How to ensure your kids are safe at day care after recent incidents in New York City
NEW YORK -- Recent disturbing incidents involving New York City day care centers have many parents worried.
CBS New York's Jennifer Bisram gathered important tips to ensure the day care you choose is a safe place for your child.
"I was trying not to cry because I'm a mom of five and I couldn't fathom losing any of my children, ever. Especially when they're in child care," said Shavona Warmington.
The death of a baby at a Bronx day care from a suspected fentanyl overdose hit home for moms across New York.
"We trust you to take care of our kids and we'll get the child back the way that we give them to you. To not get your child back is any parent's worst nightmare," said Warmington.
Warmington's youngest are 7-month-old twins. They were just enrolled at a day care in Queens. She said she asked questions and did her own inspection before handing them off.
"I want to know how much staff you have, how big is your space, what's your protocol in certain situations, fire escape measures," said Warmington. "I do walk through. I'm pushing walls. Was this wall already here? Did you just add a wall? I'm looking at the floorboards. I'm looking at the area around the sink. I'm looking at the kids bathroom, where they sleep."
There's still more parents can do, according to Mary Cheng, who helps run Little Star of Broom Street on the Lower East Side.
"You should be able to come in and say, like, 'Can I see your health and safety handbooks?'" said Cheng.
Cheng is also part of Child Care Aware, an organization that works with families across the country to ensure kids have safe, quality and affordable care.
"Red flags are when staff is kind of dismissive," said Cheng.
Child care advocates say parents should pop in after their kids are enrolled in day care.
"I'll pop up at 11, bringing lunch, just random. I just want to see how my daughter's going, 'cause now you don't have time to set up," said Warmington.
Advocates say pop-ins are allowed as long as they're not disruptive. They also say to talk to other parents about the day care's reputation and look up its licenses and scorecard for safety and performance.
Some moms have even turned to technology, with permission they received from the school.
"I cam them. So, you put jewelry on, like simple things, like a watch or a bracelet. You could take audio, or they have the watches that they can trigger. If there's a situation, they can press a button and mom and dad can be notified where you are, what's happening," said Warmington.
One-year-old Nicholas Dominici's death wasn't the only day care tragedy in recent years.
In 2014, a 14-month-old baby died after her father said a day care in Jamaica, Queens handed her to him lifeless in her car seat.
That same year, a 3-month-old boy on Staten Island drowned in an outdoor pool after making his way our of a back door.
In 2018, three infants were stabbed at an unlicensed child care center in Flushing.
"There's a significant process of inspection and licensing. Everyone in a home-based program, everyone who lives in that home needs to be cleared through background checks. And the center-based, everyone who works in that center needs to be cleared through background checks," said Gregory Brender, with the Day Care Council of New York.
There are about 10,000 licensed child care centers in the five boroughs, including home-based programs. We're told every center must be inspected in order to open and receives at least one surprise visit a year.
Inspectors look in bathrooms, bedrooms and closets. But CBS New York learned not all areas of the home and centers are always inspected.
"They can only inspect the space that is being used for the children. That makes it hard for the licensing," said Cheng.
CBS New York also found loopholes where providers who got their license revoked continued providing care under a different business name or address. The city only keeps inspection information for two years.
On Wednesday, Mayor Eric Adams vowed to do better to protect the city's youngest after another incident when ghost guns were found inside a Harlem home day care. No one was hurt.
"We are going to remain vigilant. We are going to continually modify the rules," said Adams.
In the meantime, advocates say despite the recent unthinkable discoveries at what are supposed to be safe havens for children, the majority of child care centers provide safe and necessary services for working parents and their kids.
"We are entrusted with your child and so we take that very seriously," said Cheng.
