Child Care Centres - What You Need To Know, edited and updated

THINGS TO LOOK FOR...

Outside:  Is there a suitable and safe, fully enclosed, outdoor play area with adequate shade shelters?  Are the entry and exit points (doors, gates, windows, etc) designed to prevent children from escaping and wandering away unsupervised?

Inside:  Are the toys in your child's room age appropriate?  Is the room bright and colourful, well decorated, and safe?

Overall:  Is the centre as a whole clean and well organised?

Safety:  Does the Centre have adequate, easily identified and functional emergency exits?  Is fire fighting equipment in clear view, easily accessible by adults, and in good condition?  Is it clear and obvious where the first aid kit is located?  Is it adequate and easily accessible?  For the event of emergencies, is the telephone easily accessible by adults?  Does the Centre have smoke alarms?  Are there clearly visible and readable posters giving information about fire equipment use, evacuation/invacuation procedures, emergency exists routes, CPR and other first aid techniques?

Behaviour:  Are the children there happily entertained and well supervised?  Are the staff friendly and approachable?

Personal Hygeine Facilities:  Are the nappy-changing and toileting facilities adequate, clean, and out of view of the public whilst still easily supervised by staff?  You don't want a situation where children can easily lock themselves in a toilet, or people walking in off the street can see your child using those facilities, or where your child when using the toilet can't be suitably supervised by the staff.

THINGS TO ASK ABOUT...

Fees and Child Care Benefit.  In Australia, Centrelink approves Child Care Benefit for parents on a low income.  You may not necessarily have to be receiving a Centrelink payment to qualify for this.  This benefit helps reduce approved Child Care fees.  All over the world, some employers help with contributing to the costs of child care.  You will need to know whether the Centre is approved for Child Care benefit, or if it is a Centre that your employer will contribute to.  You will also need to know what methods of payment they can accept, when those payments are due, and what the procedure is if you can't make a payment on time.

Attendance.  Some Child Care Centres have strict rules regarding your child's attendance for the days that you have booked them in.  If your child is booked in for a set number of days, they may require a certain amount of notice before missing days without a medical certificate, or the fees for that day may have to be paid.  Too many non-attendances for days booked in can result in some Centres cancelling your child's placement.  You need to know the Centre's policies regarding this, so that you don't get a nasty shock if you are charged for a day that your child didn't attend or your child loses their placement.

Sun-Safe Policy.  I would personally be wary of any Child Care Centre that didn't have a good sun-safe policy.   You will need to know whether you have to supply a hat and sunscreen or if the Centre covers that.  Many Centres can not allow their staff to apply sunscreen for two reasons; protection against child sexual abuse - to protect the children and also to protect their staff from accusations - and the risk of allergies.  You need to be aware of this and understand their reasons for it if they have such policies in place.  You also need to know what types of hats they consider suitable.  You will also need to know if they have any restrictions or recommendations regarding footwear or other clothing items.

Food and Drink.  You need to know if the Centre has a healthy eating policy, whether food and/or drink is supplied or do you have to supply your own.  If you are required to supply your own, you need to know what kinds of food and drink they consider suitable and if any foods or drinks are forbidden.  For babies, you will need to know what facilities they have for warming milk and ensure that it is suitable for the type of milk your baby receives.

Excursions.  Does the Centre organise excursions for the children out of the Centre's grounds, how are the children transported on these occassions, and do they give sufficient notice for you to sign permission slips and pay any extra fees first.  Any Centre that takes children on excursions out of the Centre without requiring the parents written concent is questionable to say the least.

Photos.  Photographing the children for publicity purposes, for creating identification for the children, or even just as an activity or for parents to purchase, is something that some Centres do; and some of them actually do the right thing and get permission from the parents first.  You need to ask about their policies regarding this.

Conflict Resolution.  Sometimes conflict arises between parents and the staff, and you need to know the correct procedure for resolving such problems.  You need to also find out who you can go to for help if you can't find a suitable resolution with the Centre.  You also need to know how the staff deal with the conflict that arises between the children.  I have heard one child care worker tell a parent that their child was being picked on at the Centre by the other children, and was "not assertive enough".  The shocked parent replied, "What do you want him to do, get violent with the other kids?!"  I have also seen two children fighting violently over a toy and the child care worker did nothing but comment, "They'll sort it out eventually." That sort of thing is not acceptable.  The staff should be able to handle such situations in a manner that is safe, appropriate, and teaches the children how to deal with conflict in more suitable ways.

Injury and Illness.  Accidents happen and sometimes children contract a contageous disease and show no symptoms until after they have spent a day at childcare and given it to all the other children.  How the Centre deals with these situations is important for the health and safety of the children.  You need to approve of their policies, and be suitably assured that the staff are adequately trained in first aid and are able to react appropriately in the event of an emergency. 

