Working for Child Care Licensing (Title of Video)

Working for Child Care Licensing (title of video)

(Day care inspector)

Hi! Hi, what's your name?

(Male narrator)

So, you think you want to work forchild care licensing?

Protecting children in daycare is a very important job.

As a day care inspector or investigator you can help make a difference in children's livesbut these jobs are not for just everyone.Before you apply you need to know what you're signing up for.

Andrea Rickard, Child Care Licensing Supervisor(title)

(Andrea)

I will first start with my inspectors because I think that's where a lot of this kind of jobstarts and it's my inspectors who do applications of new day care facilities, they do the routinemonitoring of day care facilities and they dostandards investigations of day care facilitiesand when I talk about day care I'm going to talk abouta facility which is what most of us associateday care with, which is your one in the neighborhoodin a big brick building but we also have in-home day care.

Erika Sanchez, DayCare Inspector (title)

(Erika)

As an inspector our daily jobis basically going intoany day care, any home that isregulated through the state of Texasso that's what we do. We make sure thatproviders follow the minimum standardsand so we are the regulators. We are the people that go in to make sure thatproviders are following everything by the bookand to ensure they're providing a safe environment for the children

(Andrea)

When you work for the agency when youwork for licensing,obviously you become acquainted with theminimum standard rules, and the minimumstandard rules is basically what werequire these facilities to followon a day-to-day basis and their job isto take this bookthat we are now telling providersyou have to follow,and they have to go in and inspect eachstandard to see that that provider is followingthe standard that's set forth in the TexasAdministrative Code.

But every inspector and investigator whenthey do come into an operationthey are required to do what we considera walk through the operationwhere they are looking for anything thatis obvious.

(Erika)

At first we write to the facility or thehome or whatever it might be.

We introduce ourselves."Hi, I'm Erika with child care licensing,I'm here to do your annual inspection."

(day care provider)

"Oh hello, come in."

(Erika)

We conduct a walk-through, we talk to the personthat is in charge which might be thehomeowner or might be the daycare directorand we tell them what we're there forand we're there to conduct an annual inspectionor an application inspection and we'll letthem know what kind of standards we're looking atand to make sure that they're advised at what we'reall going to be looking at whenever we're there.

(Andrea)

And then my investigator is more of a specialized position. They do strictly abuse neglect investigationsat facilities.

Naquea Walker, Licensing Investigator (title)

(Naquea)

Investigating abuse and neglect cases can bedifficult. It can be very stressful, overwhelming,it can be very difficult because you have to speak to several different caregivers, you haveto gather all the facts, you have to check withyour supervisor, meet with law enforcement,medical profession, also we investigate child deaths.So, it can be very stressful.

(photo montage of children in hospital beds with severe bruises and burns)

(Andrea)

You're going to see the ugly side of humannature. Are you going to encounter it every day?No, you're not, but are you are going toencounter it at some point in your career?Yes you will.One of the toughest cases that I had wasa heat-related death but in a situation that you probably wouldn't expect.I received a case that was an individual who was operating illegally out of her apartment.

She roughly had six to eight childrenthat she was caring for on a regular basis andshe was placing the infant in the closetof her apartment and that's where she wassleeping them. And I had to sit in a multi-disciplinary team meeting andproceed to watch slide upon slide ofthe autopsy and at that momentit just really got to me that you know I'm sitting here looking at somebody else's childup on the screen having to go throughthis dissection of a sort for this medicalexaminer and it was just overwhelmingto be in that situation. Very hard.

Illegal Day Care (title)

(Erika)

We do have to go to illegal operations because we do investigations for thatand so it is a little bit nerve wracking at times. You're nervous when you first walkin because you don't know what you'regoing in to. You don't know when theyopen the door who is going to be behind it so in those types of situation a lot ofthe time you may want to take lawenforcement with you.At illegal operations we do get a variety of things where it couldbe just a nice house and the provider was notaware of the minimum standards and didnot know that they needed to be regulatedand so that would be something that's easybut you can also go to the extremes whereyou can go into a home, you know, that isnot in the best of conditions where alsochild care is being provided so there maybe sanitary issues and things like that so that canpresent a hazard or risk to the child.

(Andrea)

One of the big things that you're goingto encounter is the dog situation.Everybody is a pet lover and has all theseanimals and you don't know if they'refriendly or not and there's been a few times when you're held captive in your car becauseyou don't know if this dog is going to biteor not but also we've run into situationswhere there are weapons accessible to children.Obviously that's a very intimidating situationto be in because if they're accessible to childrenobviously they're accessible to the adults in the household and so, you're gonna see it all, you don'tknow what you're going to run into, so...

Travel and Odd Hours are a Part of the Job (title)

(Erika)

We regulate whenever the operations are openso we go out early in the morning or latein the evening and sometimes during the weekendsas well because day cares are open 24 hours sometimesthey're open on Saturdays and Sundays to provideservices to the parents so we have to be able tosee all the hours of operations for the daycare soit might not be a typical 8 to 5 job.

