This October in New York City, a fifty-year-old nanny stabbed the two children, ages 6 and nearly 2, in her care, then stabbed herself, trying to commit suicide. On returning home with her third child to their posh apartment in Manhattan‘s West Side, the mother of the dead children faced that horrific scene.

Could it have been prevented?

The nanny had been employed with the family for about two years. Neighbors said that she had recently complained of money problems and seemed unhealthy and upset. Perhaps the parents should have noticed these dangerous signs.

Investigating a potential new-hire, professional investigative agenciessuch as Gold Shield Elitefind it valuable to look into the financial records. Although a nanny’s child-minding skills are not reflected there, these records can indicate whether of not the candidate has that portion of her life under control. Emotional and psychological instability, even when nearly invisible, often lead to financial misbehavior, a valuable warning sign for prospective employers.

As part of a thorough investigation of a child-care aide, review of criminal and financial records provide insights that can be missed when relying solely on recommendations and interviews. While you are not at home, and the nanny is in your house, with your children, you need to be confident that nothing improper is occurring.

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Some losses can never be regained.

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Don’t be nearly sure. Let Gold Shield Elite investigate. Be certain.

She seems nice, capable. You’ve checked her last employer or two, and she checked out fine. You are ready to trust your children, your possessions, your identity information to her, right? On second thought, you go to the Internet and Google “nanny crimes” and come up with over four million “hits,” including “Traveling Nanny Hired Online Charged with Sex Crimes” and “Babysitter Jennifer Duran Martinez, 35, is being held without bail on suspicion of child abuse homicide.” Was calling a couple of references sufficient for you?

You can Google your nanny’s name or names on the Internet and hope to come up with critical information, or you can ask a professional todo a background check. That’s where we come in. After twenty-one years with the New York Police Department, having risen to the level of homicide detective, I retired and started Gold Shield Elite Investigations. One of our earliest clients was a husband and wife team, he a surgeon, she a psychologist. They were hiring a nanny, and the husband asked the wife about the nanny’s identity and history. After all, their children, possessions, personal identity information, checkbooks, jewelry, keys, etc., would all be vulnerable while the nanny was taking care of the kids. The wife thought the woman would be fine for the position, but she agreed it was prudent to let us do some nanny-hiring due diligence.

We ran a background check on the nanny for this couple. We checked not only her, but her close relatives. We looked not only for crimes but for other tell-tale signs of possible problems, such as bankruptcies, close relatives convicted of crimes, and more. We know how to “read between the lines.” We gave them our report. They wdfere surprised by what we found and decided to hire someone else.

When you are pretty sure, have us dig deeper. You want to be very sure.

Check out our NYC background check services. You can contact us or call us at 1-888-213-8881.