Parents with children in day care often assume workers have cleared background checks and the facility has passed unannounced inspections, but a review released last week finds many states don’t have such requirements.
The watchdog arm of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found that 21 states do not require an annual unannounced inspection of all licensed child-care providers and that only 15 require background checks considered comprehensive by the agency, according to the report. Even when unannounced inspections are required, they aren’t always done, says the report from HHS’ inspector general.
About 1.6 million children attend day-care programs with federal subsidies.
