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momatheart 05:39 AM 03-03-2011
Thinking of centers not home daycare here. Would you want your center to have a pass code to enter the building? Would this be a deal breaker if the center did NOT have one?
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dEHmom 06:18 AM 03-03-2011
maybe I guess it would depend where the center is located? Like could anyone walk off the street wander in and steal a kid?

I've never heard of a pass code system, but I think it sounds like a good idea.
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momatheart 06:54 AM 03-03-2011
Yes anyone could walk in.

I have seen centers with passcode locks at the door. A parent will enter in a code then the doors unlock and the parent can walk in. If you are just anyone coming in you CANNOT get in and have to buzz someone who is inside.
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MommyofThree 06:55 AM 03-03-2011
That will deff be a deal breaker for me!
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Cat Herder 07:07 AM 03-03-2011
Eh, it goes several ways.

We have a passcode system at work and have been robbed (food, blankets, etc.homeless community, not violent offenders so far) several times because the keys get dirty/smudged/faded and anyone smart enough to notice it only has to make a couple trys of sequential ordering.

Unless you can get all 100+ parents to agree to learning a new code weekly AND make immature adults not tell their kids the code so they don't have to get out of the car ; you are open for people with too much time on their hands figuring it out.

At night, on weekends (even with a security system) it is free food and sleeping quarters, you know? Not to mention teens playing pranks on their old stomping grounds...

Ironic the ice creams and deserts always go first...
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DCMomOf3 07:14 AM 03-03-2011
When my son was in a center, that was one of the things that drew me to the place I picked. Deal breaker? I don't know but I do know I needed to be comfortable with my son's security.
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dEHmom 07:19 AM 03-03-2011
i know many places have those key card type security systems. where you either swipe a card, or scan the card.

Just so you know, the banks swipe card system, anything with a magnetic strip opens them. So I would say it would be best to use the key scan systems as security. I never realized that the key code systems would wear out and be easily figured out but that makes so much sense.
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kendallina 08:31 AM 03-03-2011
It wouldn't bother me if they didn't have a passcode. I've worked in centers with and without passcodes and honestly, when someone rings the bell thing, most of the time they're just buzzed in anyways without even asking what they're doing there. So, no, it wouldn't be a deal breaker at all.

Good luck on your search!
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QualiTcare 08:54 AM 03-03-2011
the center my kids went to had a passcode, but i don't know that it would've been a deal breaker if it didn't. even with a passcode - unless someone was sitting in the office (and lots of times they weren't) people would walk in behind a parent who put the code in.
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squareone 09:38 AM 03-03-2011
It's a definite beneft but NOT a dealbreaker.
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JenNJ 09:52 AM 03-03-2011
My sons preschool has a key pass system. They give one parent a key pass and the moment you turn in notice, they deactivate that specific key pass. I like it and it is the norm around here.
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Michael 03:19 PM 03-03-2011
Maturnity wards at hospitals are open to the public too. I should know, my wallet and my wife's purse were stolen from our room after our daughter was born.
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pinkbunny85 03:56 PM 03-03-2011
I like key fobs ...granted they are a bit more expensive but at the same time you have the chance to only have say dcf#1 rob work 8-530...dcf#2 9-4...and are able to change it if necessary.
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QualiTcare 05:14 AM 03-04-2011
Originally Posted by Michael:
Maturnity wards at hospitals are open to the public too. I should know, my wallet and my wife's purse were stolen from our room after our daughter was born.
it's almost impossible to keep people out of the hospital and even out of someone's room if they see something they want and really want to go in. chances are - the person who stole your purse/wallet was a family member or a visitor of someone else who had given birth. the place i work is HUGE and they've had issues with people coming in to take showers and use electricity during power outages or a water break in the community. usually patients are asked and warned to give their valuables to a family member OR let the nurse take inventory and lock their items up with security. i NEVER take my purse to work - ever.

it's NOT as easy to walk into the nursery without being identified as it is to walk into a room. most places have ID bracelets that are linked to a computer system and the have to be scanned/matched every time the baby is passed between the parents and the nurses. they have the same electronic system for medications which has prevented tons of medication errors aka saved lives. of course every system has flaws, but you have to remember also things have changed since dinosaurs roamed the earth. just kidding.
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emosks 07:31 AM 03-04-2011
Not sure if it would be a deal breaker but I would for sure look for a center that has one.

I'm an in-home provider and my front door has a key code to it and we have an alarm on the door so we know at all times when it is opened or shut. It's a perk to the parents and they love it.
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Cat Herder 08:51 AM 03-04-2011
Originally Posted by Michael:
Maturnity wards at hospitals are open to the public too. I should know, my wallet and my wife's purse were stolen from our room after our daughter was born.
OMGosh... Did you get to see the security video???

We had an orderly recently that was doing stuff like that.

Before it was all said and done..it was 18 people...

