A three-year-old boy left his Alabama daycare unnoticed, crossed a busy street, and ended up being discovered "shopping" for snacks and Hot Wheels at Walmart.
Daycare workers indicated the boy had asked to use the restroom and was allowed to do so unsupervised, which allowed him to leave the premises.
The child's mother said her son left the premises shortly after 4:00 p.m. on September 17, 2024, and the police were called more than 20 minutes later when a worker (and family friend) found the toddler in Walmart. The mother was not notified of the event until 5:00 p.m. that evening.
Jacklynn Lambert, "Toddler slips out of Dothan daycare, goes shopping at Walmart", https://www.wtvy.com/2024/09/19/toddler-slips-out-dothan-daycare-goes-shopping-walmart/ (Sep. 19, 2024).
Commentary and Checklist
An obvious question…was enough staff present to monitor the children in their care? If staff was adequate, why was the daycare not performing a check to make sure all the children were present?
Even if staffing was adequate and roll calls were made, facility safety is another concern, especially because the toddler was able to "slip out" so easily without being noticed.
Earlier this year, in Michigan, a two-year-old boy got out of his Montessori Center day care center and walked straight into oncoming traffic. He was uninjured. The mother was not notified for three hours. https://www.wxyz.com/news/ive-lost-all-trust-2-year-old-walks-out-of-southfield-day-care-facility-into-busy-traffic#google_vignette (May 06, 2024). And, the previous year, a Florida two-year-old escaped the day care playground and the adults did not notice the child was missing until after he was found unharmed in the middle of the road. https://www.mypanhandle.com/news/local-news/bay-county/parker/local-mother-speaks-out-after-her-two-year-walks-away-from-daycare-alone/ (Aug. 11, 2023).
What should parents and guardians check on when choosing a safe childcare environment?
- Make certain the caretaker candidate organization has the necessary and current regulatory licenses to be a caretaker of children in your locality.
- Schedule a meeting with the director to tour the facility and meet with all workplace participants. Ask the organization to let you know the name of all individuals who will be the child's caretakers and to update you as to personnel changes.
- Read online reviews of the caretaker candidate organization. Be suspicious if there are no reviews or negative reviews.
- Ask for referrals from current and past customers. Ask the referral if the caregiver organization and its personnel were, and are, safe to work with children.
- Perform a background check on individuals who will be working with children, including speaking with other parents/caregivers and performing an online review of their social media.
- Make certain the caregiver candidate conducts background checks on employees, volunteers, and any person who will be near children. Background checks should include, at a minimum, referral from past employers and customers, work history, a review of social media, as well as a criminal and sex offender registry check in every state in which the workplace participant has lived.
- Avoid caretaker organizations where relatives or acquaintances of employees are present or interacting with children, without being constantly supervised or employed by the facility.
- Ask for a copy of the caretaker candidate's policies that specifically address the issue of abuse, including procedures for reporting incidents of abuse to law enforcement or child protection agencies.
- Ask to see or take the child safety training, including child sexual abuse prevention training, that the caretaker candidate's workplace participants are required to take to work with children.
- Make certain all workplace participants are required to report any violation of policy, or any suspicious behaviors, directly to law enforcement or to child protection agencies.
- Make certain the caretaker candidate has a general policy of two adults present around children at all times; those adults must be able to view, at all times, how the other adults interact with children.
- Make certain the caretaker candidate follows proper child-to-adult ratios for your locality. For general child safety, at least one adult must be present to supervise no more than four infants, six toddlers, ten preschoolers, or twelve school-age children.
- Make certain that outdoor play areas are safe and secure, away from the street and sidewalks, and that security fencing is present. Caretaker workplace participants must be present whenever children are outside, watching the children and third-party adults.
- Make certain the structure is safe and secure, and that the caretaker's workplace participants are present at all times when third-party adults are present at, or near, the facility.
- Make certain the facility permits on-demand video monitoring of how caretakers perform their duties.
- Ask if unannounced "drop-ins" are welcome. Periodically drop-in unannounced to make sure everything is operating as promised and that all guidelines are being followed.
