A nanny should never be intoxicated. That really goes without saying. Unfortunately, there are some nannies who just can’t seem to do without the alcohol. One good example is this Saratosa nanny. Intoxicated, she ended up abusing the kids under her care.
According to Bradenton.com;
A Sarasota nanny is facing child abuse charges after she reportedly told investigators she was intoxicated the night she left bruises on two children she was watching, Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office said.
It’s a nightmare every parent wants to avoid. Still, it happens. Parents come home, finding bruises on their kids. That is exactly what happened when the parents of two young kids trusted the 25-year old Sarai Rivera.
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They came home and found bruises on the neck of their two-year old son and on the face of their eight-month old daughter. To make matters worse, the bruises on the very young kids were not accidental at all. This was confirmed by the forensic nurses who had examined the kids.
According to the same source above;
Forensic nurses who examined the children told investigators the bruises were not accidental but were consistent with the child being pinched or grabbed, according to the affidavit.
An investigation has already begun after the parents reported the incident to the police. Sad to say, the damage has been done.
Doing Background Checks Is A Must
According to the statistics of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC);
More than 700,000 children are referred to child protective agencies as a result of abuse or neglect in the U.S. each year.
It’s really hard to imagine how anyone could even think of harming kids. In this day and age where spanking is a debatable topic, it’s hard to fathom the fact that kids are being abused by people they trust.
In the case of the Sarai Rivera, she was the regular nanny of the young kids. At some point, the parents must have trusted her. Or did they?
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It’s heartbreaking to even think that the parents didn’t have much of a choice with their nanny. Given that, they could have at least screened the nanny before hiring.
Unfortunately, all is easier said than done now. Other parents will just have to learn from this very sad news.
What Parents Need To Do
Finding a sitter or a nanny is never easy. It’s very hard to pick the right one who could sincerely care for the kids. Parents need massive information on the sitters before hiring one. They have to get to know the sitters first before hiring. That really is the only way to go when it comes to hiring a sitter or a nanny.
There are a lot of ways to get to know the sitters first. The most common way parents try to get to know the sitters is by conducting a series of interviews. They usually start off with a phone interview for initial screening. Then they eventually progress to a face-to-face interview with the sitter.
Unfortunately, conducting a series of interviews is not enough to screen a sitter. Parents need more than just a series of interviews to gauge a sitter.
Unfortunately, conducting a series of interviews is not enough to screen a sitter. Parents need more than just a series of interviews to gauge a sitter.
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For in-depth information on the sitters, parents should run background checks on them. Background checks provide massive information on the sitters. They dig deeper into the sitter’s background.
For example, a background check can show parents if the sitter has been previously charged or arrested. If the sitter has been previously charged with DUI, it’s going to show in her background check. That should immediately raise a red flag on the sitter.
Sitter services such as Sittercity and UrbanSitter conveniently help parents with background checks.
And if you are not comfortable hiring complete strangers to do some babysitting, you might like to check out UrbanSitter. UrbanSitter’s platform connects you with parents within your social, community, and professional circle who have already screened, vetted, and employed the services of highly recommended sitters.
With a background check, parents can easily avoid certain sitters and immediately move on to the next available one. That way, no parent would ever have to hire an intoxicated nanny in the future.
A nerd at heart (haha), I have been following and analyzing the world of online sitters for a couple of years now and have seen a lot of innovations and changes in this market. In between taking care of my loving (and demanding 😜) family and writing, I also do a lot of “traveling” on the Travel Channel and Discovery Channel. Read More
News like this that makes me want to ditch sitters but then, daycare centers are worse. Between the two, I think it’s safer to go for sitters. It’s just a matter of choosing the right childcare service to find a safe sitter.
Face it. A background check is not enough to trust a sitter. Interviews are easy to ace especially if the applicant is a good liar. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t conduct them but what I am saying is that together with background checks and interviews, it’s a must to get feedback from previous employers. That’s where Urbansitter gets it right. They get other parents to vet for the sitter and for me, that matters a lot.
I’m pretty straightforward with the sitters when I interview them. I tell them I prefer someone who doesn’t drink at all. It’s important for me to say that since the sitters I get are usually college students. When you’re a college student, well, you know how it is. I feel it’s better to be straightforward about it.