I will never understand it...
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Unregistered 08:59 AM 03-04-2011
It is a deal breaker to me. When I was touring for centers way back when, I passed on all centers if they didn't have a secure individual door code. It was not adequete to have one pass code for everyone to use. And it's wasn't adequate if they didn't have a written policy that all parents signed that states that parents are to not let visitors inside building - only center workers. That way, if something did happen and another family allowed in a killer, the families would be able to sue the family that violated the policy. The point is to be able to secure the building and protect the children. Can't do that with one code because you'll never know what family was coming in if something happens. In our area, there was a center that didn't have a front door locked policy and also didn't have a secured pass code entrance and someone off the street walked in with a gun randomly and threatened the front office worker. I personally prefer the key fob system over everything else, but almost all centers in our areas use push button security pads as the norm.
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Cat Herder 10:44 AM 03-04-2011
What is crazy is all of the home providers who are not allowed to lock their doors during daycare hours per licensing.....

I cringe for them every time I see that....
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blueclouds29 11:21 AM 03-04-2011
i'm not licensed and i ALWAYS have our doors locked. I live in a good neighborhood on a corner but you just never know now a days what kind of person can just come walking in. Scary thought!
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daycare 11:36 AM 03-04-2011
I don’t think a door lock would be a deal breaker for me. For me it would be the people in charge that matter.... If someone wants in, they will find a way in and vice versa.

100 %proper adult supervision is the only thing that will guarantee that my child will be kept safe. I would expect this from a center, as they have more adults to make this possible.
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DCMomOf3 11:55 AM 03-04-2011
Originally Posted by Michael:
Maturnity wards at hospitals are open to the public too. I should know, my wallet and my wife's purse were stolen from our room after our daughter was born.
that is sad. did you ever find who did it?
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Michelle 11:06 AM 03-08-2011
I have a family daycare and have always left my door unlocked and one day this lady just walked in my house just stood in my kitchen staring at me, I asked her who she is and she said nothing, then she just left!
she was not related to any of the daycare kids and never saw her again.
It freaked me out, so I have kept the door locked ever since , I don't care about regs, licensing comes once every 3 years. I need to protect these kids and my family
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SimpleMom 06:18 AM 03-10-2011
yes. it would be a deal breaker if there was no pass code and secured entrance.
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nancy123 05:55 AM 03-15-2011
The center I use does have a 4 digit code that is used to open the door. I feel this is a great safety feature, otherwise anyone could just walk in.
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Unregistered 11:31 AM 03-17-2011
When I lived in Pa. I worked at a kinder kare with a pass code system and thought nothing of it. In this day in age its not a bad idea but not nessasarily a deal breaker.
Debbie
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Unregistered 12:08 PM 03-17-2011
Originally Posted by Michael:
Maturnity wards at hospitals are open to the public too. I should know, my wallet and my wife's purse were stolen from our room after our daughter was born.
I know of a new mom whose baby was stolen a few years ago!!

http://www.thesudburystar.com/Articl...=true&e=761525
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Hunni Bee 05:12 PM 03-20-2011
We have one. It does its job most of the time...most of the parents dont know it, and must ring the bell to be let in. The only problem with it is that it has been the same the whole four years we've open...which means dozens of former staff have the code. Also, we used to give out the code to parents, so some of them know it as well. But we've never had an issue of unauthorized people in the building...

I think its a good thing to have, especially in large centers or centers located in busy, urban areas (as we are). But as long as its not possible for people to enter the building unchecked, I dont think its necessary.
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Michael 06:38 PM 03-20-2011
Originally Posted by QualiTcare:
it's almost impossible to keep people out of the hospital and even out of someone's room if they see something they want and really want to go in. chances are - the person who stole your purse/wallet was a family member or a visitor of someone else who had given birth. the place i work is HUGE and they've had issues with people coming in to take showers and use electricity during power outages or a water break in the community. usually patients are asked and warned to give their valuables to a family member OR let the nurse take inventory and lock their items up with security. i NEVER take my purse to work - ever.

it's NOT as easy to walk into the nursery without being identified as it is to walk into a room. most places have ID bracelets that are linked to a computer system and the have to be scanned/matched every time the baby is passed between the parents and the nurses. they have the same electronic system for medications which has prevented tons of medication errors aka saved lives. of course every system has flaws, but you have to remember also things have changed since dinosaurs roamed the earth. just kidding.
It was not a family member nor someone that was in the care of the hospital. We had the security review the camera/cctv footage and saw that it was a stranger off the street. The police were called but nothing ever became of it. Santa Monica after all, what would one expect? We were fortunate enough that the perp dropped both wallets in a mail box and the post office contacted us several days later. Only problem was we already had canceled all the credit cards.
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QualiTcare 09:09 PM 03-20-2011
Originally Posted by Michael:
It was not a family member nor someone that was in the care of the hospital. We had the security review the camera/cctv footage and saw that it was a stranger off the street. The police were called but nothing ever became of it. Santa Monica after all, what would one expect? We were fortunate enough that the perp dropped both wallets in a mail box and the post office contacted us several days later. Only problem was we already had canceled all the credit cards.
i said, "chances are - the person who stole your purse/wallet was a family member or a visitor of someone else who had given birth. the place i work is HUGE and they've had issues with people coming in to take showers and use electricity during power outages or a water break in the community."

meaning - it could've been anyone.

that was nice of the thief to put the wallets in the mailbox though. seriously, i don't think a lot of people know that if they find a lost/stolen ID to put it in the mail.
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Tags:locked doors, safety, security
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