How Secure Is Your Childcare Facility?

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

You hear nightmarish stories about kids wandering off or being kidnapped from their daycare centers, but that could never happen to you... could it? I mean, your daycare center is perfectly secure. Isn't it?

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.

Are the Children Able to Get In and Out of the Facility Easily?

The ideal situation for a day care center would have only one door with a sentry checking children, their families and everyone else in and out during operating hours. This can't usually be the case, however, as it is apt to be impractical.

The drop-off and pick-up arrangements your child care facility has put in place is an extremely important factor in keeping the children safe. There must be extra screening for the person responsible for knowing who is authorized to pick up your child from the center. Some facilities will issue each family a personal identification number, without which, no one picks up the child or is granted access to the facility.

Are Rooms Child-Proofed?

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.

Are Emergency Protocols in Place?

No one likes to think about the worst happening in their childcare facility, but every childcare provider should have a well-established plan in place for dealing with fire, flooding, kidnapping and other emergency situations. Ask any potential provider to show you theirs before enrolling your child

What is the Policy for Dealing with Abuse in the Childcare Setting?

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.

In the event that you found interest in the above content you can actually go to the Home of Thad Pryor to find out more about Thad Pryor.