INDIANAPOLIS-- An east side day care has closed its doors following a state inspection that resulted in several violations.
The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration conducted an inspection at Miss D’s Loving Care, 11616 East Washington Street, on March 1 and discovered six caregivers with no national criminal history checks, babies in unsafe sleep environments and the provider not following the proper child to staff ratios.
Miss D’s Loving Care is a registered ministry, which have to follow the same state regulations as a licensed facility if they accept Child Care and Development Fund federal vouchers.
An FSSA inspector found one baby sleeping with a blanket, which is a suffocation risk, and another infant sleeping in a bouncer seat.
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Records show not all of the day care’s workers had the proper child abuse and neglect training, first aid certification, and proof of tuberculosis tests and drug screens.
Call 6 Investigates spoke with the owner of the facility, Trish Jones, who said her husband has been dealing with serious health issues and they’ve been unable to oversee the daily operations of the facility.
Jones decided to close the facility on March 9.
“We couldn’t be there like we wanted to,” said Jones. “We started getting complaints from parents about the staff. We decided to close it and we haven’t looked back.”
Jones said they worked with local child care providers and referral agencies to help families find other child care.
Jones said she also adopted six children and that has kept her busy, so she brought in workers to help run the day care.
“People won’t do what you expect, they do what you inspect,” said Jones.
Call 6 Investigates received a complaint about a worker spanking children.
Jones said she had received a similar compliant, but said the employee denied spanking anyone.
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HOW TO CHECK A CHILD CARE FACILITY
- Plug in a provider's name to ChildCareFinder.IN.gov and look for complaints, inspection reports, and any pending enforcement
- Use your eyes and ears when visiting. Are they following safe sleep? Is equipment working? Are children strapped into their high chairs?
- Drop by the child's day care unexpectedly during the day. What is seen at pickup and drop off may be very different than what's happening during the middle of the day
- Ask to see the provider's license or registration, which should be posted in a public area. If the provider is on probation, it will say so on the license, along with the reasons why.
- Ask to see a copy of the day care's discipline policy. Corporal punishment is not illegal in the state of Indiana
- Ask what their current child-to-staff ratio is. Experts say accidents are more likely to happen when staffers are watching a lot of children.
- Ask if the provider is part of the state's voluntary rating system, called Paths to Quality. The state said this helps guarantee they're meeting and/or exceeding licensing requirements regardless of type of day care
- If you use an unlicensed facility, know they do not have to submit to background checks, CPR training, safe sleep training and other requirements. Ask to see proof your provider has completed these.
