Many states are moving toward child care transparency by providing parents with online access to public records, such as information on inspections, complaints, and enforcement of standards. But when it comes to choosing a child care provider, are parents seeing the full picture online?

Losing a child is any parent's worst nightmare, especially when the child's death is at the expense of the highly trusted caregiver's lack of accountability. No parent wants to receive that devastating emergency phone call, letting them know that their child has been rushed to the hospital, only to get there and be greeted by a Chaplain. Unfortunately, we see and hear about it too often from the alarming number of child care fatalities trickling through the news each day. Some of these stories involve accidental deaths, such as suffocation or drowning as a result of the caregiver leaving the child unattended. Others entail violent deaths, such a shaken baby fatality.

As a parent, choosing the best child care provider will probably be one of the most important decisions you'll have to make. Even though many states have launched online record systems on child care providers, they lack information on how child care is monitored. As a result, many parents have limited knowledge when it comes to child care providers.

According to Linda Smith, Executive Director of the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral (NACCRRA), twenty-one states inspect home-based child care operations less than once a year or in some cases, not at all! What's even sadder is that a majority of states allow these home-based child-care providers to go without a license or even open up their business prior to having an inspector check the premises. Furthermore, about 17 states have posted their inspection reports online. The Commonwealth of Virginia's Department of Social Services for example, has been posting inspection records online since 2005. Parents can view inspections and complaints through the Commonwealth's online system. One of the cases reported involved children who were found restrained by snap belts and cords! The list of complaints also consists of unlocked medicine cabinets, missing baby gates, and caregivers who were found reading magazines or talking on their cell phones.

Similar to Virginia, parents living in the state of Indiana can also obtain information about inspections, complaints based on regulatory issues, and enforcement of licensed child care centers by visiting the state's online system. In the state of Maryland however, parents do not have online access to child care providers' records. Instead, they must write letters, requesting information about complaints and violations. For example, in Montgomery County, parents have to actually file a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. In addition to Maryland, there are other states that have discretion on what information is revealed in each case and disclosure is carefully controlled.

As a parent, if your child is thought to be at risk, then you should have the right to be told. Thus, it is critical for the federal government to collaboratively work with state agencies in an effort to safeguard the nation's child care system by mandating state agencies to regulate child care facilities by performing more frequent inspections, enforcing stringent licensing standards, and providing an online system of public disclosure for parents. These protections will not only help reduce risks of accidental deaths, but more importantly, prevent the violent ones.

Gain more insight into state and local transparency efforts at INPUT's 3rd Annual State & Local MarketView event on June 4, 2008 in Tysons Corner.