Fines & Sanctions

Malloy Proposes Beefing Up Child Care Inspections

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Gov. Dannel Malloy’s proposed state budget for FY 2015 includes  $1.5 million to add 28 child care inspectors, so that the frequency of licensing inspections of day care facilities can be increased to once a year. The budget also includes funding to launch a statewide quality-rating system for child care centers, and to improve the way background checks of child care staff are conducted. The proposals come after a December story by C-HIT revealed lapses in child care oversight, including infrequent inspections by the state Department of Public Health and a lack of strong enforcement actions against providers found with health and safety violations. Also, a state audit in October found DPH was not verifying that the required criminal background checks were being done on all child care employees – posing a risk that children were coming into contact with “unsuitable individuals,” the auditors said. Connecticut ranked 48th in oversight of child care centers – with the third highest caseload per inspector in the country – in a 2013 national report by Child Care Aware of America.

Fines & Sanctions

State’s Early Childhood Director Wants Better Oversight

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The director of the state’s Office of Early Childhood said Thursday she supports increasing the frequency of health and safety inspections of child care facilities, in the wake of a C-HIT story detailing lapses in oversight. “We’re definitely looking into adding inspectors and increasing the inspection frequency” to once a year, said Myra Jones-Taylor, who took the helm of the new office in July. “We’re very much focused on the opportunities we have to improve oversight.”

Jones-Taylor’s comments follow a December story by C-HIT that detailed lapses in oversight of the state’s child care centers and family day care homes. A national report by Child Care Aware of America ranks Connecticut 48th in oversight of child care centers, with the third highest caseload per inspector in the country. Connecticut inspects centers once every two years — far less frequently than the Child Care Aware recommendation of quarterly inspections – and rarely revokes or suspends providers’ licenses after violations are cited, the C-HIT review found.

Fines & Sanctions

State’s Child Care Oversight: Minimal Monitoring, Lax Enforcement

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On its website, the Tumble Bugs Day School in Norwalk boasts a “highly experienced, nurturing” staff who serve infants and toddlers in a “stimulating setting.”

But a review of state Department of Public Health records shows the child care center has had numerous complaints and citations in recent years for lapses in supervision that have injured and traumatized young children. In 2010, the center failed to notify parents when a balancing board fell on a toddler. The same year, DPH cited the center for failing to take action against a staff member who restrained a toddler on a cot by “holding down his head and body” and then falsely reported that a scratch on the boy’s face was an accident. Then, in 2011, two children came forward to report that a preschool teacher had sexually abused them during naptime – an allegation that led to the April 2012 arrest of a 44-year-old Harold Meyers, who worked at the center in 2008 and 2009. DPH investigated the case last year, but determined that the center had made oversight changes and that no further action was needed.