New children’s ride-sharing services target busy parents

HopSkipDrive website: “With HopSkipDrive, you have a reliable way to get your kids to any activity. You can schedule rides weeks in advance or with at least eight hours’ notice. Unlike carpool drivers, HopSkipDrivers are vetted for both childcare experience and driving safety.” Similarly to their ride-sharing predecessors, HopSkipDrive and Shuddle both say they conduct…

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Louisiana daycares lose licenses due to lack of background checks, disregard for state law

Two daycare centers in Louisiana recently had their child care licenses revoked when Louisiana Department of Education inspections revealed that each had violated dozens of state laws. Violations included not conducting criminal background checks on all employees, not having properly licensed and qualified directors, not documenting all workers, not meeting required employee-to-child ratios, not having…

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Pennsylvania Governor approves clarifications to background checks

child-protective background checking law. Despite the original law’s intention to protect children from sexual predators by requiring volunteers to undergo criminal history and state police background checks, there was much confusion regarding who the law should apply to, and which types of jobs required mandatory screening. “We thought we’d been specific … giving kind of…

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Care.com background checks receive scrutiny after wrongful death lawsuit

wrongful death lawsuits against both the nanny and Care.com. The website allows caregivers to post information for free, and charges families a monthly subscription fee to access information about potential nannies, caregivers and babysitters. There are three levels of subscription: a $37 per month standard subscription; a “preferred” subscription for $59 per month that includes…

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Six tips to keep your kids safe when hiring a caregiver

Whether you’re looking to hire live-in help for your kids, need a five-day-a-week day care center or just need to find a sitter now and then, you want the best care you can give your children while you’re away. Hiring a nanny or day care that you can trust can seem like a difficult task…

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Don’t leave childcare to chance; conduct an advanced background check

Many working parents have childcare needs, and if local family members are not available (and willing!) to do babysitting duty, parents often look to the community for good childcare. For some families, the best option is a day care center with full-time childcare staff, while others prefer smaller care facilities or even home-based caregivers who…

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Avoid negligent hiring when employing a babysitter

When Mind Your Business was founded, it was created as a way for owner Karen Caruso to screen potential candidates to take care of her children. Conducting a background check is recommended when hiring full-time care for your children, such as a nanny. But what if you just need a sitter for a few hours?…

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Caretaker background checks extend to pets

It makes perfect sense to have a background check run on a potential candidate when you’re looking for a nanny for your children. Pet Sitters International has taken it a step further, ensuring that all of their pet-sitting professionals undergo annual criminal history screenings so clients can ensure their fur-babies are in the best possible…

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