Keeping Private Day-Care Homes Safe : * State Is Working to Increase Vigilant Monitoring, but Parents Have to Do Their Part

The pressures of work and family have left thousands of Orange County parents to juggle day care with demanding job or school schedules. The day-care route raises its own set of parental concerns about quality of care and safety on the site.

Fortunately, the state increasingly has become vigilant about monitoring day-care centers in private homes and has been taking action against those that are unlicensed or are substandard. These monitoring efforts should be encouraged.

This year, as part of a continuing crackdown, state officials have closed four day-care homes in Orange County for various violations. For example, one detailed in a report in The Times last week was shuttered after 13 separate complaints were brought before a state administrative law judge. While the judge said the operator had not caused children harm intentionally or exposed them to risk, she had failed to provide “safe and healthful accommodations.” The operator denied the allegations.

The truth is, many parents simply cannot be sure what they are getting when they drop off youngsters hastily early in the morning and set about their workday. But they need a day-care solution and some may be inclined to carry on and wish for the best.

There are approximately 15,000 children in the county’s 2,500 licensed day-care homes. With those numbers, the potential for some bad apples is real, despite the fact that the state’s family day care licensing division says that the majority are well run and in compliance with state regulations.

But as the numbers have increased, so have the complaints, which nearly have doubled at the state Department of Social Services in the past year.

The vigilance of the state is welcome. The County Child Care Assn., for example, a network of 825 licensed local family day care homes, correctly points up the risk to children if complaints aren’t followed. And Mary Strong, the group’s president, warns against the assumption that the people who take care of children necessarily are “good guys.”

Her advice that parents juggling day-care solutions need to take the responsibility to be sure that children are receiving appropriate care is worth taking to heart. And a common-sense checklist from the state Department Social Services of what to watch for makes good sense to keep in mind: Check on the license, monitor care and drop in, discuss concerns--and contact the local licensing agency at (714) 558-4563 if needed.