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The Seamy Side of Day-Care
March 25, 2004
Day care gets smellier every week, and not because of ballooning diapers. Allegations of child abuse and financial fraud keep piling up. Most cases aren't witch hunts, either. Reputable day-care providers should be up in arms about all the "bad apples" sullying their profession. A Santa Rosa, California day-care operator was convicted yesterday for bilking two county agencies out of tens of thousands of dollars, by submitting phony reimbursment claims for six low-income children who were never in her care. She said, "I went about this in the wrong way." An Indiana couple that received $130 million under a state contract to qualify low-income children for day-care vouchers is facing trial this week after paying themselves $6 million over three years; and buying expensive homes and luxury cars while thousands of unserved kids languished on waiting lists. UPDATE: They've been ordered to re-pay $4 million; their lawyer plans an appeal. State officials are investigating numerous fraud allegations in Mississippi tied to fatherhood initiatives, after-school care and child-abuse prevention programs that got $89 million in government grants. We have received innumerable complaints from employees and former employees alleging improper use of funds and our department's failure to properly audit, monitor and account for both funds and property," said (newly-appointed Mississipi Dept. of Human Services) Executive Director Don Taylor. Some of the loot was reportedly spent on overseas vacations and luxury cars. The inquiry is still unfolding, but authorities have arrested (on fraud charges) a man who received grant funds to run a day-care center. Authorities believe he may have used the money for a down-payment on a Jaguar. He's also been charged with four counts of statutory rape. Earlier this month, a 13-year-old Keizer, Oregon boy pled guilty in juvenile court to sexually abusing four young girls at his mother's day-care center. In an "unrelated" case, an employee of the same business pled guilty a week prior to sexually abusing a 22-month-old girl there, and was sentenced to four years. The facility lost its license, but the owner is appealing. In Florida, a teen convicted of sex crimes against children - which reportedly occured at his parents home day care center - was in court earlier this week. His lawyer was a seeking a reduction in his client's 20-year sentence. The lawyer said, "The look of shock on his, and my face, when the judge entered that sentence-it keeps me up at night, quite frankly." Yep, that's what to lose sleep over, alright. A Tigard, Oregon day-care worker was charged this week for having sex with minors. At least it wasn't at the office. He formerly worked at a YMCA. A home day-care operator in Long Beach, California was taken into custody earlier this week after a five-month-old girl at her facility was shaken so severely she had surgery for blood clots in the head. Here's one that's personal. Though not tragic, it sticks with me. At a family Christmas gathering the year before last, a sister-in-law told me she left her young child in a home day-care center where English was not the primary language, and he got fleas from the dog in residence. Fortunately, the child's father now works at home. Posted by Matt Rosenberg at March 25, 2004 08:06 AM Trackback Pings TrackBack URL for this entry: Comments:
Matt, I worked in a large daycare center for about three years, part-time. My last day was on a Friday in September of 1989. The following Monday I started tending my first granddaughter when she was almost two months old. I took care of the 2nd granddaughter seven years later, so that neither girl ever spent one hour in a daycare. I think ALL parents oughta be employed in one for about a week and then ask themselves if THEY'd like to spend all day, all year in one! Posted by: Lorna at March 25, 2004 10:45 AMOh, great. We just started our two year old in daycare last week and this is the first thing about daycare that I've read since then ... Posted by: Stefan Sharkansky at March 25, 2004 10:47 PMSurprise "drop-ins" by parents can give a sense of general conditions, but this other stuff (abuse, fraud)has got to be harder to detect....we sort of assume government has regulations in place to prevent it...but you remember what Felix said to Oscar about assuming.....I was pretty revolted to hear about the case at the West Seattle YMCA last summer where some kid was molested at nap time by an employee.....Turns out the young man had come through some special, govt.-related youth employment program.... Posted by: Matt Rosenberg at March 26, 2004 08:24 AMPost a comment
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