Clinton Urges Aid for Checks on Caregivers

WASHINGTON — President Clinton on Saturday called on Congress to approve initiatives aimed at helping working parents, including legislation to help ensure that child-care workers have no criminal backgrounds.

In his weekly radio address on the eve of Mother’s Day, the president sought to inject new life in his administration’s package of child-care reforms, including a little-noticed “background check” proposal he submitted to Congress last fall.

That proposal allows criminal record checks on all child-care employees through the FBI’s fingerprint section by eliminating state barriers to the process.

His bill, known as the National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact, allows background checks on child-care providers by removing provisions in state laws that prevent the sharing of criminal history information for noncriminal purposes. As such, the measure would require approval by Congress and most of the 50 states.

Last month, the president directed that all federal day-care centers use the FBI’s fingerprint facilities to make background checks on all employees.

Clinton said improving the quality and safety of child care would help give mothers “peace of mind.”

He cited figures showing that “three of five mothers with children under 6 are working to meet their obligations to their children and their employers.”

“Juggling those responsibilities is even more difficult when quality child care is either hard to find or too expensive for those who need it,” the president said.

To help parents find the best care for their children, Clinton also released a consumer guide published by the Department of Health and Human Services that suggests four steps that should be taken in choosing a child-care center: “Interview the potential caregivers, check references, evaluate how the caregiver meets your child’s needs and stay involved.”

The White House said the guide would be available to parents through the Internet.

In January, the president unveiled the keystone of his child-care package, $21.7 billion in proposed tax breaks and federal subsidies to reduce the financial burden on working parents.

The administration’s plan gives states an extra $7.5 billion over five years to increase child-care subsidies they provide to eligible parents. As a result, the number of children eligible for such assistance would double, to more than 2 million.

Promoting the package, which is languishing in Congress despite a measure of bipartisan support, Clinton said, “I urge Congress to join me in making child care better, safer and more affordable for those who need it.”

But Sen. John Chafee (R-R.I.), who has an alternate plan for child-care funding, said the president must do more to support the cause.

“The momentum that we were building toward consensus on a child-care bill earlier this year has sputtered out,” Chafee said in a statement. “It’s going to take a stronger and much more active push from the White House to get the proverbial ball rolling again.”

Chafee has offered legislation to provide tax credits for stay-at-home parents and double funding for the Child Care Development Block Grant program, which helps low-income and working parents who have children in day care.

Some congressional Republicans have criticized Clinton’s plan as favoring families in which both parents are working, to the exclusion of what they call “traditional” families in which the mother stays home with the children.

In his radio address, Clinton also criticized a proposed reform of the nation’s bankruptcy laws, currently pending in Congress, that he said would unfairly penalize mothers who are owed child support. The proposal forces such mothers to compete with large creditors, such as banks and credit card companies, when a father owing support files for bankruptcy.

“That’s not the law now, and if that competition starts, we all know who will lose the contest: our children,” Clinton said. “They shouldn’t have to stand in line for the support they need.”