http://www.nbcbayarea.com/investigat...e-records.html


This story was aired on our local nightly news last night. The story is is about how "inadequate" our states licensing department is, in regards to CA not having an online database of provider (FCC/preschool/afterschool etc) records. Now, I started off reading the article and agreeing, sure wouldn't it be nice to have all the info in one place.....until....you get to that ONE paragraph

"Calling or visiting such a little-known office is too high a barrier for busy parents of young children, the state auditor concluded in a 2006 report. The offices are open only during typical work hours, and most parents who send their children to child care do so because they’re at work."

And that did it for me. Making a phone call to check the backround of the person who you are entrusting with your child's life is "too much of a barrier"

I just don't know what to say. Yes, our states licensing agency is prob not the greatest. Yes, there are so e awful providers out there who make a bad name for us all. I won't disagree that. But I've always received a call back within 24hrs. Furthermore, parents in CA are given the provider lic # along with the phone number for the local community care licensing department with their notice of parents rights.

Now, I've ranted on. What are your thoughts?

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I feel for the child care agencies in your area. Every time something is on the news that is bad here in TN, the rules/reg get even more stiff. Why does the news only report on the bad that goes on in child care.....

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This daycare is about 20 min away from me. The state is so disorganized it is ridiculous. I use this to my advantage and show my parents my inspection reports. We are supposed to keep them on file and I have my license and everything I need up on my board.

The scary thing about being licensed in California is that you are always afraid you are going to have an inspection and get sited for something that you were not aware of, or that you misinterpreted. I have read all pages of Title 22 regs along with all of the information that I got from the Preventative Health and Safety class. Before my inspection, I tested my fridge for temperature, my water temp, I changed my air filter, I went above and beyond in the way of emergency disaster kits, etc. The reason is because they give you all of these things to do, but then you don't know if it is really required. For example, we have to post an Earthquake Preparedness Checklist but we don't have to have all of the things on it checked, we just have to have it posted. I however, made sure to go through the checklist and do everything on the list because why would they make us post a checklist and not want us to complete it, right? I started going through it with the inspector and he said he has never had anyone complete all of the items. Um, what? Then why do we have to post the checklist? Why did I pay for 3 day emergency kits for the kids? (I'm actually happy I did that because it is a terrific selling point and it makes me feel prepared).

I wouldn't want to live in any other place, I love this state, but the actual state government part is so broken! With all of the tourism and income generation we have in this state, we should be top notch!

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I will say however that my inspector is awesome! He always emails me back with any questions I have. I like to ask questions over email so I can keep records just in case there is any conflict. He goes above and beyond to answer my questions and I know if I had any major problems I could count on him!

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Well I will be on my toes for an inspection in the near future!

Honestly- even if you call the licensing dept. it's not a guarantee that you'll find out the history of the provider. It only goes back 3yrs. and sadly, I know many providers haven't been inspected in over 3yrs so that info is completely invalid. Of course there's also a provider close by who hasn't had a visit in over 4yrs, at some point this year it will be 5yrs! I had my first scheduled visit to get my license 14 mos ago and nothing since. I know inspectors were in the area last summer because someone opened a new Large Family Daycare. I guess they're so busy with complaints and scheduled visits that they don't keep up on the drop-in visits? I don't know...
I know our city doesn't have a designated inspector so it's just the inspector of the day who also fields calls through the day.

Unfortunately I had a horrible experience with our past provider. I found out she'd been drinking beyond the point of intoxication (like passes out, throwing up, etc) and allowing her 10yr old to care for my infant and toddler. My older boys (and her 2 that were similar ages) were old enough to just fend for themselves I guess. I didn't find out for awhile, her dh called me at work one day to say she was closing her daycare temporarily and my kids were at his sister's house until I get them. He wouldn't tell me why at first but I said after 7yrs with her that he owed me an explanation! He said she was entering a treatment facility for alcoholism. No details. His sister on the other hand was more than willing to tell me ALL the details. How she drove drunk with my kids, she had been called on numerous occasions to help because our provider was so out of it. She have me a specific incident that I remembered and it made sense. My dh & I had argued probably 18 mos prior that he thought she was maybe indulging a little close to pickup because she seemed really loopy when he picked up early one day. There were times my toddler was wearing the baby's clothes and the baby wearing the toddler's clothes but chalked it up to being busy. There were several red flags looking back but I trusted her so much, she was more like a sister to me than just a daycare provider. We went camping together, we did other things together after hours, we were friends too. I eventually turned her in when it was called by a social worker asking about my experience at her daycare and if anything out of the norm happened. I was worried about lying to this person and told them what happened. But I also told them she went to treatment and I took my kids back after because she said she was better but recently switched to in-home provider a couple months before and hadn't heard from her since leaving her care (which was weird as well...) I assumed something horrible happened and felt awful. It turns out they were investigating something else altogether. Why didn't the provider give me a heads up? Why didn't she give me a heads up? Did she expect me to lie when they called? That was the end of our friendship and the beginning of a lot of issues with her. The only thing they could cite her for was sleeping during business hours because there was no "proof" of anything else and she went to a treatment program. I called licensing just to see what was on her record back at the end of 2012 and the only thing on her immediate record was some violations from 2009, unlocked meds, unlocked cleaners, no earthquake/fire drill on record, files not up to date, etc. No mention of the drinking or sleeping. I believe she's still doing childcare, at least for her own grandson and perhaps a couple other kids. I know she accidentally gave someone an old referral sheet with my info on it and asked that I ignore their call. It happened to be someone I had interviewed as well and I knew they wouldn't call me since they just were at my house. It scares me to think of children in her care. She's also since gotten a DWI conviction after hitting someone's car and blowing under a 0.08, but since she was in an accident it's a DWI not a DUI. Anyway, no one has access to that info either.

