February 1, 1999 -

The Calling Mary Poppins article by Stephanie Gallagher features Marilyn and Taylor Clark in search of a good nanny. The Clarks did what thousands of working parents do when they need someone to care for their children. They cracked the Yellow Pages, called a nanny agency and waited for qualified, experienced applicants to show up at their door for interviews. And waited. And waited.

Among the applicants sent by the agency they called to find a caregiver were a woman who called off the interview when Marilyn mentioned that she planned to do a background check and another who was hired and fired after only a month when Marilyn learned she had been arrested for petty theft. "I realized that all these agencies are trying to do is push as many women through the system as they can," she says. "They’re not listening to what you’re looking for as far as personality, character or other things you emphasize."
The agency concedes that in the low-supply, high-demand world of nanny referrals, applicants are sometimes sent on interviews before their references have been contacted. This firm does criminal checks only after an applicant has been offered a job a practice that is not uncommon in the industry.

Regardless of what kind of help you get, the search for a nanny is always complicated by one simple fact: In the virtually unregulated day-care business, anyone can call herself a nanny.

The Clarks solved their problem by turning to the English Nanny & Governess School, in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. Graduates of the school must submit to a psychological assessment, fingerprint clearance from the FBI and a motor-vehicle background check. Most important to Marilyn Clark is that her nanny deliberately chose to be a nanny. "With an agency, the girls come in and say, "I’ll either take a job in a bank or as a nanny, whereas at the nanny school, they’ve spent their money to attend the school. You’re getting candidates who in their hearts believe it’s their calling," Clark says.

You also get nannies who are trained in everything from child behavior and development to nutrition, safety, CPR, burn prevention, creative play and tax responsibilities. Such credentials come at a price, of course parents agree to employ either a housekeeper or part-time cleaning service so the nanny isn’t stuck with heavy housework. "Our nannies are educators," says Sheilagh Roth, executive director of the school. "They have invested far too much money on their education to become cleaning women."

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