There is a nanny in the San Diego area who was referred to me, and her name is Deena P**** with Goodnight Nannies. Because I am thorough and very careful with whom I leave my children, I looked into her background a little further. Come to find out that she has been arrested for Domestic Violence, Child Protective Services (CPS) has investigated her three times within the past year (once for her own child), and she has a Stay Away order for another child. If Deena P**** is referred to you as a nanny or babysitter in the North County San Diego area, do NOT hire her!! Please do yourself, and your children, a favor and check on her background yourself to find the same info that I found._________________________________________________
Nanny's last name can be given via private e-mail if necessary.
Why not go after the nanny agency "goodnight nannies" or whoever referred you? It seems to me that an agency who either does not do background checks or disregards a poor background check is the major issue here.
ReplyDeleteI do understand the need to make people aware of this person's background, OP. Have you complained to the agency as well? Was their response satisfactory? If not,do you plan to file a report with the Better Business Bureau?
ReplyDeleteI hope you are able to put a dent in the agency's reputation if they did know of the woman's history and sent her to you regardless!
Even the supposedly "high end" agencies that cater to wealthy and high profile people don't always check their references thoroughly. I found that out in dealing with agencies in NYC. I was surprised (and appalled) when one highly esteemed agency was calling me with jobs before they contacted my references. I have nothing to hide and have excellent letters of recommendation, but what about people like the nanny posted about here? It concerns me that they would take such a chance with the well-being of children!
ReplyDeleteBut, understand that they do not do background checks on the parents either. Most don't even meet the parents in person, but do their intakes online and over the phone, so nannies are in potential danger, too.
I'm going to echo the others, op have you contacted the agency yet? If you haven't that's something you should consider.
ReplyDeleteI agree. The agency was at fault here. Also, I think it's a great idea to start doing background checks on parents. Especially when using online sites. Just think of how easy it would be for a creep to lure a woman to a private location using one of these care finding sites. I know several nannies who felt like something wasn't quite right after a parent from one of those sites never set up a phone conversation and refused to meet in a public location.
ReplyDeleteAnother tip is to always google everything. I have been able to find out nearly everything about a person using google with very little information. One time I only had a first name, last initial and town.
That is why in Australia we have to have a working for childrens check card.If this person had tried to work as a nanny here, she would not have qualified for a working for childrens check card with her history. We cannot join a nanny agency without one. Also a lot of people who hire through privately owned websites want nannies to have a working for childrens check card as well. In Australia any job that involves being with children e.g sporst coach, church leader , childrens volunter etc. you have to have a working for childrens check card. this is to protect our precious children from harm.
ReplyDeleteI was always under the impression that one uses an agency for the assurance that there will be a background check on all candidates, that they will be fingerprinted and their driving records checked, perhaps their credit checked and in some cases be drug tested. Isn't that what encompasses the fee that the agency charges? I would go after the agency. They are misrepresenting their services by offering this woman as a viable candidate for child care.
ReplyDeleteI am a nanny who also lives in the San Diego area (Rancho Bernardo) and I was arrested for Domestic Violence back in '02 due to a fight I got into with my then boyfriend. I started with a San Diego Nanny agency in late '05 and have subsequently worked for three since then. They do run a background check on ALL of us nannies, but the arrest doesn't show up. Why? An arrest is technically an officer's opinion that you did something wrong. Until one has their day in court, one is to be presumed "innocent until PROVEN guilty" in a court of law. It's part of the Constitution. Fortunately for me, no charges were ever filed against me and I was never even prosecuted. Since I was never convicted of a crime, by background is clean. Usually background checks will only show convictions, not arrests. Some will show misdemeanors and they all show if someone has any felony convictions on his or her record.
ReplyDeleteI not only passed the Nanny agency background checks, but I also am registered through CA Trustline and have been Live-Scanned (fingerprinted) by the County of San Diego. I have had a few families fun their own independent background checks on me and my arrest never showed up.
I am a great nanny and have never disclosed to any of the agencies nor families I worked for about my previous arrest. I felt at the time that if I did, they never would have given me a chance. Now that I proven myself a good nanny, I have many families who highly recommend me in the San Diego area today...
