Keeping Count: Strategies for Keeping Kids Safe

Keeping Count
Strategies for keeping kids safe

Recent media reports about two four year old boys who escaped from a child care centre in Lane Cove NSW highlight the importance of keeping track of kids at all times.

The boys were found by a bus driver walking along a busy road and were taken to a local police station. The matter has now been referred to the Department of Family and Community Services for investigation.

When parents drop their kids off with you each day there is an assumption the child will be safe and supervised all day. There is no excuse for losing a child and ensuring it doesn't happen requires you to be mindful of the vulnerabilities in your service. Preventing children from leaving your service and monitoring numbers requires constant vigilance. If you haven't reviewed your safety measures in some time consider the points below.

Vulnerable times and places
Child care providers should carefully review the physical environment in and around centre and the daily routine to determine the problem areas and when the most vulnerable times for losing a child are. For each of these, you must consider what people should know and what physical aspects of the situation need to be addressed.

Using this information you can determine what policies and practices you need to develop to keep track of children. It is critical that you train your staff regarding these policies and practices.

Review your program and physical set-up to determine when and where you are or may be most vulnerable to losing a child. To get your thinking started, here is a list of some of the most common times and places when you may lose a child:

When there is a child new to the service.
When you have new staff, relievers or assistants who do not know the children or the routine.
During pick-up and drop-off times.
While transporting or moving children.
During transitions.
When children use bathrooms outside the classroom.
During staff shift changes.
During meal preparation and food service.
During outdoor play, especially if the playground is not immediately accessible to the centre or includes bush land areas.
At the end of the day.
During field trips.
During fire safety drills.

General safety measures
Consider incorporating the strategies described below on a daily basis to minimise the risk of losing a child:

Stay within your licensed capacity at all times. Extra children make supervision more difficult.
Always maintain the required adult/child ratios. Ratios are a safeguard to assure a minimal level of appropriate supervision for children of varying ages and abilities.
Always maintain primary caregivers for infants and toddlers.
Keep accurate dated daily attendance records.
Greet each child and parent at arrival to provide appropriate transfer of responsibility.
Sign in and out all children when they arrive and depart including children of caregivers/assistants.
Use first and last names and the time signed in as well as the time signed out.
Carers should match the children present to the attendance sheet periodically throughout the day for accuracy.
Check immediately with the parent if a child does not arrive on a scheduled day.
Supervision is ongoing; carers and assistants are never off duty, even during the children's naptime. Centre office staff and kitchen staff should also watch for children.
Provide consistent staffing in centres so staff know all the children.
Avoid games which encourage children to leave your area of vision.
Look for potential hiding places where children can hide behind or in objects (furniture, shrubbery, play equipment, etc.) and are out of your line of vision.
Be aware of areas (bathrooms, exits, etc.) that may not be used regularly. Have a plan for supervision of these areas.
Arrange furniture to make it more difficult for children to leave unsupervised. Make exit areas less obvious or attractive and erect visual barriers at the children's eye level that still enable adult supervision.
At the end of the day, visually check the bathrooms, nap area, offices, classrooms, bedrooms, and outdoor play areas. Remember to check on and under all seats and in vehicles if you have transported children that day.

A Written Policy
A written policy that details what you would do in the event of a child being separated from the group or who leaves the centre is an effective way of formalising all your operating procedures.

This process will allow you to think through the emergency steps before a situation occurs and will ensure your staff react appropriately in the event of an emergency.

The policy should include:

Who is responsible for checking the list of children against the children present to ensure they are all accounted for.
Who is going to take care of the remaining children in the event of an emergency.
Who is responsible for locating a child if one goes missing.
When the parents and authorities will be notified and who is responsible for making the calls.
Any other actions you feel are important.

Sources
Preventing Lost Children State of Michigan, Department of Human Services