Good news for travelers who can’t afford to bring a nanny on the trip – but would love a night out without the kids. Care.com has just launched its extensive child care directory which gives city-by-city listings of reliable babysitter help. Care.com boasts free background checks and detailed listings, so parents can find child care in any city.
Care.com’s Day Care Directory provides a listing of resources at the local level, searchable by zip code. Just a few clicks – and you have a list of qualified, reputable options at your fingertips. Featured child care providers within the site provide additional information ranging from qualifications and certifications to current availability and rates!
This site was designed to provide families with concise and timely information with a robust list of options for all 50 states. In order to ensure the safety and quality of their nannies, Care.com goes the extra mile:
Q: What kind of background check is done on the nannies?
A: When a background check is requested through Care.com, the following information is verified:
1. Social Security Number Verification – The user’s Social Security Number will be verified to ensure that it is a valid Social Security Number and that the person is a legal citizen of the United States.
2. Address Verification – The user’s address will be verified to ensure that it is associated with the user.
3. Criminal Record Verification – A search of criminal records will be conducted to see if the user has a criminal record. The records that are searched include:
a. State and county criminal record repositories
b. State sex offender registries
c. Prison, parole and release files from state Department ofCorrections, Administrative Office of Courts, and other state agencies
d. Proprietary LexisNexis criminal record information.
The specific records which are searched vary by state and county. For example, sex offender registries are not available in the states of Vermont and Washington. Accordingly, such offenses committed in these states would not be found by this search. Please refer to this table to understand exactly what records are searched.
Q: Do you thoroughly check their references?
A: We provide our customers with recorded reference checking. When a care seeker comes across a provider profile that they are interested in, they can request a recorded audio reference for them. We will call the provider’s reference and ask them a series of questions over the phone, while taping the conversation (which the reference first consents to). We then provide the care seeker with a downloadable audio file of the conversation, so that they can hear the provider’s previous employer talking about them. The care seeker can also access the reference information in written transcript form.
In addition, all care seekers that use the service also have the freedom to directly request reference contacts from a provider listed on the site.
Q: Do you have insurance and what does it cover?
A: Yes, we do have insurance; however, we do differ from traditional “nanny agencies” in that we are not actually providing the services of a sitter that is employed by Care.com. Our service is designed as a marketplace to connect care providers that post profiles on the site with families seeking care. In addition to the security measures listed above, we provide tips and tools on our site to guide parents and care seekers towards thoroughly screening any potential providers that they may choose to hire.
Q: How long have you been in business doing this?
A: Care.com was founded in November 2006 and the website launched on a national level in May 2007.
