A daycare in Charlotte, North Carolina, was shut down by state health officials after allegations of child neglect.

A mother reported she removed her kids out of the daycare immediately after watching a video of the kids, including her daughter, piling into a car without car seats.

Several other parents removed their children after viewing the incident posted on Facebook.

In addition, another woman witnessed children from the daycare playing in the park without adult supervision. There were two people sitting in a sedan nearby; however, the woman said they were "not paying attention at all to these kids," and the woman smelled marijuana coming from the car. "Plaza Midwood daycare shut down by state after child neglect allegations" https://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/director-charged-with-child-abuse-after-state-shuts-down-charlotte-daycare/SY4BJJ65EVCWBMUG3AYGMUFZPY/#:~:text=CHARLOTTE%20%E2%80%94%20The%20director%20of%20a,at%20the%20end%20of%20February (Mar. 11, 2024).

Commentary and Checklist
 

According to d2l.org, statistics cited from others include: "In 2017, 2,237 daycare providers were found to be abusing and neglecting children in their care."

If the allegations are true, the daycare employees in the source article were clearly neglectful of the children. Taking the children for a car ride without car seats is dangerous. Not attending to children at a public park is also dangerous.

What should be considered when choosing a daycare centers?

·      Make certain the caretaker candidate organization has the necessary and current regulatory licenses to be a caretaker of children in your locality.

·      Schedule a meeting with the director to tour the facility and meet with all workplace participants. Ask the organization to let you know the name of all individuals who will be the child's caretakers and to update you as to personnel changes.

·      Read online reviews of the caretaker candidate organization. Be suspicious if there are no reviews or negative reviews.

·      Ask for referrals from current and past customers. Ask the referral if the caregiver organization and its personnel were, and are, safe to work with children.

·      Perform a background check on individuals who will be working with children, including speaking with other parents/caregivers and performing an online review of their social media.

·      Make certain the caregiver candidate conducts background checks on employees, volunteers, and any person who will be near children. Background checks should include, at a minimum, referral from past employers and customers, work history, a review of social media, as well as a criminal and sex offender registry check in every state in which the workplace participant has lived.

·      Avoid caretaker organizations where relatives or acquaintances of employees are present or interacting with children, without being constantly supervised or employed by the facility.

·      Ask for a copy of the caretaker candidate's policies that specifically address the issue of abuse, including procedures for reporting incidents of abuse to law enforcement or child protection agencies.

·      Ask to see or take the child safety training, including child sexual abuse prevention training, that the caretaker candidate's workplace participants are required to take to work with children.

·      Make certain all workplace participants are required to report any violation of policy, or any suspicious behaviors, directly to law enforcement or to child protection agencies.

·      Make certain the caretaker candidate has a general policy of two adults present around children at all times; those adults must be able to view, at all times, how the other adults interact with children.

·      Make certain the caretaker candidate follows proper child-to-adult ratios for your locality. For general child safety, at least one adult must be present to supervise no more than four infants, six toddlers, ten preschoolers, or twelve school-age children.