Mesa Daycare Worker Booked for Child Abuse

There are times when those we trust to care for our children not only fall short in their duties, but actually abuse or mistreat our children and violate our trust.  Unfortunately, instances of caregivers violating our trust happen frequently as illustrated by a recent case in a Mesa daycare.

Mesa Police Department officers responded to a claim of abuse at a daycare in Mesa.  According to police, someone called the department to report possible mistreatment of children at Cholla Montessori Childcare.

When officers arrived at the daycare located near University Drive and Gilbert Road, they found one child wrapped tightly in a blanket with her right arm behind her back to restrict all movement.  The two-year-old girl was unhurt, but was hot and sweaty from being restrained so tightly in the blanket.

Detective Steve Berry said that “detectives did find a 2-year-old girl who was restrained physically in a sleeping area, she was not able to move about.”

Police interviewed employees, identified the suspect and then arrested her for mistreatment of the two-year-old.  Lauren Miller, 21, was booked on suspicion of child abuse and unlawful imprisonment.

A former co-worker of Miller, Bailey Turley, who is no longer an employee of the daycare, said that she tried to untie the knot in the blanket, and it was so tight she could barely do so.

Turley also said that Miller had been tying up not only the children she supervises, but restraining other children as well so there was no movement during naptimes.

Miller admitted to police that she did restrain the child in the blanket so the girl would not disturb other children during naps, but she did not feel that restraining the child was wrong.  She was arraigned on Friday, October 18, held on $2,700 bond, and is due back in court on October 24.

Cholla Montessori Childcare’s owner is cooperating with police and said that she was unaware of the alleged mistreatment by Miller.

If your child has been abused or mistreated while under the care of a trusted guardian, an experienced Arizona child negligence attorney will hold these adults accountable for their actions.  Many times when abuse happens, the only witnesses to the abuse are the child and the care giver.  It takes an aggressive, competent child injury attorney to investigate the case and navigate the complexities of daycare abuse to assist you in obtaining the justice for you and your child.

Original story found here.

Proposed Federal Standards for Child Care Facilities

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently announced that it will seek to impose strict national health and safety standards for any child-care facility that utilizes federal funding.

The HHS proposals will require first aid training for all workers in federally subsidized child care centers.  About 513,000 centers that receive government subsidies would be affected by the new regulations. About one in five children who receive the child-care subsidy receive care in unlicensed and unregulated facilities. This is troubling because the potential for serious injuries is much higher at unlicensed facilities.

Although federal standards are already in place for child care facilities, they only require the prevention of infectious diseases; safe premises; and minimal health and safety training. Many states have additional standards. For example, Arizona has a number of regulations that govern everything from the required size of a room to how many children can be in a room per adult. The new HHS regulations would not impede a state’s ability to license a particular facility.

The proposed regulations will make most of an impact in states with lax standards. Virgina, ranked by the Child Care America as the state with the lowest child care standards, allows providers to care for 6 unrelated children before requiring a background check or licensing. On the other end of the spectrum, the District of Columbia, requires caregivers to get a license even if they only care for one child.

HHS has opened the regulations up to public comment for 75 days.

Source: Brigid Schulte, HHS Announces First Nationwide Safety Standards for Child Care, Washington Post (May 16, 2013)

Accidents at Unlicensed Child Day Care Facilities

Most states, including Arizona, require day care providers to be licensed by the state. A.R.S. § 36-897.09 and A.R.S. § 36-886 requires that any individual providing child care for more than 4 children at a time must be licensed with the Bureau of Child Care Licensing.

Allowing children to be placed with unlicensed child care providers presents significant risks to the child. Unlicensed providers may have conducted inadequate criminal background checks. Further, unlicensed providers have no ratio requirements to limit the amount of children per adult supervisors. Too many children per adult decreases the effectiveness of supervision. First Aid and CPR are also required training by all licensed care providers while unlicensed providers may or may not have received training. Additionally, unlicensed daycare providers usually do not have liability insurance. Liability insurance is essential to allow recovery for injuries to children that happen at daycare. A facility that lacks insurance may not have the resources to pay for an injury to a child, thus rendering them judgment proof even if a successful claim can be brought proven against them.

You can check to see if a day care provider is licensed by visiting AZcarecheck.com. Keep in mind that the licensure requirements do not apply for the homes of parents or relatives, daycare in conjunction with religious services, and many other school related programs.

If a child is injured in an unlicensed facility it is important to report the facility by filing a complaint with the state. Although unlicensed providers may be less expensive than licensed providers in some circumstances, the safety risks can significantly outweigh the benefits.