After a daycare is inspected....

[Anonymous]

.....do you ever suspect they are playing a bit loose with the regulations for a while, knowing that they won’t be inspected again for many months or even a year? Do you say anything? I’ve noticed this twice now with two different daycares that I otherwise love(d). Neither was an implicit safety violation but it kind of made me cynical about the inspections process. Seems too predictable.

[Anonymous]

I've heard of surprise visits a few weeks to a month following an inspection. Often they just don't have the time, as they are busy keeping up with the usual inspections.

[Anonymous]

Can you provide examples?

[Anonymous]

In DC we get unannounced visits off-schedule in addition to our yearly visits.

Even so, I’d say we may relax somewhat after that big visit but in very minor ways, like staff going to the bathroom and leaving just one person with sleeping kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can you provide examples?

Temporary (few weeks) capacity/ration violation (like admitting a new child before departing child leaves) or letting kids go to unlicensed part of the house.

[Anonymous]

Ratio not ration

[Anonymous]

Part of having an open door policy is that parents act as inspectors too. If you know something is wrong, you have the ability to report and the option to pull your child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Part of having an open door policy is that parents act as inspectors too. If you know something is wrong, you have the ability to report and the option to pull your child.

+1. However, I can see WHY parents might be hesitant to do this, because it is not always so easy to find another place (and reporting them doesn't just affect YOUR child, it affects all the other families too). I'd try talking to your daycare provider first. We once had an issue with a provider leaving the door unlocked (basement entrance) when she knew parents were going to be arriving in the morning because she was usually attending to the other kids. No idea if it had anything to do with inspection timing but pretty sure that is against the rules. Although I knew the chance of something happening was small, it made me uncomfortable. She listened and started keeping it locked at all times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Part of having an open door policy is that parents act as inspectors too. If you know something is wrong, you have the ability to report and the option to pull your child.

+1. However, I can see WHY parents might be hesitant to do this, because it is not always so easy to find another place (and reporting them doesn't just affect YOUR child, it affects all the other families too). I'd try talking to your daycare provider first. We once had an issue with a provider leaving the door unlocked (basement entrance) when she knew parents were going to be arriving in the morning because she was usually attending to the other kids. No idea if it had anything to do with inspection timing but pretty sure that is against the rules. Although I knew the chance of something happening was small, it made me uncomfortable. She listened and started keeping it locked at all times.

Locked/unlocked could be a rule issue. Some are required to have doors unlocked so clients may enter at any time, and so that the children have the ability to evacuate independently in case of emergency. Some clients complain they are not able to enter right away and think the provider is hiding something if they need to knock in order to enter.

[Anonymous]

I'm a parent and I have a love/hate relationship with the inspections. My inhome rushes and tries so hard to get all her paperwork correct and they always bust her for tiny things (like a missing signature or my shot record was 7 months old and it needs updated every 6 months). Tiny things should be on a different scale than letting a sex offender live in the house or ratio is too high.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a parent and I have a love/hate relationship with the inspections. My inhome rushes and tries so hard to get all her paperwork correct and they always bust her for tiny things (like a missing signature or my shot record was 7 months old and it needs updated every 6 months). Tiny things should be on a different scale than letting a sex offender live in the house or ratio is too high.

I'd like to think parents are savvy enough to recognize the difference though. I definitely did not give as much weight to "paperwork" violations compared to other things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a parent and I have a love/hate relationship with the inspections. My inhome rushes and tries so hard to get all her paperwork correct and they always bust her for tiny things (like a missing signature or my shot record was 7 months old and it needs updated every 6 months). Tiny things should be on a different scale than letting a sex offender live in the house or ratio is too high.

I'd like to think parents are savvy enough to recognize the difference though. I definitely did not give as much weight to "paperwork" violations compared to other things.

Well a lot of people only look at the summary. It says "4 violations" and don't drill into what the violations are when researching multiple daycares.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a parent and I have a love/hate relationship with the inspections. My inhome rushes and tries so hard to get all her paperwork correct and they always bust her for tiny things (like a missing signature or my shot record was 7 months old and it needs updated every 6 months). Tiny things should be on a different scale than letting a sex offender live in the house or ratio is too high.

I'd like to think parents are savvy enough to recognize the difference though. I definitely did not give as much weight to "paperwork" violations compared to other things.

I run an in home daycare and thank you for posting this. Some parents are savvy but some just see violations and think the worst. I received a "hazardous outdoor environment" violation because my garden house was out of it's container, not stretched out, just sitting next to the container waiting for me to put it away. I immediately corrected it, but it's on my record and parents don't see that it was just because a garden hose. The wording and lack of explanation can make it seem much worse. To answer OP, I don't loosen up after an inspection for my own conscience, for my kids and clients, but also because inspections can happen at anytime.