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Where did you get your emergency kits for your kids?

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Step on soap box - Yes, CA's system is broken in a million different ways. Our rules and regs are so gray that they are impossible to interpret. Now, step down.

I don't blame just the system, though. I blame EVERY SINGLE parent who has a child in daycare that doesn't ask questions, doesn't show up at unannounced times, doesn't talk to their child and ask questions, doesn't take the time to KNOW what is going on behind the scenes.

And, yes, I was one of those parents. My kids can give you every horror story in the book. Things I didn't know about until years after the fact. It was my responsibility to know what was going on and I didn't. My dh happily dropped the girls off in the AM and I happily picked them up in the PM. I never questioned anything. I felt secure that my 3 kids were being taken care of.

A few things that happened to my kids.....

Teenaged babysitter arrested for shoplifting. My kids got a ride home in a police car. She told them not to tell and they didn't.

Balloons put in my 3 yo's shirt and darts thrown at her
.
My then, 3 and 5 yo locked outside in the FRONT yard from after breakfast to lunch and then again after lunch until just before I got there. They were allowed to roam the neighborhood by themselves. I found out when I questioned why my 2 3 yos were wetting their pants every day. They weren't allowed in to go potty.

5 yo allowed to go to the park with the provider's 6 yo and a 3 yo by themselves. I found out when my 5 yo told me that she and the 6 yo had to spank the 3 yo for not minding them.

Came home early to find an empty 6 pack of beer on my kitchen table.

Kids never fed in the house at one provider's. All meals were served outside on the covered patio - rain, heat, wind, cold, hot, etc.

4 yo allowed to ride on the handlebars of an older kid's bike. She stuck her foot in the front spokes and tore up her foot.

Same 4 yo was on the provider's bro's shoulder while he was roller blading. He fell and she ended up with a huge goose egg on her head. School reported me the next day.

School called to say provider was abusive, grabbing and hitting my daughter, and they would report me if I didn't change provider's immediately. Dd denied the school's accusation. Said the teacher and provider got into an argument about where provider parked.

These are just a few things that I knew about. I always ended up firing my provider on a Friday night and having to take Monday off to find a new one.

Can anyone say why I quit my very lucrative job to stay home and provide daycare???????

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Wow, licensing comes here 6 times + 1 announced for re-evaluation per licensing yr unless you are 3-stars and then they come 3 times + 1 announced visit. Not to mention annual visits by the health/env which comes twice, fire which comes once and the food program which comes 4 times. AND THE STATE STILL THINKS WE NEED AN ASSESSMENT TO VALIDATE WHO WE ARE....GO FIGURE!!!!!

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I'm really not surprised to read about this.

In fact I have a 2 yo dcb and the same thing happened to him at his previous DC. His mom went to pick him up early from DC he was 8 weeks old...with horrible reflux....he was screaming his head off in the DCP master bedroom closet in a pnp. All he wanted was his pacifier to go back to sleep. His mom wrote a $400 check to terminate DC services right then and there and pulled her 2 kids out. She didn't call licensing because the DCP's husband was DCM's husbands boss.

Fast forward 2 years later, one month ago, the same DC provider did the same to another little baby. But this time the family called the police before they left her house. This DCP in particular has been charged with child endangerment and negligience. DCM knew this family as well, she had warned them about the provider.

This DCP had let her license go but acted like she still had her license. Had families still filling out licensing paperwork and want not. Families were obviously not checking her license. It's sad to think what could have happened to any of the children in her care if something were to have happened.

Also, I've been visited twice in the past year by licensing. Just last Tuesday in fact. The Program Analyst was here less than 20 minutes. He spent most of his time running back to his car because he forgot something. It seemed like he could have cared less what was going on in my house or daycare for that matter. He didn't even go in my backyard!!

In California Licensing is a JOKE......... They need to get their $h!t together that's for sure!!!

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Just what I was talking about.

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I will admit it was my own fault for trusting someone so much. After being in someone's house 5 days a week for 7 years it's hard not to. I was 16 when I had my twins and couldn't find childcare that I liked and finally found her at the last minute but she was great. She had twins also so I knew she knew what she was in for. She had a nice clean house, cute kids, etc. She was what I wished I could be one day. She took care of my twins from 10wks old on. I had a pretty regular schedule though so stopping in wasn't feasible while in school. By the time I met dh and we had more kids my bond with her was even stronger so it was hard to hear things I didn't want to think was happening. BUT it's because of that experience that I started doing daycare myself. When I had my next baby there was no way I could trust anyone with my newborn. No way, no how! I don't tell too many people about my experience because I know people don't want to hear horror stories but I have shared it with a couple DCMs. I take this job seriously and would never ever dream of doing what she did. I actually can't even drink alcohol except on a very rare occasion and especially not around my kids. I just can't do it. It's also turned me into a control freak. I have to have things under control and taken care of. I just don't want to ever let my guard down again.
My dh gets all huffy about all the "rules & regs" but I tell him it's because of the worst case scenario that they do this. Kids can't sleep directly on the floor. Sure our carpet is clean and kids like laying on it but someone else's may not be. There's a million others but just because WE aren't negligent doesn't mean someone else wouldn't be.

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