Every so often, someone says something that reveals they are skeptical about the supposed danger to which children in day care may be subjected. It reminds me of the responses I got years ago when I told acquaintances about my earlier articles on child abuse. After I told a neighbor I’d just written a magazine article about a pedophile priest who had sexually abused children, she burst into laughter. “Pedophile priests!” she said, as if the very idea was hilarious. But as I say, that was long ago. The Academy Award-winning movie Spotlight set a lot of people straight on that score. I doubt she’s laughing now.
I hope In Good Hands helps open people’s eyes about day care. There are plenty of cases out there to remind us of the dangers. Unfortunately. There was one here in New York City in mid-September that got a lot of attention. One toddler died and three others were hospitalized after they were accidentally poisoned in a home day care by exposure to the drug fentanyl. The three survivors were saved by swift administration of Narcan, the drug used to reverse overdoses. The child who died was two months shy of his second birthday.
In the uproar that followed this event, New York City Mayor Eric Adams defended his administration by noting that days before the death, the day care was visited by a “surprise” inspection team and passed. But after the medical emergency, the police found drugs and drug paraphernalia on the premises, and neighbors told reporters that there were telltale signs that the residence was used for illicit activity.
As I write, there are many unanswered questions, and I see no reason to blame any of the parents. But one lesson that can be drawn from this story is the importance of visiting and observing a day care—early and repeatedly. Government inspectors cannot be counted on to find potential problems. In many jurisdictions, home day cares are not subject to regular government inspection. Even where they are, in many ways parents are in a better position to monitor what’s going on. But they have to take the time to go there. A lawyer for the dead child’s family told The New York Times that the family had “vetted the day care program through a community center and did not know its operator was also renting rooms to tenants.” There’s no substitute for seeing the operation and having the opportunity to ask questions about what you observe.