Caregiver background checks

• Have background checks been conducted on every prospective caregiver, staff person, substitute and volunteer who comes in contact with your child at the child care program?

• Have background checks been conducted on adult family members who live in the family child care home and come in contact with your child?

• Does the caregiver have a current child care license?

Caregiver health

• Do caregivers have a good attitude and enjoy their work?

• Are they physically able to do their job?

• Have all caregivers had a health evaluation prior to starting at the child care program and every two years thereafter?

• Do caregivers get regular breaks?

• If a family child care setting, how does the caregiver take a break while still supervising the children?

• In centers, does the director conduct a daily health check of all caregivers, looking for signs of illness?

• Are all caregivers up-to-date on immunizations recommended for adults?
  
  (See Adult Immunization Schedule from the Centers for Disease Control - http://www.cdc.gov/nip/recs/adult-schedule.htm)

Caregiver qualifications & training

• Do the director and the lead teacher of a child care center have a bachelor's degree in a child-related field?

• Has the director worked in child care for at least 2 years?

• Has the teacher worked in child care for at least 1 year?

• Does the director understand what children need to grow and learn?

• Does the teacher give children activities and toys that are right for their ages?

• Have caregivers been trained how to keep children healthy and safe from injury and illness?

• Do they know how and when to perform first aid and rescue breathing?

• Have they been trained to understand and meet the needs of children of different ages?

Child:Staff ratios

• How many children are being cared for in the child care program?

• How many caregivers are there?
  
  Hint: Your child will get more attention if each caregiver has fewer children to take care of. The younger the children are, the more caregivers there should be. For example, one family home caregiver should only take care of two babies.

Complaints against a program

• How do I register a complaint with authorities?

• How do I find out if there have been any validated complaints made against my program and the nature of the complaint?