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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>One Thing I Always Found Strange About Licensing...
Unregistered 07:32 AM 03-15-2017
We are required to have background checks and the people who may be in our home at the time of daycare...but parents dont have to have backgrounds checks. I could potentially have an ex felon or sex offender in my home dropping off their child everyday and wouldnt know it! If fact..we really dont know these people we allow into our homes with children around..
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Cat Herder 07:43 AM 03-15-2017
You can run background checks online, yourself. It is public information.

https://www.instantcheckmate.com/
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daycare 07:57 AM 03-15-2017
Not sure what state you are in but this is why my state has the rule that you have ACCESS TO YOUR CHILD ONLY, not the other children.

I have first hand experience with an exact situation. I have a foyer where parents enter and that's it. They get to have access to their kid only.
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Blackcat31 09:23 AM 03-15-2017
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
We are required to have background checks and the people who may be in our home at the time of daycare...but parents dont have to have backgrounds checks. I could potentially have an ex felon or sex offender in my home dropping off their child everyday and wouldnt know it! If fact..we really dont know these people we allow into our homes with children around..
Unless you are leaving them alone with other people's children, I don't see this as an issue or anything to be concerned about.

Especially if they are dropping off their child.....must mean the state (or any authority/agency) has no issue with them either.

The sex offender people should be concerned about is the one that lives nearby that hasnt been caught yet.
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Annalee 09:27 AM 03-15-2017
Originally Posted by daycare:
Not sure what state you are in but this is why my state has the rule that you have ACCESS TO YOUR CHILD ONLY, not the other children.

I have first hand experience with an exact situation. I have a foyer where parents enter and that's it. They get to have access to their kid only.
I have a foyer as well and it works great!
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Unregistered 12:59 PM 03-15-2017
Blackcat- Just because im there doesnt mean a felon wont do something or sex offender...im 5'2 100lbs..not threatening at all lol. Actually this very thing happened in my city. A daycare provider was shot and killed by a parent, in front of a child. He had prior convictions.
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LovetheSun 01:09 PM 03-15-2017
Originally Posted by daycare:
Not sure what state you are in but this is why my state has the rule that you have ACCESS TO YOUR CHILD ONLY, not the other children.

I have first hand experience with an exact situation. I have a foyer where parents enter and that's it. They get to have access to their kid only.
Oh thank you for that information! I was just discussing with my assistant how we should be more careful with the parents coming.
I didn't know this was a rule even if I worked in multiple daycares before. Could we get in trouble for not following this rule in California?
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LovetheSun 01:10 PM 03-15-2017
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
Blackcat- Just because im there doesnt mean a felon wont do something or sex offender...im 5'2 100lbs..not threatening at all lol. Actually this very thing happened in my city. A daycare provider was shot and killed by a parent, in front of a child. He had prior convictions.
SO HORRIBLE!
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Unregistered 01:17 PM 03-15-2017
Lovethesun- Yes her husband was also a victim. The whole city was in panic that day.
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daycare 01:18 PM 03-15-2017
This is why there is a thing called interview and google.

You have to be a good judge of character and know who you are letting into your home. I google every parent that wants to even come to my home.

I always get their phone numbers and email address. There is a lot of information that can be found on someone with that small amount of information.

FB can tell a lot about a person too. I only conduct interviews with families after children are gone and if I feel uncomfortable, I end it. My husband is usually home, but if he is not, I just cut the cord very politely.

Just like anything else you do, you can't go into this blindly. Trust your gut and do your work before hand.

Court documents are public information.
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Meeko 01:22 PM 03-15-2017
ALWAYS run a check on your clients.

I run a check on folks who come to interview too.

Never used to, until we found out one of the DCD's that liked to drop by to visit was a registered sex offender. Even though he was never alone with the kids, he was getting his jollies just being around them.

Since then NOBODY gets to be around a child who isn't theirs. If a parents comes by, their child is brought out of the play area to hang out with their parents. NO parent is allowed in the playroom.

This has been OK'd with licensing by the way. A parent must always have access to THEIR child. No right to be near the other kids at all.

So I say no to any parent who wants to hang out and watch our day.

Over the years, I have found out several on the sex offenders list, several with domestic abuse charges etc.

We have a right to know who is entering our homes.
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LovetheSun 01:28 PM 03-15-2017
Originally Posted by Meeko:
ALWAYS run a check on your clients.

I run a check on folks who come to interview too.

Never used to, until we found out one of the DCD's that liked to drop by to visit was a registered sex offender. Even though he was never alone with the kids, he was getting his jollies just being around them.

Since then NOBODY gets to be around a child who isn't theirs. If a parents comes by, their child is brought out of the play area to hang out with their parents. NO parent is allowed in the playroom.

This has been OK'd with licensing by the way. A parent must always have access to THEIR child. No right to be near the other kids at all.

So I say no to any parent who wants to hang out and watch our day.

Over the years, I have found out several on the sex offenders list, several with domestic abuse charges etc.

We have a right to know who is entering our homes.
Thank you for your input!

We usually let the parents stay for little while at pick up, but recently I found one parent behavior to be a bit strange (a lot of mood change) but her husband is completely "fine" and very nice. We might need to change that, which will probably sadden the parents they are really happy to hang out for a few minutes but the children safety is definitely my priority.

