What we do, and how you can check it.

Who is in the room

• Every employee and every regular volunteer holds a current criminal history check through DPS and the FBI, plus a Texas central registry check for a history of abuse or neglect. Checks are repeated, not done once at hire.
• A caregiver with current CPR and paediatric first aid certification is on site at all times we are open, and in every vehicle that carries children.
• Texas requires 24 clock hours of training a year for caregivers and 30 for directors, plus pre-service training before anyone works with children unsupervised, and an hour a year on recognising and reporting child abuse.
• Anyone caring for children under 24 months takes additional annual training in early brain development and in safe sleep.

Safe sleep, under twelve months

• Babies are placed on their backs to sleep, every sleep, by every adult.
• A firm mattress with a tight fitted sheet, and nothing else in the crib — no blankets, bumpers, pillows, wedges, positioners or toys.
• Cribs are in the room the babies live in, in the caregivers’ line of sight, never in a separate dark room.
• We do a visual check on every sleeping infant at least every fifteen minutes and log it.
• If your paediatrician requires something different, bring the written instruction and we follow it exactly.
• No infant sleeps in a car seat, swing or bouncer. If a baby falls asleep in one, we move them to a crib.

Allergies and medication

• Any child with a diagnosed allergy has a written care plan from their doctor, a photo card in the kitchen and in their room, and a substitution written into the menu.
• Our kitchen is nut-free.
• Medication needs your written authorisation and the original labelled container. A prescription must carry your child’s name, the dose and the prescriber.
• We log every dose with the time and the name of the person who gave it, and you get that log.
• We do not give expired, unlabelled or repackaged medication, ever.
• Rescue inhalers and epinephrine auto-injectors are kept in the room, unlocked and reachable in seconds, with a signed individual care plan.

When to keep your child at home

We follow the exclusion criteria in the Texas minimum standards. In practice, keep your child home for:

• A temperature over 101°F by mouth or 100°F under the arm, together with a change in behaviour
• Two or more episodes of vomiting in twenty-four hours
• Two or more watery stools in twenty-four hours, or any blood in the stool
• An undiagnosed rash, or a rash with fever or a behaviour change
• Mouth sores with drooling
• Any illness that stops them taking part in normal activity, or that needs more care than we can give without taking attention from the other children

Return twenty-four hours after the fever has gone without medication, and after a prescribed antibiotic has been running for a full day. We tell every family in the room, in writing and without naming a child, when there is a communicable illness.

Entry, pick-up and incidents

• The building is locked. Entry is by keypad code, issued to enrolled families and changed when a family leaves.
• Only an adult named on your authorised pick-up list collects your child, with photo ID, every time — including people we know well.
• We will not release a child to an adult who is not on the list, including a parent. Add or remove names in writing at any time.
• If a court order restricts contact, we need a copy on file. Without it we cannot act on it.
• If we have a genuine concern about someone’s ability to drive safely, we call another authorised adult. That is not a negotiation at the door.
• Injuries are written up the same day and given to you at pick-up. Serious incidents are reported to Child Care Regulation as the rule requires.
• Every employee is a mandatory reporter. Suspected abuse or neglect goes to the Texas Abuse Hotline, and we are required to report it directly rather than through a supervisor.