TOLEDO, Ohio — Toledo Police Department has continued to investigate what happened when Yvonne Makey was babysitting a child, back in April 2023. According to a report, the child sustained severe brain damage and liver injury.
Makey will be in court at the end of June, facing a child endangerment charge.
This story has peaked a lot of interest, thus WTOL 11 looked to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services and local moms to see how to choose the best care for kids. One of the main takeaways from each converstation is parents need to trust their instincts, if you feel like something is wrong believe it and leave.
Data from Child Care Aware of America shows Ohioans pay the annual average between $10,009 to $7,592 for an infant. Adding a second child to the bill makes the costs $18,267 to $14,038 a year. Numbers like that can be a huge expense for a family.
Credit: ChildCare Aware of America
Out at Promenade park in downtown Toledo, stay-at-home mom Lynae Hallock enjoys some afternoon baseball with her two year old Knox Hallock and mother-in-law Christie Hallock. Lynae said she does see the benefits of child care.
“I would love for him to like be able to go to day care just for the social aspect part of it,” Hallock said. “We definitely have to budget our money, being I don’t have an income. But, also daycare is not cheap.”
There’s no denying whether a parent stays at home or both parents go out into the workforce, and having to pick a child care facility, there will be costs. Data from TOOTRiS and Ohio Job and Family Services found child care prices can vary from city to city across the state. Yet, on average, infant care is nearly $10,000 or more than $800 per month, and the prices climb as the child or gets older.
Cassandra Adams, an assesement supervisor over the Specialized Investigative Unit at Lucas County Children Services, said paying more for child care than the average does not guarantee you’ll get the best care for your child. Having a long list of questions for every provider is a great way you can hopefully work towards getting the best care you can.
Adams also said asking all the questions of every provider you interiew is important, even if it seems a little much.
“You’re the biggest advocate for your child and if [a provider] gives you any type of hesitation about you being protective to findout out information about them, that is a red flag. You don’t need to use that individual as your care giver,” Adams said.
Adams said you’re allowed to ask about everything from background check details, CPR and First Aid certifications and who will be in the facility when your child is with them. Job and Family Services separates child care into three categories: Type A, Type B and child care centers. Both A and B are at home facilities, and the centers are just like daycares.
Type A can have between seven to 10 kids in the home and Type B can have one to six children in the home. Adams said it’s likely some of those kids can even be children from that same home. She added those homes can also be licensed through Job and Family Services. Child care centers can have an upwards of 10 children or more in their facilities.
Mom of three, Aya Khalil, agreed with Adam’s that parents should be cautious about choosing childcare facilities for their family.
“Go and ask questions. Ask ‘who are the teachers?’ ‘What are their credentials?’ That is always a great thing to do — kind of see how are the teachers interacting with the kids. So, that’s really important to me,” Khalil said.
She works from home and says before her children, 10-year-old Aminah, eight-year-old Muhammed and four-year-old Halimah Algendy were in school, she stayed at home. It’s all about making sure you feel safe with your children in whatever situation you put them in.
Adams said parents should feel free to ask all the questions they need to feel safe. It’s better to be cautios at first, versus being sorry later.
“Also, do pop up visits,” Adams said. “There should be no reason why you can’t come at that home and pop-up just to check on your child to make sure that everything is okay.”
For more information on child care facilities in Ohio, click here.
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