nomoney
....
and with as hard as it is to find daycare for a reasonable price now and days I'm sure she won't even have problems finding kids to watch
Anyone know the maryland babysitting laws?
- Thread starter smarie1011
- Start date
and with as hard as it is to find daycare for a reasonable price now and days I'm sure she won't even have problems finding kids to watch
cattitude
My Sweetest Boy
I suppose it doesn't matter to me now but back then I chose by what they could provide for my child and their philosophy on care, etc. The license didn't matter much to me.
sockgirl77
Well-Known Member
You are probably correct. It was a PITA to find licensed care for my 3 little ones. Especially since at the time 2 of them were infants.
somdbingolady
New Member
Another trailer park baby sitter. This is what's wrong with our kids today. Get certified or go home. Our kids mean allot to us these days and the new generation that has been raised up!!! I wouldn't leave my kids with any of them unless they were certified. Pack up your mobile home and go back where you came from.
nomoney
....
Judgemental much? Were we in VA, she wouldn't even need a license. Does that mean that those dayum Virginian kids are more screwed up then Maryland kids?
Dymphna
Loyalty, Friendship, Love
My oldest was with an unlicensed provider for about 6 months. She was a wonderfully nice woman, mother of 4. She'd told me that she was in the process of getting licensed, she just hadn't finished the paperwork. She was conveniently located, experienced had a beautifully well-kept home and was willing to take an infant part-time for part-time pay, unlike most licensed providers.
I considered myself lucky to have her, that is until I started hearing things...
First it was that her daughter and another child that she was supposedly watching were at the playground unsupervised for several hours.
Then she told me herself about how much my son liked "Blue's Clues"...he was about 3-4 months old and the more she told me, the more I came to find out that all he did all day was sit in a bouncy seat in front of the TV.
Then she told me my son eating poptarts (he was about 7 mo old)
Little things, I know, and not issues limited to unlicensed care, but in retrospect, signs of bigger problems.
In all this time, she never did follow through on her licensing paperwork.
Then she dropped me with only a week's notice. This was in April. When tax time came around the following year, and I asked her about claiming my child care expenses on my taxes, she denied that she watched my kid that year, but he was there from Jan-Apr.
AFTER I left there, which to my shame, wasn't my decision, I started hearing more things from the neighbors, generally prefaced with "You aren't still taking your son to HER are you?"
She was spotted at the pool smacking her kid around. There were domestic violence calls to her house and turns out her husband had a criminal record for drugs and violence that would have prevented her from getting a child care license. No wonder she never followed through.
Fortunately, I have no reason to believe that my child was ever harmed, but then he was only there 6 months. What would have happened if he'd been there longer? I had no serious inkling that there was anything wrong in that household until well after my son left her care. Had it not been for the fact that she quit on me and the fact that she lived just around the corner and all the neighbors on my street knew me AND her both, I might have never known something was wrong unless/until something tragic happened.
Although some of these things could have been the case in a licensed child care home, a husband with a record of drugs and violence and a record of domestic disturbance calls are things you WON'T find in a licensed child care situation. Kids running up the street unsupervised...well, that might happen, but only until one of the neighbors calls the licensing agency, because that's an instant license suspension offense. Smacking her kid around in public is also something that might happen with a licensed provider...until one of the neighbors calls and reports her to CPS. Although smacking your own kids won't get a license suspended unless CPS files charges, it WILL prompt extra surprise visits from the licensing agency to make sure it was an isolated incident and there is no harm being done to the day care children.
Dymphna
Loyalty, Friendship, Love
Hey, she cared enough to ask, don't jump to conclusions.
cattitude
My Sweetest Boy
I'm fairly close to the licensed daycare program and I've "heard" a lot of storeis. I know how some of the licensed sitters "cheat" and don't excactly follow the rules so having a license isn't always a sure way to know you won't have an issue.
I did my own pop-in inspections on my sitters.
There's good and bad in everything.
I did my own pop-in inspections on my sitters.
There's good and bad in everything.
cattitude
My Sweetest Boy
Dymphna
Loyalty, Friendship, Love
Actually, when the economy tanked a few month back, a lot of people pulled their children out of child care. Those people who maybe had their kids in care even when they weren't working because they wanted a "break" or maybe they sent them off to grandma because they wanted to save money.
I've heard of several providers who have openings now because of this, me included....I happened to be on maternity leave when the economy tanked and haven't had a single client since....I've gotten very few calls and only done one interview in the last 7 months since baby was born.
