playing activities.
4. What percentage of the licensed healthcare providers comply the regulations required under the law
iv. How do the researchers answer the questions? This is contained in the methodology section or some equivalent.
The researchers analyzed 676 routine child health care providers, they visited them unannounced and collected reports of child care centers from Connecticut Department of Public Health licensing specialistsover a period of two years and then created categories of regulations.
v. What are the answers to the questions?
They found that, out of the samples, only 41% child care centers are licensed and out of the 13categories of regulations in the analyses, only seven categories such as emergency preparedness, infant-toddler indoor, health,outdoor safety, indoorsafety, staff documentation, and infant-toddler indoor safety complied with the regulations, with noncompliance level more than 10%.
It was also found out that playground hazard-free was theregulation with the highest percentage of noncompliance standing at 48.4%.
vi. Discuss the stakeholders, organizations, and people who are impacted by the public policy as well as how the different levels of government interact as a result of the legislation (federal, state, and local)?
The stakeholders here are the children, the parents and the proprietors of such facilities. The children's safety should be put given the priority and, therefore, healthcare providers have the obligation to ensure that they meet the regulations under the law. The parents have the role to report facilities that endanger the safety of children. The policy as well would ensure the safety of the general public and build their confidence in using routine child healthcare and education facilities (Aronson, 2002).
vii. Does the article fit into an existing theoretical framework? In other words, what theory(ies) does the article address that was discussed in class or in the text?
The article addresses the theories of child care and therefore fits into theoretical framework of safety and health of children while they are out of their parents' care (Aronson, 2002).
viii. What are the strengths/weaknesses of the article?
The strength of the article is that it gives the recommendations and the conclusions of what the policy should include in the regulations in order to ensure safety and healthy living for children while in routine education and health care facilities. The weakness is that it does not give the means of punishment for those who violate the safety requirements in the legislation.
ix. What future implications or policy trends/precedents does the policy set if any in your opinion?
The policy sets out that continued monitoring of early education and child health care facilities should be inspected from time to time to ensure safety of the children
x. What could the researchers have done different?
The researcher would have given the punishments that those who violate such regulations should be imposed to.
xi. Contributions to the field of public policy.
The policy contributes the general public by boosting their confidence in routine early childe education and health care facilities; hence, they send their children to such facilities without doubt.