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Choosing a child care provider? Don’t leave fire safety off your list of questions

Patriot-News - 8/17/2021

When it comes to choosing a child care provider, there are plenty of considerations to keep in mind – location, cost, availability and more.

But one factor that should not fall off the list is fire safety.

State-certified child care facilities - and there are more than 6,400 of them in Pennsylvania – come with an assurance that the Department of Human Services is aware of their operation and those places are subjected to at least yearly inspections to ensure the health and safety of children.

That is not an absolute guarantee that children will be free from harm, as was the sad lesson learned from the Erie family child care center fire two years ago that claimed the lives of five young children. That deadly blaze prompted stricter fire safety requirements in child care facilities.

Still, the state certification does provide parents more of an assurance about safety than an unlicensed facility that skirts under the state’s stringent regulations.

Tracy Campanini, deputy secretary of Human Services’ Office of Child Development and Early Learning, urged parents to visit the child care facilities they are considering and ask questions about their emergency planning and other considerations.

After all, she said, “They’re leaving their children in the care of that operator and they should have the comfort level to feel that that provider can answer questions that they have about the routines or practices that are supporting those children while they go to work or they go to school.”

The human services department operates a website where parents can look for licensed child care providers in their area. Campanini encourages parents to begin their search on that site.

On that site, parents can learn details about a state-licensed facility and review recent inspection reports of family child care homes, group child care homes and child care centers. The regulations that each of those types of facilities are required to meet are also available on the department’s website.

Here are questions child care professionals and emergency responders told PennLive they would suggest parents consider asking.

What is in your emergency plans?

Where are your smoke detectors?

How often do you test your smoke detectors?

Do you have carbon monoxide detectors?

Do you keep exits clear of debris?

Do you practice evacuation drills?

When do you practice them?

How often do you practice them?

Does weather play a factor when you practice the drill? (It shouldn’t since emergencies can happen in inclement weather, too, said John Sperduto, president of the nonprofit Child Care Professionals Network, a statewide resource center for child care providers.)

Do you have working fire extinguishers?

Do you have power strips laying around?

Are there sprinklers?

What kind of training do you provide to your employees and what does it cover?

Can I review your log that details smoke detector tests and fire drills?

Licensed child care centers must conduct a fire drill at least every 60 days and have them at different times of the day with the hypothetical fire in different locations. They must keep a written log storing those details along with evacuation times and the names of everyone who participated.

All of their employees must complete a fire safety training course at least annually. The facility must have an emergency plan that is provided to local emergency officials and an evacuation plan that is posted liberally throughout the facility.

Similar fire safety rules apply to all types of state licensed child care providers – family child care homes, group child care homes which can care for more children than a family child care facility, and child care centers. But providers in a home setting, whether a family child care home or group child care home, have the added requirement of having the fire detection system on every floor, including the basement.

Unlicensed facilities can lack all of the above.

For Harrisburg Fire Chief Brian Enterline, asking to see the facility’s state certification can be the easiest way to gain a comfort level about a child care provider.

“If they are licensed, they’ve checked off a bunch of boxes from a safety standpoint, not just fire but all the other state sexual predator stuff and background checks,” he said.

Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy.

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