Managing Abuse Accusations

As much as childcare business owners dislike abuse accusations, it’s a subject that we all will deal with some day during our career.

Accusations can spring up from staff that are not ethical or committed to your success. I call them bad seeds. They are vengeful and trouble starters. When dealing with staff behavior, be sure to write down and reinforce with them every discipline action that you have. I have seen bad seeds report false accusations to the state to diminish a center’s records. Create a list that states reasons for immediate termination and have your employees sign it. Properly written statements will support your decision for termination.

Another way accusations are started is from children who say a teacher hit them. Do not ignore this. Children ages 3 to 4 will usually tell their story more than once with clarity.  Ask questions and if the child can repeat his or her story more than once, do what your policy states to do. You may be dealing with a teacher who is actually abusing a child.

Another way to determine abuse is through marks, scratches, bruises, bites and burns. I have dealt with parents who smile in your face one minute then turn around and call your childcare business abusive. To combat this problem, perform head-to-toe checks daily and write down observations. Carelessness could result in parents accusing you or your staff of abuse when it is actually happening at home.

Three simple but effective tips for managing abuse accusations:

1. Create a written policy governing staff who abuse kids while in their care,  parent accusations, marks on children upon arrival, documenting accidents, parent complaints and what to do in sequence order
2. Complete your daily head-to-toe checkup
3. Create a step-by step-investigation policy