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Daycare and Baby-sitters

Child Care Across the Nation: Caveat Emptor	CDC - Information for Providers
Links For More Information/Assistance	If Your Child is the Baby-sitter
Daycare	Babysitting/Caregiving
Questions to Ask About Daycare	Questions to Ask About Caregiving and Baby-sitting
Questions to Ask At a Daycare	Questions that Parents Can Direct to a Prospective Baby-sitter or Caregiver
Quality Child Care Is....
How to Help Your Child's Caregivers

Child Care Across the Nation: Caveat Emptor

We KNOW there's good day care out there. We know that in general, daycare workers are dedicated, loving and seriously underpaid. But across the United States -- whether it's daycare, home care or group daycare -- the vast majority of child care standards are weak. In the United States, daycare standards are a state responsibility (and in some states, delegated even further to the cities or counties), and each state varies widely in minimum standards, enforcement procedures and penalties for failure to comply. Still, child care is a complex situation not easily resolved. See Advocacy/Our Opinion for more on this.

If you are a parent, we suggest you Check Twice Before Leaving Your Child Once...and don't stop checking.

In Idaho, for example, no background checks, fire or health inspections are required for groups of less than seven children (and ratios don’t include children of owner/operators). Idaho state standards for group daycare (12 children total), say that it's legal to have up to 12 infants to one caregiver. In Texas, you might find 15 toddlers to one caregiver. Are you shocked? Of course you are. That’s why you MUST be informed BEFORE leaving your child with anyone. Although exact numbers aren't known, there are child deaths every year at the hands of supposed "caregivers."

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Safer Child, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization with federal tax-exempt status. Please note: 1) External organizations listed herein do not necessarily endorse Safer Child positions, nor do we necessarily endorse theirs. We list them as a courtesy and aren't responsible for their accuracy, completeness or content. 2) We recommend you maintain a healthy skepticism when reviewing information on the Internet; it might appear to be reliable -- yet actually be false, misleading, incomplete, out-of-date and/or intentionally harmful. 3) There might be material on the Internet that you disagree with or find objectionable; preview all sites before viewing them with your child. 4) We are not responsible for external addresses/phone numbers changing without our knowledge. 5) The information and commentary on this site are not substitutes for professional advice from your doctor, lawyer, or mental health professional. 6) Requests for permission to republish, copy and/or distribute any material found on this Web site should be directed to Safer Child, Inc.

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and has received a grant from the Wendell P. & Barbara J. Marshall Family Trust in the Idaho Community Foundation.

Safer Child is also supported by Time4Learning.com, online education from preschool through middle school,
and LOCKSAF, manufacturer of biometric gun safes that "provide quick access with foolproof security for firearms and other valuables." (Enter the discount code "saferchild15" when you purchase a PBS-001 and receive 15% off the manufacturer's suggested retail price and 10% will be donated to Safer Child, Inc. See our review of this device.)