The Nashua Telegraph started a series on Childcare in NH on Sunday called “Who is watching your Child?” It sparked my attention of course - as we are sending our child off to a NH daycare in the fall. The series includes a run down of the 188 licenced childcare facilities in NH and whether or not they meet state requirements. They also talk about what a critical violation is and how it gets reported. I was surprised to find that some things that may not seem very serious could actually be reported as a serious violation.
In an earlier blog post I noted the DHHS’s site and how you could go there to get a report about your licenced childcare provider. The article in Sunday’s paper talks about why they are doing that and provides more information about how to get a report.
You can also go to www.nashuatelegraph.com/childcare to see if there have been any critical violations reported on your daycare. You have to register with The Telegraph - which is a hassle - but it runs down every licenced childcare provider in the state in nice comprehensive reports. Those who are doing Daycare research should definately check it out.
I think it was interesting for me to note how criminal matters that DHHS doesn’t deal with (but law enforcement would) won’t be listed on these reports. For example, the report for the Circle of Learning center in Nashua (who was found to employ a man who was later criminally charged with molesting 12 children) has 28 critical violations on their report - none of which are related to this man. Just goes to show how important it is to be an active and sometimes nosey parent!
