Drop-in child-care convenient, but fraught with hidden danger

The Boston Globe

Beverly Beckham

Judith Melisi has been on a mission for more than a year now. But last June it became personal.

For months the Halifax mother had been trying to alert the owners of the health club where she works out to the dangers she saw in the child-care room. Candy that little ones could choke on brought in by older kids. Hot coffee brought in by a worker. The bathroom door left open. An electric outlet exposed.

Melisi had waited until her daughter Olivia was 11 months old before taking her to the child-care room. She believed her daughter would be safe there. She was pleased that there was one adult for every six children. But then there were eight children in the room, then 10. "That's when I was told that the ratio was not a rule but a guideline." And that's when Melisi began to notice more hazards.

She became so concerned with the situation that when management offered her a job in the child-care room, she took it hoping she could change things from the inside. But there were no changes in policy. Still, she trusted the system enough to to leave her daughter there while she worked out a few feet away.

No one saw Olivia ingest a gummy candy one day last June. The toddler was playing and then she wasn't, her face red as she struggled for breath. Olivia got lucky; she managed to swallow the candy and is fine.

But her mother is not. She still shudders at what might have been and is more determined than ever to alert other families to the hidden dangers in short-term day care.

"I worked at Franciscan Hospital for Children for two years. I know what can happen when a child chokes."

But she didn't really know until it happened to her child.

She says that she worries every day that an infant or a child is going to die or be seriously hurt because of balloons left around or grapes or other small items that are hazardous to young children.

To determine the legal regulations, she called the health department in her town, the state Department of Social Services, Office of Child Care Services, and Department of Early Education and Care, Democratic state Representative Thomas Calter of Kingston, as well as US Representative Barney Frank.

And what she learned is that there are no laws to regulate day care at health clubs, and that all occasional and short-term child care is exempt from the high standards imposed on scheduled day care.

Matt Veno, communication director for the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care, while praising the state's "rigorous, nationally recognized licensing standards," suggests that parents who leave their children for short-term care log on to the EEC's website www.eec.state.ma.us and click on "Tips on choosing child care."

Health clubs aren't the only ones that get a pass. So do resorts, after-school programs, and play groups at churches and in supermarkets and malls - all the places where parents drop off their kids for an hour or two.

Melisi has posted information on www.whoknewanddidnttellme.blogspot.com and continues to do all she can to alert people to a situation that she insists endangers all children who are left in short-term child care.

But the bottom line is that parents and caretakers need to regulate these places themselves. They need to look beyond the colorful playrooms and the stacks of toys when they drop off their children and ask questions: Have you done a criminal background check on your employees? What's the maximum number of children you allow here at a time? Have all your child care workers been certified in CPR? Ask to see the paperwork. Then walk around and inspect the room itself.

For four months before her daughter choked, Melisi worked in her club's child-care room and for four months she reported on safety issues. But nothing changed.

Today, she says, "I don't believe that all child care at all gyms is bad. But the fact is that despite what I knew, I was comfortable leaving my child there, that I thought she was safe. This is what scares me."