AMARILLO, TEXAS -- "Don't be in the dark", that's the new campaign from the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.
They're asking parents to make sure they are using a licensed provider. They say between 2004 - 2008, 58 children died in illegal home-based daycares in the state. DFPS says there are a couple of simple steps parents should follow, like, getting recommendations and to do a background check.
DFPS spokesman, Greg Cunningham says, "You always have to check their background of those daycares, you can go online and see how they've done on their inspections. Now every daycare is going to have some violations, there's a lot of things that they have to do to be safe, but you're looking for the big ones, ratio, are there enough caregivers to number of children, safety issues, discipline, abuse, neglect."
Cunningham also recommends parents go to the daycare and check it out themselves. To do that background check just click on Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.