Child Protection.  Signing in and out books are a must.  You should have to sign a book upon arrival and upon picking your child up, both of which you have to enter the time you got there and left.  Without these, the staff would not necessarily know which children are presently in their care, and who has come to pick them up after they leave, so if a child disappears, they won't know whether they are to search for them or not.  Also check about their stranger policy - what measures do they have in place to prevent children being picked up by the wrong person?  How strictly are the staff police-checked, is it done only prior to their employment or are checks done randomly every few years as well?  Does the Centre have adequate staffing levels, and what are the minimum qualifications that the staff require in order to be hired?  Are these qualifications thoroughly checked, and are they encouraged to continue further training to keep their knowledge up-to-date and always improving?

Breakage.  It sounds incredible, but I have come across a Child Care Centre that had a breakage policy.  That is, if a child broke something through inappropriate use, the parents were held liable for the cost of the item.  This was rather ridiculas in my opinion, as when the child is in the care of the Centre, the staff should be responsible for ensuring the child doesn't use anything in an inappropriate manner in the first place.  Be aware of things like this so that you can avoid them.

Personal Belongings.  Personal property that is taken to Child Care Centres easily becomes lost.  You need to know what strategies are in place for finding and returning lost property.  Do they have a lost property box that any parent can go through unsupervised, or do you have to describe the lost item and a staff member looks for you?  There is nothing more annoying than having to constantly buy your child new shoes because they keep losing them in the sandpit, and then you can't get them back because other parents rummage through the lost box and steal them.

Activities and Education.  The activites for the children should be age appropriate, interesting, and safe.  You might want to know if the activities are individual pursuits, group activities, or a variety of both.  Some Centres base their activities on an educational program and encourage learning through play, others just look after the chldren.  Some Centres have fun themed days (eg: fancy dress, parties, etc).  It is good to know how often these things are held and when, so that if your child is attending on one of these days you can be prepared to send them with their fancy dress or party hat, or whatever.

Nits / Head Lice.  Head lice is always a problem in any place where children play together closely.  You need to know the policies that the Centre has in place regarding dealing with this problem.  I personally believe that you should not agree to allowing the staff to treat your child for head lice, as the chemicals in different treatments can cause allergies and even burns, but allowing them to check your child's hair for lice is - in my opinion - a good thing, as this is a good preventative for the spread of them.  If your child is discovered to have lice, don't assume that the staff are going to blame your child for the infestation, as your child may well have picked up the lice from another child at the Centre just moments before.  Lice are an inconvenience, they do not pose a health risk, and are not an indication of uncleanliness - lice actually prefer clean hair.  If the Centre's policy is that any child with lice will be sent home and, until they can be picked up they are isolated, consider that a good thing.  Although it may inconvenience you if it happens, it will also save you the inconvenience on many other other occassions when other people's children have them and didn't get a chance to spread them to your child.

Parent Notices.  You need to know what the Centre's methods of communicating information to parents are.  Do they have a parent notice board, or pigeon holes?  Is information sent home with the child or posted to you?  If they have notice boards or pigeon holes you also need to know where they are so you can find them easily.

Personal Hygeine.  You will have to know if you need to supply your own nappies, baby wipes, etc.  Very few Centres supply nappies, though most do stock spares.  Check about this however, as some may simply phone you to deliver more or collect your child if your supply runs out.  It is a good idea to find out if the staff are permitted to apply nappy rash cream if necessary - for the same reasons as pertaining to sunscreen.  It is also good when staff encourage toilet-training when the child is ready.  If the child becomes dirty (eg, covered in paint or glue from a craft activity), you need to know what the Centre's policies are regarding getting the child cleaned up.  Some will clean the child up themselves, others will phone you to pick up your child or deliver a clean set of clothes and clean your child up yourself.  Some do this as a way to protect the child from abuse and to protect the staff from accusations of abuse. Children should always be sent to Child Care with a spare set of clothes as messy accidents and children come hand in hand.

Special Support.  Some Child Care Centres are able to provide special support for children with disabilities, disorders, developmental delays, and extra activities for gifted children.  You may think that you won't need these services, but it is good to know as it is possible that, by illness or injury - or if your chld is very young and simply hasn't yet shown any signs of difference - whether the Centre can support your child in the future should you need it.  Some Centres even have their own speech pathologists, child psychologists, and other such specialists.  Some can provide services such as health clinic visits, assessments for potential problems (such as speech and language problems), referrals to other services, and assessments and reports for entry to school.

Emergency Procedures.  You should be made aware of the Evacuation (leaving the Centre) and Invacuation (locking down the Centre stopping anyone coming in or out) procedures.  These are for the purpose of keeping children together and safe in the event of a fire, threat, natural disaster, or other such major emergency.  Do they run drills on a regular basis and teach the children what to do?  In the event of an Evacuation, where are their assembly points?  What are the procedures for collecting children during or after such an event?  Hopefully none of these things will ever happen, but it is good to be prepared just in case.

If I have forgotten anything, I sincerely apologise.