The name of the newsletter/program I subscribed to is Child
Care Aware of America. The address is http://facebook.com/USAChildCare
Their mission is to “promote national policies and
partnerships to advance the development and learning of all children and to
provide vision, leadership, and support to community child care resource and
referral.”
The reason I chose this organization was because after I
complete my Master’s, my goal is to be a director of a child care facility and
I feel that with their goal to “ provide leadership and support to community child
care resources” I would like to be in on their ideas.
The name and link of the international website I selected
was http://www.naccrra.org/. The organization’s focus is on that of
increasing the quality of child care. The NACCRRA offers training to child care
professions. They are also interested in improving the families and child’s
life.
The reason I chose this organization is that they want to
improve the outcome of families and children in the child care setting. They receive
no state funding.
The issue/ trend that caught my attention was on the www.naccrra.org site. The article was in the “Journal Gazette” a newspaper in Fort
Wayne, Indiana. The article I am referring to is about “Indiana one of the
first stated to develop disaster guide for child care. The reason I chose this
article was first off I feel that to be prepared and not scared is a motto for
everyone, not just at home but at the work place as well as child care facilities.
The article discusses child care providers right now they only have a plan for
fire or severe weather situations. The child care preparedness guide covers all
emergencies. Everything from flash floods to threats of violence.
This is very near and dear to me first because I live in Indiana. Second, I work at Early Head Start and I am employed at a facility where we were are prepared for all these things. Early Head Start is under the umbrella of Hamilton Center. Hamilton Center is a Mental Health Facility, and we are required to do each of these test monthly, bi monthly and bi yearly. I was just shocked to see not all facilities were under a prepared plan. At Early Head Start we ensure the safety and wellness of our children. With the unknown violence that occurs at the schools now days, it is best if there is a lockdown procedure in place as well. This article discussed this very issue. And actually Early Head Start was on a lock down just a few months ago. With Early Head Start being within a Mental Health organization sometimes the people are not always mentally stable. And that was the case. There was a client who was obsessed with an employee and the whole facility became locked down until she was found and was stable. I am learning that not all child care facilities are under a disaster plan.
This is very near and dear to me first because I live in Indiana. Second, I work at Early Head Start and I am employed at a facility where we were are prepared for all these things. Early Head Start is under the umbrella of Hamilton Center. Hamilton Center is a Mental Health Facility, and we are required to do each of these test monthly, bi monthly and bi yearly. I was just shocked to see not all facilities were under a prepared plan. At Early Head Start we ensure the safety and wellness of our children. With the unknown violence that occurs at the schools now days, it is best if there is a lockdown procedure in place as well. This article discussed this very issue. And actually Early Head Start was on a lock down just a few months ago. With Early Head Start being within a Mental Health organization sometimes the people are not always mentally stable. And that was the case. There was a client who was obsessed with an employee and the whole facility became locked down until she was found and was stable. I am learning that not all child care facilities are under a disaster plan.
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20130709/NEWS07/130709526/1067/NEWS07
Diana,
ReplyDeleteI agree that all programs that work with young children should have many plans in place for emergencies. Drills and procedures not only prepare the adults for these situations but the children themselves. Since they have practiced and discussed emergency procedures, real life situations that do occur are much more easily managed by all involved. I have also been in situations where emergency procedures needed to be used and the children were very calm and trusting due to the preparation they had during drills.
Sandra
Thanks for this post, I too work in a mental health facility and just two weeks ago I had a parent threaten me. The parent was disgruntled and come up to the facility inquiring about my whereabouts. My supervisor and lead clinician had reached out to her several times before to come in for a formal meeting to discuss her concerns, but it was apparent that she wanted to take matters into her own hands. I was upset about the whole matter and feared for my safety. My supervisor tried to sweep the issue under the rug and that’s when I had to get HR involved. During our meeting I shared with them of the importance of having something in place to protect our client’s as well as staff from parents and or individuals who have intentions to do harm. The HR personal agreed, but my supervisor continued to right to make lite of the situation and paint me as simply overeating! Diana, I couldn’t agree with you more the facilities dealing with children should have protective measures for various types of emergences including violence.
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