Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Daycare Fails to Do Its Job and a Toddler Dies


Little T’s Tiny Tots Child Care Center
 This sad case from Dallas, Texas comes courtesy of a heads up from our lovely ILLusionS. Apparently, daycares are seriously lacking in actually caring for children and can’t be trusted to keep them alive, at least not in North Texas. 3-year-old Benjamin Price was left in a van in the brutal Texas heat, where he died, just outside of Little T’s Tiny Tots Child Care Center. The van’s driver, Erica Hooks, was arrested and charged with injury to a child, and is being held on $50,000 bond. Hooks drove a group of children a movie on July 20, but when they returned to the center, Benjamin didn’t leave the van and Hooks didn’t think to make sure every single one of those children was accounted for. Not only is that a no brainer when you’re watching other people’s children, it’s a Child Care Licensing requirement that all kids be accounted for before the driver even leaves the van.

The daycare was recently shut down, but it did stay open in the days following Benjamin’s death. Records for the daycare showed that Little T’s Tiny Tots had 23 violations, two considered serious, but Marissa Gonzales, a spokesperson for Child Care Licensing, said that, “Based on the number alone, it seems fairly comparable to day cares of its size.” What I find odd is that this same spokesperson goes on to say, “We try to make sure that safety is enforced for all these children, and that we’re out here checking on a regular basis” and that, when investigators find problems, punishment is swift and appropriate. Yet they dragged their asses when it came to this daycare. Seems like there’s a bit of ass covering going on in an area where Price is at least the fifth child to die since 2003 after being left behind in a day care van. In 2011, only 24 out of more than 9,500 child care facilities statewide had their licenses revoked, but child advocates still worry that the rules that are supposed to keep these kids safe, aren’t. Going by Gonzales’ statements, you can see why, since they’ll let violations slide and keep a daycare open after a child’s death from heatstroke while half-assedly assuring the public that they have a child’s safety and best interests at heart.

State and local police, as well as Child Protective Services, are still investigating and it appears the little boy’s family is more forgiving than the rest of us. Benjamin Price’s family released a statement through their attorney, Kisha Allen, which said, “We all make mistakes and fall short. Because of God’s continual grace and mercy we are able to forgive. We ask that others forgive as we have decided to do.“ I don’t think I could find that kind of forgiveness after being so horribly wronged, but I think it’s amazing that this family has. You cannot help but feel angry when something like this happens, especially when the main role of a child care provider is to watch and keep a child safe, and they couldn’t even do that. This child’s death was so preventable and I think an earlier statement by Benjamin’s grandfather, Donald Washington, sums that up perfectly.  “You trust these people to watch your kids ‘til you get home. You expect them to be alive when you get off work.” Let’s hope these people being trusted to care for the children of others start taking their jobs more seriously and return these kid’s to their families alive at the end of the day. 

6 comments:

  1. "Let’s hope these people being trusted to care for the children of others start taking their jobs more seriously and return these kid’s to their families alive at the end of the day."

    Amen, Boo. ...and "hi!"

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    1. Hey, Kniption...it's always swell when you stop by...makes me wanna celebrate with a bottle of Dom and a smoke...

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  2. Well, I would never forgive them. In fact, I might Molotov their establishment. No excuse leaving a kid in a hot vehicle. Should put the workers in one for a while, see if they like it.

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  3. “We all make mistakes and fall short. Because of God’s continual grace and mercy we are able to forgive. We ask that others forgive as we have decided to do.“
    _________________________

    Ummm...we're not talking about spilling a beer here. Hey, I'm all for forgiveness but there is a vast difference between a "mistake" and gross negligence. IMO, a child allowed to be baked and broiled in a car while under the supervision of a CARETAKER falls under the latter. I get that it wasn't intentional, but I'm loathe to dismiss it as a mere "mistake."

    I think Ben's grandfather's response was more reasonable given the circumstances.

    Just my opinion, of course.

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  4. I own a childcare facility in Texas and have about the same # of violations and I will explain. The state writes you up for silly ass shit like...a child was missing a current vaccination, no address for his doctor on the admission form, no enrollment date, no hearing test, no carbon monoxide detector (in a building with no gas which means its impossible to have carbon monoxide), employee missing TB test, employee didn't have a copy of a valid drivers license, missing tweezers in your medical box(even though your not allowed to use them as it could be considered surgery), not enough training hours for an employee, lightbulb out, cots not numbered or having a child's name on it, parent forgot to sign a child out, owner not keeping timesheets on themselves (because a director has to be on-site xx % of the time yet there is no director on site at all at those afterschool programs on school grounds) and many more silly things.
    The big problem with a child dying on the bus is that childcare licensing has yet to outlaw those vans. I purchased busses with 6 escape routes and a child protection system that sounds an alarm if the driver does not press a button in the back of the bus. It forces lazy people to look in the bus. Daycares don't want to outlaw those vans because they cost too much. pisses me off.
    Childcare licensing is understaffed, they make employees use their personal vehicles with no reimbursement, they upped the positions to require a degree and you don't typically have experience in childcare operations.....and they don't pay diddly. most of the reps are not happy and do try to get out.
    I can't defend that daycare in any way because you have to have a list of children that go on the trip and headcounts are BIG. That poor baby did not have to die over something so simple. The lady should do time.

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