Utah child care workers, experts share tips for finding high-quality child care

Standard-Examiner - 1/29/2017

Jan. 29--Utah parents have more power than they realize to ensure their children receive high-quality day care, local and state child development advocates say.

"It's really important for people to know child care quality can be very driven by families and parents asking good questions," said Leslie Trottier, director of Weber State University's child care resource referral service. "I would love to see more families and parents being empowered and letting their providers know what they really would like to see happen."

The Care About Childcare office provided tips for parents in choosing a day care:

Allow time to find a quality program. Call and visit multiple day cares, collecting information to make the best decision. Many day cares have waiting lists, especially for infants.

Call the child care providers. Check fees and schedules, find out typical day routines, ask about the policy for unexpected parent visits.

Visit the day cares. What's the overall feeling? Do the caregivers communicate well, focus on the children and use positive guidance? Is the environment safe, and is there space for activities? Is the day care prepared for emergencies?

Follow up with questions. What are the sick policies? What training have caregivers received? What emergencies have happened and how were they handled?

Ask for references. Get names and phone numbers of parents you can call to ask them about the day care.

Check the provider's record. Contact the local licensing agency to check for any complaints that have been made against the provider. Weber, Davis and Morgan county families can contact licensing at 801-273-6617 or toll free at 1-888-287-3704. The licensing department can also let you know the provider's compliance history. Providers' inspection profiles can also be viewed online.

Weber's child care office also offers training for caregivers in best practices.

"We are always trying to educate caregivers in relation to understanding the development stages of children," Trottier said. She said if people don't have realistic expectations about what children are able to understand or physically accomplish, it's more difficult to deal with them.

Good communication is critical in any effort to avoid or prevent conflicts between parents and providers, according to the University of Utah's Center for Child Care and Family Resources.

When child abuse is suspected, parents should always report it, the Utah center counsels. "When the safety of a child is involved, parents and providers must take that extra step of bringing an outside agency into the situation," the center says.

Agencies that can be contacted include Utah Child Protective Services and local police.

The Utah Bureau of Child Development also offers resources for parents and providers. Those services include an online form where complaints can be filed. Parents can also call in complaints at 801-273-2895.

"We get complaints -- the public now has more confidence about reporting," said Simon Bolivar, director of the state licensing office. "So I don't think it (abuse) is growing; it's been easier for parents and the public to have a voice and have things investigated."

Trottier said better child care doesn't necessarily require spending more money -- the main ingredient is greater awareness just of the needs of children.

"If parents become comfortable with this again, they will take their children where the person watching them understands kids," she said.

You can reach reporter Mark Shenefelt at mshenefelt@standard.net or 801 625-4224. Follow him on Twitter at @mshenefelt and like him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SEmarkshenefelt.

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