Check out the best-practice policies of childcare centres, advises Kathryn Holmquist

Parents place their children in the care of other adults with an attitude of trust. Yet trust is not enough. Abuse by childcare workers and other adults in contact with children and young people does happen, as anyone knows who reads this newspaper, saw the documentaries Dear Daughter and States of Fear, or read the Madonna House report.

The resistance of those in authority to acknowledge abuse, which is part of our culture, was typified by the long struggle by victims of Fr Sean Fortune in Co Wexford to have their pain acknowledged and their questions answered, a scandal that eventually led to the resignation of Bishop Brendan Comiskey last week.

Children aged up to four in early-years childcare settings are most vulnerable of all, according to research.

These children are too small to resist, are compliant with adults' orders and do not have the language to reveal what has happened to them. When children cry or complain about going to daycare, their parents may believe that they are simply showing separation anxiety.

This situation is ideal for the men and women who abuse children emotionally, physically or sexually. Adults who are sexually attracted to children may seek out contact with daycare facilities, either by becoming staff member or by volunteering. Family members of people who own, manage or work in daycare centres may use this access to target children for abuse.

The opportunities are there. Yet as a society we continue to live in denial that this could ever happen. At the AGM of the National Children's Nurseries Association, childcare workers expressed amazement that parents so rarely even cross the threshold of the facilities caring for their children.

Government policy is so lax as to nearly be an invitation. "Awareness of the possibility of children being abused within daycare facilities is largely absent from or only implicit in official policy, such as the regulations attaching to Part VII of the Child Care Act (1991)," says Helen Buckley, author of the newly published Child Protection and Welfare: Innovations and Interventions (Institute of Public Administration, €20).

For example, "it has been suggested that the legislation and regulations required only the basic means of promoting the development of children and there is no specific requirement that there be professionally trained and educated staff skilled in the education and development of preschool children," Buckley states.

Standards relate to premises, facilities and equipment rather than to the emotional, psychological and educational development of children.

What procedures do exist concentrate on the steps to be followed in the event of a child bringing signs and symptoms of abuse to the setting, rather than on the protection of children from abuse within the setting, or on the factors likely to promote an abusive culture in the service, she adds.

She warns that, ironically, the health and wellbeing of the economy in recent years has had the potential to undermine the safety of some childcare facilities in a number of key respects. Difficulty in finding suitable staff means that consistent standards are not easily applied during the recruitment process. Some childcare facilities hire people before checking their references.

Secondly, competition in the jobs market makes turnover of personnel so rapid that the management of childcare centres may be destabilised, inevitably unsettling the children.

Thirdly, Buckley points out, pressure on places in daycare settings means that parents are so anxious to find daycare that they "may be forced to satisfy the need for daycare over the need to address the individual needs of a particular child". Parents are so grateful to find childcare places that they are afraid to voice their reservations about the running of these services for fear of losing their children's places, Buckley adds.

The positive effect of good quality nursery, preschool and day care for children is well-documented and Buckley means in no way to imply that child abuse is rampant in these settings. Children are, in fact, more likely to be abused within the family setting - yet we cannot continue to turn a blind eye to what might go on in childcare situations.

What are the warning signs that should parents look out for? They include: poor recording practices, including documentation of programmes and regimes; casual attitude to detail, i.e. attendance, whereabouts of children, outings and clothing; activities behind closed doors allowing little observation by others; too much openness; unscreened volunteers, family members and casual visitors dropping in; lack of regular contact with the public health nurse; frequent or badly handled management or structure changes; poor management or absent supervision of staff; lack of staff reviews; lack of agreed strategies for dealing with children's behaviour; lack of partnership with parents and poor communications with families; lack of a complaints procedure for parents or staff.

Parents should not be paranoid, but they do need to be aware. A childcare facility where good practices are maintained will welcome visits from parents to discuss these issues.