In recent years, we have seen a growing increase in the number of childcare centers. Working parents and nucleus families are prominent reasons why there is a surge in the number of daycare or childcare centers. The choice of a childcare centre is one of the crucial decisions which a working parent will make to facilitate adequate and good health, safety, and overall wellbeing of their child while they are away for work throughout the day. Thousands of children are being treated in emergency rooms for injuries sustained at childcare centers or childcare homes each year in addition to those specific instances of negligence or abuse. Sadly, some of those children will end up losing their lives.
Know About The Childcare Center
There are several precautions that can be taken to ensure that a child is looked after while both the parents are away at work. The very first question a parent should ask is whether the childcare home has an open-door policy or not. If the answer is no, then you must say a no.
License To Operate
Next, a parent should ask the potential service provider whether they have been licensed by the state’s childcare licensing department in order to operate a childcare centre or home & whether the certification is still valid or not.
Assess The Staff Of The Childcare Center
You should necessarily check whether the staff in the childcare centre has been trained on blood-borne pathogens. With diseases like Hepatitis B, AIDS etc., and antibiotic-resistant strains of different infections. You should ensure that the childcare staffs in the concerned childcare centre always wear plastic gloves when changing diapers and administering first aid and that diapers and gloves are to be disposed of in a separate trash container labeled bodily fluids. All the trash cans should have plastic bags inside and locking lids. All the trash cans should necessarily be taken out at the end of each day to be disposed of safely.
Ask Questions
Parents should not be afraid or hesitant to ask for the license all the time from the staff and most recent inspection date. Find out how many toddlers, infants, and older children they are licensed for and how many children are presently cared for. Ensure that the staff has had a thorough background check done by the local police department and the state investigative agency. Health and Human Service agencies and local police departments will usually submit a formal request for a background check on a parent’s behalf for a very nominal fee.
Trained Staff
One of the factors that you must not be undermining is that the staff of the center is trained and know how to take care of the child. Parents should also find out if the childcare staff in the childcare centre has been trained on child neglect or abuse and the state reporting requirements for suspected child abuse. With rapidly increasing cases of domestic violence incidents and kidnapping by the non-custodial parents and other caregivers, parents should find out if doors are kept locked during the hours the centre is open for operation and how the childcare provider ascertains that the only approved officials are picking up a child and if they have a form which can be signed designating who can and cannot pick a child up.
Discipline
If you are putting your child in the daycare center, then you are expecting them to be disciplined and learn something good. Hence, it becomes important that you must see if the center follows the right protocol regarding timing, training of the staff, and learning. Besides, they must also be trained on medical aspects. The other training staff should necessarily have a positive discipline, complete knowledge of child development techniques, nutrition tactics, how to prepare and store food and how to prevent food borne illnesses and food allergies.
The staffs of the childcare centre should necessarily be re-certified annually on administering infant CPR and other CPR, choking and the care of toddlers, infants and pre-school age children by the apex authorizing body in the region. You need to ensure that there is enough staff to care for the children in the centre or the private childcare home.
Conclusion
As a parent, you should necessarily take a walk of the concerned childcare centre which should include the childcare home, including the outdoor play areas, the kitchen where the food is being prepared for the children etc. After the proper determination of all these factors, if you are completely convinced, only then you should opt to finalize the childcare centre for your kid.