First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton Joins CPSC to Release
Child Care Safety Checklist
NEWS from CPSC
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
Office of Information and Public Affairs
Washington, DC 20207
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 12, 1999
Release # 99-094
CPSC Consumer Hotline: (800) 638-2772
CPSC Media Contact: Ken Giles, (301) 504-7052
First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton Joins CPSC to Release
Child Care Safety Checklist
WASHINGTON, D.C. - First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton joined U.S.
Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Chairman Ann Brown today to
kick off a national campaign to alert parents and caregivers to safety
hazards in child care settings. Among the findings in a 1998
CPSC study of 220 child care
settings across the United States, two-thirds had at least one safety
hazard. CPSC visited four types of licensed child care
settings, including federal, non-profit, for-profit and in-home.
"Some hazards are obvious, like playground surfacing that has worn
thin," said Brown. "Other hazards are hidden dangers that may not be
obvious. Even the best parents and child care providers may not be aware
of these hidden hazards."
Many child care settings provide safe environments for young children.
Yet, CPSC knows of at least 56 children who have died in child care
settings since 1990. In 1997, about 31,000 children, 4 years old and
younger, were treated in U.S. hospital emergency rooms for injuries at
child care and school settings.
The CPSC study looked at eight product areas with potential safety
hazards in child care settings selected at random. Following are the
results:
38 percent had children wearing outerwear with drawstrings at the neck.
27 percent did not keep the playground surfacing well-maintained.
24 percent did not have safe playground surfacing.
26 percent had loops on the window blind cords.
19 percent had cribs containing soft bedding.
13 percent did not use child safety gates where necessary.
5 percent were using products that had been recalled by CPSC.
To help remedy the situation, CPSC has prepared a
Child Care Safety Checklist for
child care providers and parents to use. The checklist
will help caregivers become informed about hidden hazards by giving them
a list of things to look for to make their homes and child care settings
safer for children. Parents can use the checklist when choosing child
care settings and ensuring that the child care provider is vigilant in
monitoring product recall announcements and removing dangerous items.
"The Child Care Safety Checklist will provide parents and child
care providers with the information they need to ensure that children
are safe in all child care settings," said First Lady Hillary Rodham
Clinton. "This effort is part of the Administration's commitment to
making child care better, safer and more affordable for America's
working families."
"The safety of the children in our centers has always been of
paramount importance," said David J. Barram, Administrator of the U.S.
General Services Administration (GSA), which administers 112 Federal
childcare centers nationwide. "To do our job even better, by Mother's
Day 1999 we will have computers online in all of our centers. Then, at
a moment's notice, we can pass along safety alerts from CPSC. Those
computers also can be used to provide a network for all GSA childcare
centers to share best practices, ideas and information to improve all
aspects of Federal childcare."
CPSC is sending the checklist to many groups nationwide, including the
National Child Care Information Center, National Association for the
Education of Young Children, Head Start, state licensing authorities and
other providers and organizations that work with them. To get a free
hard copy of the checklist, send a postcard to Child Care Safety Checklist,
CPSC, Washington, DC 20207. "We want to get a checklist in the hands of
every caregiver," said Brown. "Child care providers should use this
checklist to go through their facility and make it a safer place for
the children in their care."