Worry Now Enters Day-Care Routine

When it comes to his 3-year-old child’s safety at day care, Joseph Molina probably has the right idea--he’s worried about the day-to-day, not the one-in-a-million.

“I think people need to keep perspective when they look at [last week’s shootings at the North Valley Jewish Community Center],” said Molina, head of a public relations firm in Woodland Hills. “I think people should be more concerned about driving to and from day care. I worry more about my kids crossing the street.”

As tragic a realization as it may be, child-care experts say there’s little day-care centers can do if a crazed individual is determined to make trouble. Experts point to the 1995 bombing of Oklahoma City’s federal building; more than a dozen children in its day-care center were killed despite the site’s advanced security.

“We can’t turn our child-care centers into barricaded cities,” said Patty Siegel, executive director of the San Francisco-based California Child Care Resource and Referral Network, which helps parents find child care. “That’s not an environment for children.”

But barring such unpredictable acts of violence, just what safety and security measures can parents expect?

California’s laws are designed to ensure the on-site health and safety of the child, experts say. They are not currently written to help protect children from outside attacks.

The more important state regulations for child safety include:

* The school must be state accredited.

* Parents or guardians must use the sign-in and sign-out.

* Site must have a 5-foot fence around the play area.

* Employees must undergo a criminal records check.

* A state inspector must have visited within the last year.

* The school must have a written disaster/evacuation plan. (Parents should know where the alternative site is.)

“I was very impressed with the manner the Granada Hills children were led to safety. It [seemed] very orderly,” said Siegel, who watched TV coverage.

But child-care and school safety experts say parents should keep an eye out for other safety measures that are not required by law but can add another layer of protection for youngsters. Those include:

* Checking for at least two exits.

* Ensuring staff keeps gates and doors closed or locked.

* Asking about the training and turnover rate of the staff.

* Looking for a low child-to-caretaker ratio.

Other experts cite the increasing use of electronic surveillance, which can enhance safety and security. Some day-care centers are equipped with video cameras that are linked to the Internet, allowing parents to personally monitor their child’s activities.

And experts urge parents to exercise common sense.

“We really encourage parents to visit day-care centers unannounced and see what’s going on,” said Karen Perkins, a spokeswoman for state on child-care issues.

But experts say it’s easy for parents to overreact in the wake of a shooting. According to the National School Safety Center, deaths at day-care centers accounted for less than 1% of the 250 deaths at U.S. schools between 1992-1999.

“Parents should be reassured that day-care centers . . . are really about the safest places in the world for little kids to be in terms of injuries,” said David Chadwick, a child-abuse prevention specialist from San Diego. “They may get bumps and bruises, but serious injury is extremely, extremely rare.”

For more information, visit the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Web site, https://www.aap.org.

Times staff writer Candace Wedlan contributed to this report.