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We are preparing for our home visit and were informed that in our state/county, all cleaning supplies, aerosols and medications (including over the counter) must be secured by a lock. I'm looking for an efficient manner in which to accomplish this, without having to keep everything under lock and key in some sort of container in one room. You know, I want meds and bathroom cleaning stuff in the bathroom and general cleaning supplies in the kitchen. We looked at putting in hasp locks with padlocks (so ugly and weird looking), but they don't fit with our cabinets.
Does anyone else have any suggestions for how to meet the requirements in a 'user-friendly' manner?
Thanks for your help!
:thanks:
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Some regions absolutely do require "secured by a lock" -- so it's not a matter of workers being "reasonable," but rather regulations that the worker has no control over.
There are a number of people here who have dealt with all of this, I'm sure some of them will be along with helpful tips. ;)
In the meantime, there are also a number of old threads on the topic, so if you do a forum search, you might find the info you need.
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We had to have things locked up, even laundry soap.For the meds, we found a locking cabinet at Ikea that was cheap and not too big, we hung it on our wall in the bedroom. We keep the key right on top, but our stbad is only 3.We used a cabinet in the garage and used a chain and padlock for solvents, paint, etc.We bought a used cabinet that my dh installed a lock on for laundry soap.We have one cabinet in the hall and the under sink cabinet in the kitchen with magnetic tot locks. Pretty easy to use and not visible. My stbad has tried to use the magnet to open the cabinet but hasn't been able to yet, so they are pretty secure.I thought it was total overkill when we were going through the homestudy process. I raised 3 kids without locking things up and they were all fine! My little blessing is really. really. good at figuring out how to get into things and I have been glad for the locks many times.
Hello :) Where we are , TX, we have to have all chemicals, cleaners and medications locked up. We can't even have liquid dish soap on the counter in the kitchen...hand soap in the bathroom is required though lol. We have a cabinet in our hall closet (child safety handle on the door) that has a small keyed padlock on it...we just hang the key on the wall above it. Also, any prescriptions have to be double locked (we have a small makeup box with a lock we just put in the locked cabinet if needed). It does seem overkill but its just a small concession to make. Mind you, none of the pesticides, paint, or tools in the garage needed to be locked up...just put away out of reach :arrow: Good luck!
We have magnetic locks on our pantry, laundry and cabinets with meds and cleaners. They are awesome. you install them on the inside and you have a magnet (we keep ours on the fridge) to open them. The magnet is so strong you cannot open them without the "magnetic key". You can also switch them to "unlock" and that way when you don't need everything locked up they are installed but inoperable. You just switch them back to lock when you need to or get kids. I got mine at Target...they are pretty cool :)
Go with the magnetic tot locks. When I first got licensed, I installed 2 very unsightly hasp/combo locks, and hated how ugly they were. I have a very large cabinet above my kitchen sink that is used for chemicals and another in the main bathroom that is used for meds. Been there, done that. You will spend a few extra dollars for the tot locks, but your house will be prettier and just as safe.
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Love the Tot Locks (safety 1st makes them and they can be bought at wal-mart, target, etc) best part is they don't show from the outside so you don't have to ruin your cabinets. Garage door is locked from the outside so that was considered sufficient since there is no way we could find a cabinet to fit all of our paint, gas for mowers, insecticides, fertilizer, etc etc. nuts. Haven't heard anything about dish soap in the kitchen, that does seem a bit extreme but I guess if need be our tot lock is on the kitchen sink cabinet so it's an easy fix. Our laundry soap is up out of reach and I planned to put the baby gate up in the laundry room doorway so hopefully that is enough! Unfortunately it's so hard to predict what someone else's area will require. It's so different everywhere you go and it seems like they never tell you everything you need to know in advance. You have to ask.
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Some of the rules for licensing are crazy, but you can be sure they came into effect because a foster parent was negligent and that lead to the rules. I'll never understand the severity if them though considering that parents don't have to do any of this stuff in order for their kids to come back home.:grr:
I installed a key lock that was put into the woooden door where all you see is the place to put the key to unlock, like the kind on a file cabinet. I got a big Rubbermaid closet with several shelves to put all other cleaning supplies and it has a lock also. We have to have a lockable container for medications and that has to be behind a locked door, so ours is a tool box in a locked cabinet. For any medication that has to be refrigerated, I use bank bag with a small lock. I've been locking this stuff up for almost 6 yrs now and while it was a pain in the beginning, it got easier and when I'm done fostering, I will still keep all this stuff locked up because I have a 5 yr old who I'm sure would get into whatever I don't want her to. :arrow:
I think every state is different. We thought we had to lock things up too, but when the SW came over, she said that depended on the age of the children you were looking for. We do have a small closet that we put a locking door knob on just in case. It was less than $15 and my DH installed it himself. We made sure it had a key and the key was up where the other kids could not get at it.
We are lucky enough to have a small closet in our hallway with shelves. We changed the doorknob so that it locks with a key and we keep all of the cleaners and medications in there.
I thought it was overkill when we were first told of the requirements. But as a toddler, my son was a master at opening those "babyproof" knobs and locks. I ended up being very glad we had those things under lock and key!
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srave
We are preparing for our home visit and were informed that in our state/county, all cleaning supplies, aerosols and medications (including over the counter) must be secured by a lock. I'm looking for an efficient manner in which to accomplish this, without having to keep everything under lock and key in some sort of container in one room. You know, I want meds and bathroom cleaning stuff in the bathroom and general cleaning supplies in the kitchen. We looked at putting in hasp locks with padlocks (so ugly and weird looking), but they don't fit with our cabinets.
Does anyone else have any suggestions for how to meet the requirements in a 'user-friendly' manner?
Thanks for your help!
:thanks:
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