How Secure Is Your Childcare Facility?

Stories about the horrors of day care centers abound, from kids being kidnapped or wandering off to kids being abused and neglected. These horrid happenings could never occur at your child's facility, right? Are you sure?

Believe it or not, your daycare might not be as secure as you think.

Is the Staff Screened?

Background checks are easy to do and one of the best steps to take to ensure the integrity of any company's staff. All too often, this crucial step is ignored as the need for day care grows tremendously with the majority of households being dual income in today's economy. There is simply not enough time to thoroughly screen every applicant. Your child should not be placed in any facility without their assurance that all of their staff has undergone a background check. This is the very least you should expect from the center, and it holds true from the administrative staff to the caregivers themselves to the people who clean up at night.

How Easy Is It to Get Children In and Out?

One entrance, with someone sitting there to check children and their families in and out while the facility is in operation is a great sign. That's the ideal situation. Unfortunately, it's not always practical.

It is of utmost importance to your child's safety that your facility has a distinct plan to monitor who comes in and who goes out of the center. These plans must include screening measures to ensure that only authorized individuals are picking up the children. Some facilities have issued each family a personal identification number and only those possessing such a number are allowed to enter the facility and its grounds.

Child-Proofed Rooms

You would think it would be a no-brainer when you were talking about a facility that has children in and out, all day long, but if your childcare facility hasn't taken at least basic child-proofing measures it's time to turn around and walk the other way. This is especially important if you're looking at an in-home daycare, where fireplaces, baseboard electrical sockets and other hazards are more likely to be found.

What about Emergency Measures?

Looking at the worst scenario is never pleasant, but it must be taken into account and provided for. Every facility must have a plan to deal with fire, flooding, kidnapping, and any other emergency situation. Ask to see such a plan before enrolling your child in the facility.

How Does the Facility Deal with Abuse?

Any parent can understand it is possible to get so angry with a recalcitrant child that their instinct is to reach out and hit the little brat. But we don't do that as parents. We know it is wrong and stop ourselves. What if this does occur at your child care center and the caregiver doesn't stop themselves? It is an act that can certainly be understood, but must never be forgiven. The employee who does that must be fired, and given the severity of the situation, reported to authorities. Well-screened employees will not commit such misdeeds.

If the day care facility handles such situations promptly and properly, the parents who have entrusted their children to them will feel much more secure about their child's welfare while under their care.