Child leaves Salinas preschool with black eye
It was an alarming discovery for one Salinas family, last week.
Christine, who wished to keep her last name private, picked up her grandson from Alisal Campus Early Education Center and found he was covered in scratches and had suffered a black eye. ” It’s hard. He’s going be four and how do you reassure him that he’s in a safe place?, ” said Christine.
Christine said the daycare told her another child got rough with her grandson during playtime. She said she got the news at the end of the day during pickup, but wishes staff would’ve made the call much sooner. ” We didn’t receive any calls to say that an incident had happened. Even a little minor scratch is okay. That happens, but not receiving any call? Are they paying attention? Are they supervising the children?, ” said Christine.
Christine said these are questions she wished she would have asked before enrolling her grandson.
The California Department of Social Services provides resources so families can research their child’s daycare. Parents can look up a daycare’s license number and see if a center has ever been cited. ” It can be a very minor sort of thing that has a potential to be a problem, or it can be something as serious as an injury to a child that is allowed to go out unattended. In a case like that, were there is a clear danger and a threat, we take a more stringent approach to the enforcement, ” said Deputy Director for the California Department of Social Services, Adam Weintraub .
The Department of Social Services also does routine checks with each provider in the state. Winetraub still encourages parents to ask questions. “Watch how the staff interacts with children. Ask what happens if the child gets sick. What happens if my child feels sad or unsafe?, ” said Weintraub .
The Alisal Campus Early Education Center issued a statement to KION . Executive director, Shannan Watkins, said, “It is always difficult for any parent when another child hurts their child just as it is hard for the parent whose child did the injury. Thankfully the children enrolled at this site are all verbal and were able to tell their teachers and parents which child hurt them so we could provide support to that child as they learn to self-regulate their impulses. We strive to be sensitive to both families which includes working with the child who has self-control issues instead of expelling them. ” Watkins also added that staff have protocol to notify parents depending on the severity of incident.
To view the California Department of Social Services’ Guide to Choosing Child Care, visit: www.cdss.ca.gov.
To view the same document in Spanish, visit: www.cdss.ca.gov.
Disclaimer: The Alisal Campus Early Education Center is not affiliated with the Alisal Union School District.