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Dymphna
Loyalty, Friendship, Love
Don't rag on the OP. I'll say again, she cared enough to find out what the law is, that's a big step in the right direction.
somdbingolady
New Member
And I care enough about my kids to respond to this post. As times get worse there will be plenty of people trying to make extra money. Good or bad lets do it the right way. Let's mkae sure our kids are safe. Not saying anything can not happen. But we need to make smart choices. We think that will not happen to me, but when it does it is to late. Just think of the stories you heard this past year of kids dying in swimming pools and kids coming up missing. It is the truth. If you are certified they check the house to make sure it is acceptable.
Dymphna
Loyalty, Friendship, Love
I will grant you that in a heartbeat....just two days ago, I found out that a licensed provider not far from me got into trouble for having too many children in her care, twice her legal limit. She wasn't caught by the licensing inspector, but by the fire marshal. If the licensing inspector had caught her she would have been shut down immediately. She tried to plead that she needed a special exception because she has excessive credit card debt
I'm not saying that there aren't licensed providers who are bad news, I'm not saying that there aren't some who figure out how to work the system....someone recently told me about a provider who was one child over the limit and when the inspector showed up for a surprise visit, hid one of the kids in the bathroom....
BUT as a rule, knowing that you could be reported to the authorities for something and lose your livelihood and knowing that you could be inspected at any time for any reason will keep most people operating above board. The fact that someone is operating without a license is a sure sign that they are inclined to take shortcuts. Also, ironically, it is easier for someone operating illegally to continue to do so than it is for licensed provider....
If you are a licensed provider, your neighbors know it. If you do something wrong, your neighbors will report you and you will have to answer to the licensing inspectors.
If you are an unlicensed provider, your neighbors know it and either a) won't report you because you are watching their kids, or b) will report you and when the licensing inspector shows up at your home, you can lie through your teeth and tell them either that there are not kids there and refused to admit the inspector because they aren't the police and they don't have a warrant (licensed providers who refuse admittance get an instant suspension) or else, the unlicensed provider claims all these kids are her cousins and the kids' parents will write a letter swearing to it or else get their kid tossed out.
Why would you want to take your child to someone who disregards this law...how many other laws will they disregard and how many other shortcuts will they take with your child's care. Of course, having a license is not a full proof protection for your child. I never said that. A diligent parent needs to check out their caregiver. Check references, show up really early one day and "forget" to mention you were off work early....(as a provider, I only ask that you take your child home with you after that surprise visit because they are going to have a royal meltdown if you try to leave without them)
But I will challenge all the diligent parents out there to ask, "are you licensed?" and if no, "why not?" Because I can't think of a single good answer to that second question.
somdbingolady
New Member
I will grant you that in a heartbeat....just two days ago, I found out that a licensed provider not far from me got into trouble for having too many children in her care, twice her legal limit. She wasn't caught by the licensing inspector, but by the fire marshal. If the licensing inspector had caught her she would have been shut down immediately. She tried to plead that she needed a special exception because she has excessive credit card debt
I'm not saying that there aren't licensed providers who are bad news, I'm not saying that there aren't some who figure out how to work the system....someone recently told me about a provider who was one child over the limit and when the inspector showed up for a surprise visit, hid one of the kids in the bathroom....
BUT as a rule, knowing that you could be reported to the authorities for something and lose your livelihood and knowing that you could be inspected at any time for any reason will keep most people operating above board. The fact that someone is operating without a license is a sure sign that they are inclined to take shortcuts. Also, ironically, it is easier for someone operating illegally to continue to do so than it is for licensed provider....
If you are a licensed provider, your neighbors know it. If you do something wrong, your neighbors will report you and you will have to answer to the licensing inspectors.
If you are an unlicensed provider, your neighbors know it and either a) won't report you because you are watching their kids, or b) will report you and when the licensing inspector shows up at your home, you can lie through your teeth and tell them either that there are not kids there and refused to admit the inspector because they aren't the police and they don't have a warrant (licensed providers who refuse admittance get an instant suspension) or else, the unlicensed provider claims all these kids are her cousins and the kids' parents will write a letter swearing to it or else get their kid tossed out.
Why would you want to take your child to someone who disregards this law...how many other laws will they disregard and how many other shortcuts will they take with your child's care. Of course, having a license is not a full proof protection for your child. I never said that. A diligent parent needs to check out their caregiver. Check references, show up really early one day and "forget" to mention you were off work early....(as a provider, I only ask that you take your child home with you after that surprise visit because they are going to have a royal meltdown if you try to leave without them)
But I will challenge all the diligent parents out there to ask, "are you licensed?" and if no, "why not?" Because I can't think of a single good answer to that second question.
Well put!!