Selecting someone to be responsible for your child’s well being in your absence can be a daunting task.  This person will be responsible for all the aspects of your child’s life.  With the constant flow of news stories telling of how a nanny or babysitter abused or mistreated a child the parent can never be too careful in their selection process.  I am going to provide a few tips to help you in the process of effectively screening a nanny or babysitter from the point of view of a private investigator.

 Your background screening process should be through and comprehensive.  You basically want to account for the individual’s life prior to them coming to you seeking employment.  The screening process should include the following steps; a complete application, character background checking, referral follow up and an interview.  Each of these steps is crucial to determining the type of person that will be caring for your child.

The application you have prospective nannies fill out is a very important tool in selecting the right child caregiver.  The basic information should include a current address, home and cell phone numbers, date and place of birth, social security number, driver’s license number and state issued and any former or maiden names.  With this basic information you will be able to conduct various searches to get a better idea of the candidate’s past.  

Additional information that should be included in the application is past employers (with valid contact information, references (not related to the candidate), criminal conviction history, driving history (from all states candidate has held a license), past states of residence, marital status, medical conditions that could affect job performance and educational background. The most effective way to make an application is to think of what you want to know about the person who is going to be alone with your child.

This step of the process will help in weeding out candidates that are already lying on their application.  You are going to want to conduct a basic background search in an effort to confirm the information listed on the application.  It is a good idea to search the phone numbers listed to see if they are registered to the candidate or to someone else.  During this step it is a good idea to check the National Sex Offender Registry and to conduct court record searches. Court record searches will help to uncover any criminal or civil cases the applicant has been involved in.  The basic idea behind this step is to establish confidence in the applicant.

All of their supplied information should match the results of your searches.   If you plan on having the applicant drive the children around it would be a good idea to obtain a driving record from the state which has issued the individual a license.  This will provide you with an idea of the applicant’s driving habits and past offenses.  Some state will require consent from the applicant so be sure to obtain that with your application. 

Your applicant should have provided at least four referrals on their application.  It is now time to call the referrals and get a basic idea of the applicant outside a work environment.  It is very important to remember that often times applicants will supply the names of friends or relatives to get a guaranteed good referral.  It is good practice to ask the referral how they know the applicant. This sounds basic but a lot of times they will not get their stories straight and you will be able to identify who is lying. Another tip would be to ask off topic questions such as “what is the applicant’s favorite restaurant or type of food?”  The idea is to ask questions that someone providing a referral should know the answer to.    Develop a list of questions you want to know about the applicant prior to making your phone calls. Again, this is a chance to ask anything about the applicant. 

During this step of the process you will actually be able to get a “feel” for the applicant. Often times, your “gut” instinct will not serve you wrong. The best way to prepare for the interview is to form your own questions based on the results of your phone calls and background searches. It is important to take notice as to how the applicant answers the questions. Does this person answer quickly as though they had the response planned ahead of time?  Take note of their general appearance and the way they carry themselves.  This will help you to form a better overall picture.  If an applicant has reached this step of the process it is safe to say they have passed the previous steps.  Take this time to get to know the person on a more personal level. If there are two parents in the household it may be a good idea to interview the applicant one at a time.  This will allow for the two points of view to reach their own conclusions without influence from the other. After the interviews compare notes and evaluations to ultimately reach a very well thought out conclusion.

I cannot stress how important it is to do your homework when selecting a nanny or babysitter. There are a lot of online database searches that will charge a fee and then supply unlimited access to records. This is very cost effective when looking into multiple applicants. There are also investigative services that can do background searches but they can become quite costly, I work for one of them. Remember, a few dollars and a few hours doing your research could help you avoid the worst consequences with your children. Be safe.

M. Auletta