Daycare center
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Religious daycares across the country take millions in government subsidies — and due to a “God Loophole” based in complaints regarding the separation of church and state, they’re often exempt from typical regulation and even licensing that keeps the children that attend them safe.

As flagged by David McAfee at Patheos’ “The Friendly Atheist,” a recent investigation by The Virginian-Pilot found that in Virginia alone, religious daycares received at least $6.8 million through the state’s Child Care Subsidy Program.

“Licensed day cares have to undergo frequent inspections, background checks and staff training, much of which religious day cares can avoid,” the Virginian-Pilot report reads. “Centers that take subsidies have to comply with some, but not all, of those rules.”

As McAfee notes, however, the issue is far from contained to Virginia — and the dangers of such unregulated centers were exposed more than 18 months ago in an April 2016 exposé by Reveal News.

Reveal found that six states are the “most hands-off” culprits that take advantage of the loophole: “Alabama, Indiana, Missouri, Florida, North Carolina and Virginia offer […]