The baby sitting club at Oakridge's Baby Sitter Club has many safety issues that needs to be worked on before I would allow my children in their care.
First of all there are many safety issues. The staff is not required to have first aid. The staff does not require picture id checks before a parent picks up their child. The staff allows baby out in the main area where the other children are running around even when it was very busy. There is not a fire drill or smoke alarms in the sleeping areas. There is not a safety belt on the changing table.
Many of the childrens needs are not met. The policy of the babysitters club is that children should be fed prior to being admitted into care. The problem is that many parents neglect doing this and children are not fed snacks even if they are hungry. Sometimes parents have not left their baby a bottle, and their child has cried due to being hungry. Staff over uses baby swings and does adequately respond to the babies crying when they need to be held. Licensed day care facilities in California do not allow child swings for a very good reason. They tend to be over used as a substitute mom and babies get neglected. Staff does not abide by their policy that they will alert parents if their children cry for a while. Parents are encouraged but not required to bring a change of clothing for kids even if they are potty training.
Staff keeps the TV up too loud, and never turns the TV off. Staff yells over the very loud TV to discipline children who are misbehaving. Although they have a maze, allow the children to color, and allow the kids access to games, puzzles, and blocks. The staff does not provide any structured activities like crafts, play dough, or water play. The majority of the staff does not actively engage in playing with the kids enough.
The evening staff is excellent. They play with the kids, do activities, and hold the babies and kids when they cry. They are for the most part a bunch of mature teenagers who really have a lot of good sense about how to take care of children.
The day staff could run a very good to an excellent program with a little more TLC and a standard of doing things the right way and not just the easiest way. Caring for children is a very difficult thing.
It would be my reccomendation that the staff take the child care classes required by the health department for CPR, First Aid, and Preventive Health. They would benefit from educational classes which would teach them the importance of their role as caretakers and teachers. Although the program is supposedly just "drop in care," parents expect that their children will be treated like gold. I would not want my children put in this type of atmosphere where the staff only does the barest of minimun care and does not respond well to the emotional needs of the children. I would want my kids to have not only social opportunities to play, but I would also want them to learn from their experience even if it is not preschool. Also they would benefit from learning how to play with children, plan activities for kids, and how to respond to a distressed child or infant who is crying because they miss their mom. When a caretaker lacks these skills it can be very hard on the child, the parents, the business, and the caretaker themselves. Please contact management and tell them the kids at Oakridge Babysitting Club deserve better treatement
