Get Strict With Day-Care Rules

Last week three toddlers were found floating in a baby sitter’s back-yard swimming pool in the Orange County community of North Tustin. One, a 14-month-old boy, died. The other two, a 19-month-old girl and a 22-month-old boy, sustained irreparable brain damage.

One disturbing question, still unanswered, is: How did the youngsters get into the pool? Another is: Why were the children at the sitter’s home in the first place, considering that the day-care facility was unlicensed.

It is not that the tragedy could not have happened anywhere. It can, and does. With disturbing frequency. Drownings, in fact, are the leading cause of accidental death in children under the age of 4 in California. And most of them occur in back-yard swimming pools and spas.

But last week’s tragedy does more than merely raise the question of pool safety at home. It also raises the question of the government’s responsibility in aggressively pursuing unlicensed day-care operators to be sure that they meet the minimum safety standards established by state law.

In Orange County, there are about 2,400 licensed day-care homes. But because the demand is so much greater than the available day-care facilities, some officials think there may be as many in the underground network of unlicensed homes. The problem, we suspect, is just as prevalent in many, if not most, other urban communities.

In the Orange County case, the family that operated the baby-sitting service was ordered by county day-care authorities twice within the last year to stop caring for children. The family was in the process obtaining a license and had built a fence around the pool as the permit required. But in the meantime, it still was caring for the children.

One problem in the permit process is that day- care inspectors lack enforcement authority. They can’t just shut down a home that is operating without certification. If their cease-and-desist order is ignored, the inspectors must seek prosecution from the district attorney’s office.

Another problem is lack of funds to provide enough investigators to inspect not only the licensed homes but those operating without permits.

The state Department of Social Services’ community care licensing division is responsible for licensing and monitoring day-care facilities. Orange County had been doing the task for state government for more than 20 years, but because of under-funding, the county is turning the task back to the state in July. The state plans to provide the same inadequate number of inspectors that the county has been struggling along with. That would be a mistake.

The Legislature must be sure that adequate money is available statewide so that day-care facilities are properly inspected and certified to meet the minimum safety standards. And vigorous enforcement to shut down child-care services that do not comply must be the strict state policy.

But a strict licensing program, as necessary as it is, is not the only deterrent to swimming pool accidents that take so many young lives and leave others with permanent brain damage. What is most needed to prevent such tragedies is constant, even fanatic vigilance by adults who realize the inherent danger and potential for disaster anytime a child and a pool are on the same property.