How Can I Find a Safe and Healthy Daycare Program?

The Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning claims there are approximately 9,600 childcare programs throughout the state. At the same time, roughly 1 out of every 100 children enrolled in these programs will suffer some form of abuse or neglect. Taken together, these two facts highlight the difficulty and importance of finding a safe, healthy daycare program for your child.

So, how can you find good childcare programs in Georgia? How can you watch out for programs that might not protect your child? If you’re asking these questions, you are certainly not alone, and we have some answers for you.

An introduction to Georgia’s Quality Rated early childcare programs

In Georgia, childcare programs must get a license unless they apply and qualify for an exemption. However, the childcare centers that participate in Georgia’s Quality Rated program all go above and beyond the minimum standards for licensure. These programs are then rated from one to three stars:

• A one-star rating means the program exceeds the state standards and scores “sufficiently” on quality benchmarks and observations.
• A two-star rating means the program exceeds the state standards and scores “well” on quality benchmarks and observations.
• A three-star rating means the program exceeds the state standards and scores highly on quality benchmarks and observations.

Here, it’s important to note that a one-star rating is not a low rating overall. While it certainly isn’t as good as a two-star or three-star rating, it still indicates that the program exceeds the state standards.

Moreover, it means the program is fully licensed. Remember a few paragraphs back when we said childcare programs must get licensure unless they get an exception? Of the 9,600 early childcare programs in Georgia, the Department of Early Care and Learning says that roughly 5,300 of them are exempt from licensure. In other words, most early care programs in Georgia are exempt from some key licensure requirements:

• Mandatory compliance with state health and safety guidelines
• Criminal background checks for all employees
• Staff trained in CPR and First Aid
• Continuing education for teachers and directors

Licensed programs meet all these requirements and more. Quality Rated programs go above and beyond these expectations. You can learn more about Georgia’s Quality Rated programs and search for one near you on the Department of Early Care and Learning website.

Learn to identify daycare red flags

Sadly, it’s not always possible to find a three-star daycare that works for your schedule or budget. So, even as it helps to know to look for licensure and Quality Rating, it’s just as helpful to know how to spot daycare red flags. If you find these red flags, you’ll want to look for a different program:

• Staff who avoid questions
• Overly strict and controlling staff behaviors
• Staff who isolate certain children
• Low staff-to-student ratios
• Unclean facilities
• Any lack of transparency, especially about licensing and background checks

As the American Society for the Positive Care of Children notes, the work you do to research your child’s daycare program may help prevent the future shock of daycare abuse. While we might like to think that all programs have good intentions, there are good reasons to expect daycare programs to conduct background checks before hiring their staff. You want daycares to filter out applicants who fail these background checks before they work with your child.

Better safe than sorry

Looking into all the possible daycare programs near you can take time, and it may make you uncomfortable to ask questions about licensing and background checks. You might get tired of verifying the programs’ licenses, and you might get tired of touring the facilities in-person. But it’s important to remember the goal: You’re looking for a safe spot for your child to spend the day and learn.

The work is worth your time. No one wants their child to become the next 1 in 100 who suffers abuse. No one wants to deal with the medical bills, therapy and developmental delays that can follow abuse. This is your child’s future. Take the time. Do the work. It’s better to be safe than sorry.

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