Child safety from shelter to homes with tots

Yesterday I had some exchanges in email as well as a phone call to someone I'd lost contact with, the conversation touched on family life with me relating my experiences as an observer as often happens.

One of my mentors in the Medical Home for Homeless Children's Project is a visiting nurse that frequents many of the shelter halls freely, educating and providing appointments for parents with minor children residing in these facilities. Living in a sheltered environment has many of the same pitfalls and traps young parents experience regarding baby proofing needs.

Child Safety Locks (CSLs) are often overlooked, usually due to the implied lack of privacy or interference to access some staff may misperceive as an issue. My own family resided in a room in one known shelter whose doorway was in immediate access to the top of a second story stairway landing. While we had no toddlers, the prior family did...four actually...and the parents were in constant fits having to monitor the door regularly. In this case a well placed CSL wouldn't have only lowered the safety risk, it would have allowed the parents more opportunity to rest.

The most common factor parents living within a shelter face is alienation from peers. Within the shelters, while they may 'band' and 'bond' with peer parents, these relationships for the most part are short term only for the duration until one party departs the premises. Whether sheltered or homed, parents need access to as many resources and child safety tips they can get their hands on, to both educate the aspiring parent as well as promote advocacy and camaraderie for those seeking help.

Sometimes it's not how much one can do for someone...it's what they can do for themselves when offered the chance.