Barriers to an Enabling Nurturing Care Environment for Children in Day-care Settings

Authors: Stephen Ikonya1, Allan Ragi1, Jack Ndegwa1, Charity Wachira1 Institutional Affiliation:Kenya AIDs NGOs Consortium (KANCO) Children of mothers working in the informal sector are linked to increased poor health and nutritional outcomes due to gaps in childcare standard operational procedures, regulations, policies and budgetary allocation for children aged 0- 4 years. There is also little or no funding for the day-care centres for improving service delivery. The study employed qualitative and quantitative approaches. In-depth interviews were conducted with 36 mothers of children aged 0-4 years, supplemented by interviews with 2 stakeholders and five focus group discussions with parents of children aged 6– 23 months in groups of 7-10. Questionnaires were administered to 38 day-care owners. Thematic analysis indicated that: Low income, financial instability, limited knowledge on caregiving, low male involvement, child neglect, low exclusive breastfeeding rates, poor hygiene, space and staff limitations as barriers to an enabling nurturing care environment at the centres. Day-care data indicated: 81% were unregistered; 90% lacked children records; 95% had only one caregiver with no or little training on ECD; 75% did not have play materials; 80% charged less than 1 USD per day and lacked access to credit. There is need for increased and focused investments in the early years of life to promote quality care within day-cares; Development and implementation of a childcare policy; Formation of Multi Sectoral forums for increased accountability and advocacy for increased resources; Governments to offer community child care services at subsidized rates; establishing short term training for caregivers to enhance their capacity on ECD and standardization, monitoring and strengthening of child care facilities.