The process of finding a babysitter can be a confusing one. Once you’ve found potential candidates, it can also be difficult to know which one will be the best for your situation. Because a babysitter will be taking care of your most precious possessions, it is important to make sure that she is capable of doing the job and doing it well. As a part of the process of finding a babysitter, you should never just take the candidate’s word that they are a good babysitter; You need to verify this through other means.

In many states, babysitting is not regulated or licensed. If your babysitter will be watching your child in her home, she may require a daycare license. If you are hiring a full-time nanny or au pair, your state may have a licensing procedure as well; here again, this is typically not the case. It is important for you to familiarize yourself with the regulations in your state regarding babysitting and child care. You should be able to contact your state’s Attorney General’s office

Beyond questions of licensing, you should always contact a potential babysitter’s references. If she has previously been employed as a babysitter, you should ask for two or three references from families for whom she has worked. If she has not previously been employed as a babysitter, as for other work or personal references.

If your babysitter is going to be driving your child, you may wish to do a check of her driving record. Procedures vary from location to location. In the US, there are national services that can provide driving records for most states. The cost of a driving record check starts at around $30 or so. These records can reveal poor driving habits or things like DUIs.

A more thorough process is the criminal record check. A criminal check typically requires a social security number, date of birth, and address. A variety of companies perform these checks; again, procedures vary from location to location. The cost of these types of checks can be $100 or more.

If you are hiring a teenager to baby-sit, the American Red Cross offers babysitter training. Your potential babysitter should have a completion certificate that shows that she completed this training. You may also be able to contact the American Red Cross chapter where she completed her training to verify that she took the course.

There are some non-governmental organizations that claim to “license” babysitters, nannies, or au pairs. These organizations may or may not be legitimate; If a candidate claims to be licensed, you should find out all you can about the organization doing the licensing. Here again, your state’s Attorney General’s office may be of assistance.

Posted in Child Care Issues

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