Response to New York Post Article: An Opinion
By Stacie Steelman
After reading the recent article in the New York Post, “Moms Are Giving Nannies Psych Checks to Avoid Hiring a Killer,” I was asked to give a general assessment and opinion on the topic. How does one truly give an opinion on an article like this being a mother and the CEO of a well established domestic staffing company without agreeing? The facts are intensely disturbing regarding the Yoselyn Oretga trial, stemming from the murder of 2 and 6-year-old child in their own home.
I personally tend to come from the school that people are innately good and we should trust our instincts, but if I were hiring someone for my own children, how would I handle this? I would not judge a family who wants to pursue psych evaluations, personality testing, use a nanny camera, and or perform drug testing. That being said, a parent searching the Nanny’s purse or belongings crosses a line in terms of being respectful of someone’s privacy and being a professional employer. Parents should keep in mind that if a Nanny is seeing a therapist or taking medication, it does not mean they are necessarily psychologically disturbed. My general philosophy when families are hiring for such an intimate position is that they should pursue whatever qualification tools are available and make them feel comfortable, educated, secure about who they are hiring. There is a wide pool of resources available to evaluate the background emotionally, socially, criminally, and overall stability of a potential candidate.
That being said, most Nanny staffing/placement companies do not perform a psych evaluation and personality testing upon hiring their own employees and referrals due to cost alone. There is typically a standardized set of qualification tools that are used as a pre-employment screening and should a client family make specific requests it is traditional for the company to have an additional a la carte offering of more in-depth screenings.
Some of the basics when it comes to properly screening a potential nanny are as follows:
- Phone screen and initial assessment typically reviewing historical employment information
- In-depth interview application and behavioral assessment (Including disclosures)
- Completion of as many supervisory references as applicable including a social media check of references to verify the validity of the quality of the reference
- Gather credentials and licenses collected and verify
- Check all Social Media accounts
- Complete Social Media Reference Check
- Verification of employment documents
- General assessment via testing of developmental knowledge and stages and general domestic skills through a well-qualified staffing company/agency or organization such as the International Nanny Association
- If available State-run fingerprinting and registry program (California has a program called Trustline that is run by the CA Department of Social Services) and FBI which is a live registry of in home child care providers. Many states have similar programs including Massachusetts, Alaska, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, North Carolina, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Washington.
- Private background check inclusive of a 7-year address history, OFAC (terrorist screening), social security verification, sexual offender screening, local county checks in every county the candidate has lived in, and National Criminal File check
80% of major American companies and 75% of companies in the UK utilize personality and psychiatric testing to evaluate their candidates according to Parenting Maven, and most offers are contingent on the results of these evaluations. There is nothing wrong with a family opting to take every measure in evaluating the skills set and capacity of their future Nanny, however, like any other qualification tool, the efficacy is found in the accuracy of the answers given.
Overall there is no foolproof guaranteed formula to know that the Nanny a family hires will be a perfect fit and last for years. There is no way to ensure they will never lose their cool or text on their phone when they should be caring for your child. A family cannot stop the Nanny from becoming someone they never imagined they could have hired. There is no background check, evaluation, test, reference check, or glass ball that can provide that information.
In my personal opinion, we have to use a combination of the tools that are available that bring ourselves peace as parents and professionals when we walk out the door each day. As an Executive Board member for the International Nanny Association and someone who has hired thousands of people over the years, I would encourage client families to do what makes them most comfortable and share all the information available. It is our duty in this industry to educate families as well as Nannies, and that should be our primary role. At the end of the day both the family and the Nanny should be comfortable jointly with the qualification process involved, and enter the relationship with a trusting and positive approach that will be well served and long-lasting.
Stacie Steelman – (Carlsbad, California). Membership Committee Chair. Stacie Steelman, Founder and CEO of Crunch Care, Inc., began her career in the corporate staffing industry. Starting out as a Corporate Recruiter, she interviewed and placed hundreds of accounting and financial professionals for Adecco Corporation, a $5 billion dollar global recruitment leader. Stacie oversaw the Los Angeles region for the Accounting and Financial division and led her team through a large scale acquisition during those years. In l2001, Stacie relocated to La Jolla, San Diego and worked for a boutique recruiting firm. Shortly after having her first child she resigned from the corporate world and began her entrepreneurial adventure. Recognizing the obvious need in the San Diego market for reliable, trustworthy, “on call” in-home care solutions, Stacie began her new venture by founding Crunch Care, Inc. in 2006 which specializes in the recruitment of babysitters, nannies, and caregivers for newborns, children, the elderly, and post-surgical patients. Her experience in the corporate recruiting industry has lent her the opportunity to hire and source candidates at a high volume while managing teams of recruiters and sales professionals over the years. Stacie has been an INA member since 2007 and joined the Board of Directors in 2013.