Successful Nanny, why did you feel the need to tell us all about your history? Unless you are Deena P and are trying to help your case, it is completely irrelevant. OP said this woman has been investigated 3 times by CPS and has a stay-away order. I'm not a parent, but I'm willing to bet most wouldn't want to hire her if they were aware of this. Your fight with your boyfriend 9 years ago has nothing to do with childcare, so prospective employers really don't need to know about it. Most of us have skeletons in our closets and if they don't affect our job performance, they can do well to stay hidden.
ReplyDelete@Miss Mannah: No, I am not Deena P.
ReplyDeleteThe reason I stated my past experience was to prove a point. The point was that background checks don't show arrests and sometimes they don't even show misdemeanors. I meant it to show parents that background checks don't show certain things so the agency may not be completely to blame here. They most likely ran a background check on the nanny, but her domestic violence arrest wouldn't show up since it never has showed up on any of my background checks. I personally don't think the domestic violence arrest should be an issue in this BEWARE sighting. Just because someone gets arrested for getting in a fight with someone does not mean they will make a violent nanny. But I agree Miss Mannah...I never tell any of my families and I think it is best not to.
By the way everyone, I live in Northern San Diego and have done some research. To the best of my knowledge, no "Goodnight Nannies" agency exists in our area. Could this be fake?
Not all domestic violence cases are the same, that's true. But in the case of Deena P, it can probably be assumed that children were in danger as a result of hers, in which case parents should know about it. Maybe we can disregard her arrest, maybe not. But we certainly cannot disregard her CPS investigations, and especially the fact that one resulted in a "stay-away" and that another had to do with her own child. I do think the agency is at partial fault here because if a private citizen is easily able to find out all this information, why isn't a professional who is paid to do so?
ReplyDeleteOn a side note: a personal pet peeve of mine is the @ thing. This is not Twitter, so you don't need to tag me in a response.
Touchy Touchy Miss Mannah. No more @ for you. LOL.
ReplyDeleteAgain, I do not think the agency is to blame for the arrest not showing up. As for the CPS reports and a "Stay Away" Order which is basically a restraining order, I do not know if those things show on a background check but since a restraining order is usually granted by a Family Court Judge, I am surprised it didn't show up on the background check. Perhaps the background check was performed prior to this nanny's order/investigations, etc.
Yes, all domestic violence cases are different, I do agree. I am just grateful that we live in this wonderful country where a simple arrest does not ruin a person. Thankfully the Constitution protects me (as it should) and I am able to achieve success in life with no "Scarlet Letter."
My biggest pet peeve: innocent UNTIL proven guilty. It's actually innocent UNLESS proven guilty, as the "until" denotes it's just a matter of time before the person is found guilty. :)
ReplyDeleteAlso, I'm not quite sure where I stand with this issue--I think it is devastating to deny a potential victim of domestic violence the opportunity to overcome her situation and seek gainful employment. I know these charges look bad, but has anyone considered DHS made findings against her husband? I'm with everyone that bad nannies should be weeded out, but I've done far too much volunteer work with DV victims to not consider the alternative.
@HungryCollegeStudent: That is so true what you wrote. UNTIL sounds like it is inevitable that the person will be found guilty so that statement in itself is already prejudicing whoever it refers to. I will most def keep this in mind and pass the word.
ReplyDeleteI made a stupid mistake. I got in a fight with my ex boyfriend. He said something that angered me and instead of walking away (which I would do today), I hit his car stereo/DVD player and damaged it. Since I theoretically threw the first punch, I was arrested for domestic violence. I was never charged due to lack of (or if you ask me..NO) evidence and nothing ever came of it. I never even got to see a judge so I never got a day in court. I was simply held for 6 hrs in county jail and then released on my own recognizance. It's so stupid that my state is broke beyond belief (CA) and that currently the governor is looking for add'l ways to fix the already huge deficit in our budget. Well...for starters, they can tell the police to stop carting people off to jail for stupid fights, etc..esp. if there are no injuries, etc...
I learned a huge lesson and have turned my life around. I currently work as a nanny and none of my families have any knowledge of what happened 9 yrs ago. I am sure if they did,they never would have allowed me to care for their children since people tend to judge things collectively vs. on a case by case basis. Only my true friends know I am a good person overall.