What do you use for criminal background? I usually google families and like to enrolled families from the neighborhood but this year.
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Meeko 01:36 PM 03-15-2017
Originally Posted by LovetheSun:
Thank you for your input!

We usually let the parents stay for little while at pick up, but recently I found one parent behavior to be a bit strange (a lot of mood change) but her husband is completely "fine" and very nice. We might need to change that, which will probably sadden the parents they are really happy to hang out for a few minutes but the children safety is definitely my priority.

What do you use for criminal background? I usually google families and like to enrolled families from the neighborhood but this year.
I check the sex offenders list and I use our state's "right to know" web site. Both free.

I also FB stalk too! It's amazing how much you can detect from their posts and photos. They may come to an interview appearing as sweet as pie and yet constantly post on FB how they can't pay their bills, or how they just got another DUI etc. All red flags for me.
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Blackcat31 01:47 PM 03-15-2017
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
Blackcat- Just because im there doesnt mean a felon wont do something or sex offender...im 5'2 100lbs..not threatening at all lol. Actually this very thing happened in my city. A daycare provider was shot and killed by a parent, in front of a child. He had prior convictions.


My point was that if you are that concerned, operating a child care probably isn't the safest thing to do.

In the example you gave... Not sure how knowing the criminal history of that parent would have prevented that. OTHER than not enrolling and if you are going to run a background check on every client you have then you also run the risk of alienating clients.

That's like saying guns aren't available to those with a criminal history......pretty sure most criminals get them anyways so these scenarios always pique my curiosity and I wonder how knowing a parents criminal history is going to prevent anything. Again, other than not enrolling them due to their history.

THE worst experience I've ever had (resulted in multiple CPS reports, police calls and an Order for Protection against the parent) came from a parent that had NO criminal history. NO warning label, NO clue/hint of future behavior, NOTHING that would have or could have forewarned me about what would eventually happen.

Oh, and for what it's worth........the parent was smaller than you.

So, if you have the ability to run a background check on clients and they are willing to do comply, then cool! Especially if it gives you peace of mind.

I don't know, I guess the way I look at this is I know many people that have done wrong in their lives and paid their debt to society and are now fine upstanding members of the community AND excellent parents.

IMHO, I'd have missed out on some pretty terrific kids if I held their parents criminal histories against them.

I guess I choose to not be so paranoid about stuff....but to each his/her own.
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Blackcat31 02:08 PM 03-15-2017
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
Blackcat- Just because im there doesnt mean a felon wont do something or sex offender...im 5'2 100lbs..not threatening at all lol. Actually this very thing happened in my city. A daycare provider was shot and killed by a parent, in front of a child. He had prior convictions.
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
Lovethesun- Yes her husband was also a victim. The whole city was in panic that day.
Curious if you are referring to what happened in Brooklyn Park a few years ago?
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Unregistered 02:30 PM 03-15-2017
My point of the post was saying that if everyone in the household needs a background even if they wont be around kids, then wouldnt the same apply to parents. Im not paranoid, in fact i give my address out to people on craigslist and half the time they dont show up..realized i should be more cautious. Lol
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mommyneedsadayoff 02:46 PM 03-15-2017
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
My point of the post was saying that if everyone in the household needs a background even if they wont be around kids, then wouldnt the same apply to parents. Im not paranoid, in fact i give my address out to people on craigslist and half the time they dont show up..realized i should be more cautious. Lol
NO!! It is the one thing you will learn very quickly in the daycare world. The rules for parents are WAY different than the rules we must follow. A parent can make a mistake or a conscience decision to do something that ends their child's life and it is "tragic". We do the same thing and it is "criminal" and worthy of investigation and potential prison time. It does not matter that a child is more likely to be hurt by their parent or a close relative. If it happens on our watch, it is a potential crime. NEVER get comfortable with the idea that parents and providers hold the same liability! It does not exist!
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Blackcat31 02:57 PM 03-15-2017
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
My point of the post was saying that if everyone in the household needs a background even if they wont be around kids, then wouldnt the same apply to parents. Im not paranoid, in fact i give my address out to people on craigslist and half the time they dont show up..realized i should be more cautious. Lol
Just because licensing doesn't require parents to have background checks doesn't mean you can't do them on your own.

I have many policies/rules that aren't rooted in any licensing regulations.

Oh, and the incident in Brooklyn Park...the shooter was related to the provider NOT the parent so a back ground check on the parents wouldn't have made any difference.
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hwichlaz 08:11 AM 03-16-2017
I have to allow access to my facility. I can't trap them in the foyer. But they aren't left alone with the kids...and unless I'm hosting a parent party, they aren't hanging out.
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spinnymarie 02:52 PM 03-16-2017
Our county has the circuit clerk records online as well. Doesn't help if they are new to town, but you can see criminal, traffic, small claims and a couple other things. I check facebook, google, linked in, references, and circuit clerk on every person I interview.
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hwichlaz 08:10 AM 03-17-2017
It's because parents have to be able to take their kids to school and daycare even if they've been convicted of crimes.

What they don't have the right to do, if convicted, is chaperone field trips, or volunteer in school or daycare.
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