(Andrea)

You definitely need a reliable vehicleI will say that my staff covering as many countiesas they cover put a lot of miles on their carsgo through tires quite frequently and roughlyoil changes every 6 weeks and so there's that ongoingmaintenance that you have with your vehicle.

(Naquea)

Your car is kind of like your little office andthat's how you get around, that's how you conductan investigation and unfortunately even though Ihave coworkers but I just can't call them all the time"can you bring me somewhere?" because they have thingsthey're taking care of too. You have to have a car.

(Andrea)

Make sure you account for that into your budget.Are we going to reimburse you for the mileage, yesbut that's something that's going to be done at theend of the month and you won't get it until thefollowing month.

Documentation is Very Important (title)

(Andrea)

Your documentation is going to support the actionsthat you take while you're in the field whether it's citing adeficiency on a provider or it's an investigation and you're determining if this individual abused orneglected a child so your documentation has got to support what you do as an individual out in the field.

(Erika)

Basically to balance fieldwork and paperwork in theoffice is to make sure that you always have a day inthe office and make sure that you are responding to those phone calls and that paperwork that comes inso it's just organization. The other thing is thatthe documentation is better to be done while you arestill in the operation, that way you don't have thatto also take with you at the end of the day and stillhave the document either at your home or in the office.Depending on the home or depending on the operationif they have the capability of providing me a roomwhere I can sit and document I would do thatbut if they don't I just might do my inspection,complete everything that I need to do in talkingto the provider and then go out into my car,leave and stop at a coffee shop or a restaurant, grab something to eat and maybe document there.

Helping New Workers be Successful (title)

(Andrea)

They are definitely inundated with policiesand minimum standards, they get all of thisinformation thrown at them and we want them to be successful in their jobs and so we do a lot ofpre basic-skills development, activities wherethey go out into the field and observe other staffso they are going to go out with inspectors and they're also going to go out with investigators so there's all of these activitiesthey have to do before they go to trainingand so once they go to training we're going tobreak down that policy for them, we're also going to break down the minimum standards for them and then we're going to turn around and then have them somewhat mirror that out in the field, see what they learned and then take and apply it out in the field. We don't just throw people out there andhope that they can swim.We do a lot of coaching and mentoring andguiding them in that direction so they can be successful.

Do You Have What it Takes to be a Licensing Worker? (title)

(Andrea)

When I hire an inspector and an investigator I am looking for the same quality.I'm looking for an individual who can be flexible,adaptable, is self-motivated, can work independentlybut can also work well as a team.

(Erika)

I guess the best person for this job would besomeone that knows how to prioritize, is organized,and they can cope with changes and challenges.

(Andrea)

There are some people that would not be well-suited for this job. I talk a lot, especially with new staff, that ifyou operate as an individual, as somebody who only sees black and white, that it's either right or wrong,this may not be the job for you.Because while we do have very clear cut standardswe operate a lot in the gray so a lot ofjudgment and assessment comes into play and ifyou can't operate in that you are not a good fit.

(Naquea)

"Hi, this is Naquia Walker with child care operations. I'm here to conduct an investigation."

(day care provider)

"Come on in."

(Naquea)

The job is right for me because sometimes I likeadventure, I like to be flexible, I like to be ableto sometimes come to work and not know what my daywill be like. Also, I like to investigate.

"Miss Jessica, do you have those files ready forme to look at?"

"Yes, I have them right here."

"Thank you, it's ok if I sit on that side?"

"Thank you."

(Naquea)

To be a successful investigator you have to beable to multitask, you have to be able to go intothe center, speak to the director and alsolisten to the environment, listen to what's going onin case you hear something, be aware of your surroundings at all times because something can happen. You have to be to work with people, beable to talk to people and be aggressive on someissues that we don't like to talk about.

(Erika)

I love this job because I touch the lives of thechildren whenever I'm out in the community.I am able to teach providers on minimum standards which is something I see as valuable so they're able toknow what the standard is and what there isbehind it, they'll be more responsive in doingthe right thing.

(Andrea)

As an investigator, while it can be a rewardingposition for some individuals for some individualsit is a very tough position. You are dealing withthe bad and the ugly of human nature, so if you'rean individual that can't do that, then investigator'snot for you. Maybe the inspector is a more upbeatand positive position and that's the direction youneed to go.

Licensing and Daycare Staff (Closing Credits)

Andrea Rickard

Erika Sanchez

Naquea Walker

Mike Tuncap

Leslie Ried

MahGilani

PhallonTillis

Cindy Klier

Myoshi Fountain

Trenette Steele

Tammy Sanders

Lisa Chace

Thy Thy Truong

Rosita Resmondo

Brandi Hitchcock

David Hitchcock

Kristi Martin

Jessica Stewart

Camera and Lighting by Sean Conrad

Directed and Edited by Darrell Azar