I was so nervous when the Nanny agency ran my first background check and was almost positive my arrest would show up..in red letters! Thankfully it didn't and now I am a very successful nanny in my area and have many families who use me along with my current permanent family. I think childcare background checks typically show whether someone is not a registered sex offender primarily. All the other stuff (bad credit, parking tickets, arrests, misdemeanors, etc..) should not affect whether they hire a nanny or not.
Maybe she flew under the radar using aliases. It's sad. How do you protect against that?
ReplyDeleteI also live in California and we are broke beyond belief. It's pathetic and I am tired of everything good going away. Libraries are open less, Universities are accepting less people, and there are numerous potholes all over the roads. Man, we are so penniless yet they still arrest people for stupid stuff. My sister actually was in a similar situation. She was arrested for DV in 2007 and they made her stay in jail for 72 hours since her bail was too high for us to pay. :( She also never saw a judge and never was prosecuted for what she was supposedly guilty of. She doesn't work as a Nanny, but as a Security Officer. They run background checks on her every 18 months and her arrest doesn't show up at all. Her superiors have no idea of what happened and they don't need to.
ReplyDeleteOP, you are saying just because Deena was arrested she must not be hired as a Nanny. I disagree. While I have never personally been arrested, I know some people who have and I wouldn't tell them they could not watch my children based on that. That is probably why California's Trustline registry, Care.com and Sittercity.com do not show arrests..the 2 specifics that a Childcare background check may show is a felony conviction or a sex offender registry. That's it. They do not show misdemeanors, restraining orders or CPS records. If they did, no one would get a job...
very revelant and interesting post successful nanny - congratulations for learning from a mistake - not everybody does ;0)
ReplyDeleteThat's a great concept Australian Nanny. A waitress in my state must have two cards in order to work, one for food safety and one to serve alcohol. A test is required for both and for the latter, a class. And you cannot obtain the alcohol service card if you have been convicted of more than one DUI or have a felony drug conviction!! And anyone off the street can walk into a home and take charge of the children there (without due diligence by the parents, of course). At the very least a voluntary registration system could be set up.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the arrest is so much the issue, but the fact that there's an order of protection against her FOR A CHILD is a HUGE red flag. And the fact that such an order would not show on a background check is very disconcerting.
ReplyDeleteWe do not know the details about this case and if indeed the agency ran a background check that didn't show she had an order to stay away from a certain child, then I think the agency is using an outdated system. An agency should use a background check that shows ANYTHING about children.
ReplyDeleteFor the record, I googled this supposedly nanny agency in San Diego, and I have to agree with Nanny in Sandy E...no such agency exists. I think this was a false posting anyway.
What a waste of space. :/
Um, for the record.. Misdemeanors most Certainly do show up on a background check. Whoever thinks that's not true is very misinformed. A misdemeanor, like a felony, is a charge that you received and were found guilty of. Basically, if you were found guilty, its on your background check. So, no, an arrest does not show up on your bg check, and yes a misdemeanor does, because they are different.
ReplyDeleteI had the misfortune of trying to work with Deena and she is bad news. Not only does she have an arrest record for domestic violence but she also had a suicide attempt. You can't complain to the agency because she IS the agency. There are plenty of other good nannies out there. Skip Deena.
ReplyDeleteWow. I was bored searching the internet and found this thread. Deena is the owner of Goodnight Nannies. I remember finding her years ago and went to interview with her at her home. So all of you saying to "talk to the agency"...she is the agency...which makes sense because I can't see how anyone would give her business. She is completely looney tunes. As soon as I met her, it changed my idea of what a "nanny agency" is. I also can't believe she was a nanny. She talked my ear off and told me she was friends with Dara at Seaside Nannys and that Dara had hooked her up with tons of jobs and so she decided to start her own agency because Dara made so much money off her. I'm sure they didn't check her out since I know for a fact Dara didn't check me out and was totally all about the money. That agency was horrible as well. The owner smoked and cussed every word out of her mouth. No class at all and totally unprofessional. Anyways, Deena acted very sweet and charming (very creepy) so you could tell she was nuts. I would never trust my kids with her. Deena and Dara definitely scared me away from SD agencies for awhile!
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