A crackdown on small day care centres over the last two weeks has found some have unhygienic conditions, unsafe play areas, dirty toys and over-stressed care givers, Chief Environmental Health Officer Estlyn Harvey told .

As a result, many have been told to clean up and reduce the number of children currently under care or be shut down. The Health Department began cracking down on ?home care providers? ? day care providers with less than three children under care ? in an effort to ensure providers are properly licensed and supervised.

Centres with more than three children under care are termed ?day care centres? by the department and are subject to different regulations.

Inspectors conducted on site visits to a number of home care providers and the findings were distressing. While no facilities have yet been shut down, some have been issued warnings, Mrs. Harvey said.

?Some of the concerns that we have been seeing were too many children (in care) and the person caring for the children appeared to be under stress,? Mrs. Harvey said.

?The hygiene standards were very low and there were a lot of unsafe play areas. Toys the children were found playing with were unsafe and dirty. When you?re taking care of toddlers the floors should be spotless and immaculate.?

Home child care providers found to have more than three children under care have been told to reduce that number ? or to follow the recommended one-caregiver-to-three-children ratio expected at day care centres. Some providers are complying but others have been defiant. ?There is a financial burden on child care providers who have to lower their number because, for some, this has been their main income and therefore there is opposition,? said Mrs. Harvey.

?Others are thanking the department for enforcing the legislation because they don?t have the heart to tell parents ?no?, and there are others who admit that three children should be the maximum for a child care provider because of the quality (of) care that can be provided.?

The department recently appealed to home care providers to apply for licences to operate and publicised the requirements that are expected to be met in order to operate. Mrs. Harvey, who administers and grants licences, said the response from the community was overwhelming. Both parents and day care centres expressed concerns about local child care options.

Nineteen applications for licences are being processed, she said. When the applications are reviewed the premises will be inspected to ensure safety standards are met. And all day care centres on the Island must also renew their licences by the end of August. They must also be inspected by the Fire Service in order to receive a fire safety certificate.

Once the vetting process has been completed, a list of properly licensed day care providers and home care providers will be published in the newspaper, Mrs. Harvey said.

People who are home care providers will also be sent an information package once they are registered, and will be asked to participate in workshops soon to be offered by the Health Department.

These small day cares, where no more than three children are cared for, must be registered under the 1998 Children?s Act. Although it is recommended, people who run such businesses are not required to have formal training.

Day care centres, alternatively, must be inspected once a year, Mrs. Harvey said, adding that all operators can expect more surprise inspections in the future.

Home care providers who attempt to avoid the registration or the licensing process can face fines of over $1,000.

The Health Department?s crackdown was spurred when a former child care provider, Jacquelyn Fubler, pleaded guilty in Magistrates? Court last month to injuring a ten-month-old baby so severely that he suffered serious head injuries.

Fubler is now in custody and could face up to ten years in jail for causing grievous bodily harm to Stephen Ebbin in July 2001.

A ?day care centre? must have a qualified person in charge and deputy person in charge. Persons meeting the requirements for these positions are certified by the Chief Medical Officer.

A licence is issued for the premises after satisfying the following criteria:

(i) Approval by Department of Planning

(ii) A Certificate issued by the Bermuda Fire Services

(iii) A Certified Person in Charge

(iv) A Certified Deputy Person in Charge

(v) Full compliance with the Day Care Centre Regulations 1999