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Child Care Facility Hits Jackpot at Casinos

"With computer games, basketball court, children's cafe, movies and cribs for infants as young as 6 weeks, children can stay as late as 2 a.m. on weekends and 11 p.m. on school nights while their parents play. While providing a fun and safe environment for children, Kids Quest centers, which are located in 20 casinos nationwide, are in fact bottom-line enterprises, intended to attract high-rolling parents, increase casino profits -- and create the next generation of gamblers.

"`When those kids start growing up, what do you think they are going to remember most? Being with Aunt Tilly in their hometown park? Or the wonderful time they had at that fairyland casino?' said Dr. Durand Jacobs, a professor of psychiatry at Loma Linda University Medical School in California and a national expert on gambling addiction and youth. `They will return when they are adults with their children in tow. It becomes an intergenerational marketing ploy of tremendous success.'

"Kids Quest, which got its start in 1971 as a traditional child care company in Minnesota, does not dispute this.

"…On average, Kids Quest will drive more than $2 million in additional gaming revenue to its host property every year.

"Eighty percent of our customers indicated they would not be able to visit the casinos without a Kids Quest facility.

"…Some gambling executives argue that onsite child care is a way to protect children from parents who might otherwise leave them unattended.

"…Parents line up to drop off their babies and youngsters as early as 9 a.m. at the $7-an-hour facility. After picture IDs are shown, a menu of snacks and meals is filled out and a sticker with a computer bar code is slapped on each child's back. Parents wave goodbye, and their offspring enter Kids Quest's locked metal gate to climb, play and make new friends.

"…Points accumulated from gambling can be used to pay for Kids Quest.

"…In the far corner of the room, an infant whose neck muscles weren't yet strong enough to hold up his head was perched on the lap of a child-care worker. She patted the baby's back and waited for a burp.

"…On a recent Saturday night, a mother cradling her 4-week-old child tried to hand the baby to a Kids Quest employee, but was refused. The staffer, Meagan Madore, told the woman the baby had to be at least 6 weeks old.

"`Can't you lie?' the mother pleaded.

"`No,' Madore answered firmly.

"…`The saddest thing you see,' said one employee, `are the kids who get stuck here for eight hours. ... We have our regulars. And some of the parents pretend they don't know the closing time, telling us, 'We thought you were open 24 hours.'…"

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