Local Childcare Facility Inspection Reports Are Available Now Online

Parents listen up!  Do you know what is really going on at your children’s child care center?  Isn’t it true that your childcare provider interacts with your children for about 10 hours each day but only see you for about 10 minutes per day; five minutes in the morning at drop-off, and then again, at pick-up?

For the first time ever, reports of childcare facility inspections are now available online.  What you find by accessing this information may delight you or shock you.  This data may even cause you to question, “What do I insist upon when it comes to my child’s well-being?”

In your area, many departments of child safety and childcare licensing have already implemented web sites that provide invaluable research tools now available to parents when deciding where to place their children in regard to childcare services.  Many childcare licensing divisions have announced that they are making results of inspections that have been conducted both at commercial facilities and home-based childcare centers available online.

The information now available to the public eye includes all or any major violations discovered by the licensing agent during inspections of individual facilities as well as the consequences, if any that the childcare facility may face as a result of these violations.  The violations are usually addressed, and the childcare director is given adequate time to fix any problems.  Violations of set minimum standards are incurred for any number of reasons, from unavailable records, unbalanced menus, lack of supervision on the playground, unsafe toys and equipment, changing diapers without proper sanitary procedures, etc.

One example of a website address is www.TDPRS.state.tx.us .  This is the main address for residents of Houston, TX.  In order to find information pertinent to your specific area, check for childcare licensing agency listings on the net for the jurisdiction near you.  

(This article was originally published in:  Chaotic Culture Magazine Vol. #3, October, 2003; Mr-K Show / newsletter Vol.#1, December, 2003; Kingwood Cove Day School Handbook, December, 2003)

Brian Kasperitis began working as a professional musician at an early age.  By the age of 18, he was on tour with personalities like Chubby Checker.  Brian’s formal education includes an AA degree as an instrumentalist, BS in Music Education, BS in Elementary Education and a M.Ed. in Educational Leadership.  Today, Brian is a part-time college professor & workshop presenter.  His fifteen years of experience in the classroom and as a band teacher also includes teaching online courses for the University of Phoenix Graduate School of Education.  After being voted “Outstanding Young Man in America,” for two consecutive years, Brian was appointed “Artist in Residency” to the Texas Commission on the Arts by George W. Bush.

Please feel free to comment on this article here or join the conversation on our forum.Top of Form

Bottom of Form

Image(s): FreeDigitalPhotos.net