Cited for 25 violations: Colfax day care under probation after inspection

A day care in Colfax was cited for 25 violations of state law just days after its director was fired for mismanagement.

Little Angels Childcare, managed by the Colfax United Methodist Church, is now struggling to raise more than $7,500 within the next two weeks to pay off bills owed for the last few months. The day care will need another $2,000 after this for other debts.

Violations cited by the State Department of Early Learning included bottles going unwashed between uses, infants left unattended while staff were in other rooms, food served without the use of gloves or tongs, too many children with too little staff, a child left unattended on the outside playground and older children left in rooms with infants longer than the allowed state limit.

For the next six months, Little Angels is on a probationary license from the state as they work with state staff to get up to code.

“My daughter comes home hungry, thirsty and dehydrated. It’s kind of alarming,” said Keshia Vorderbrueggen, a mother of a three-year-old who has attended the day care for the past three years.

A spokesman from the state office Department of Early Learning said they received two citizen complaints which were determined to be valid in 2009.

The 25 violations evolved from a routine inspection this July, although the department had received complaints from parents.

The bulk of the violations dealt with staff not having proper certifications or the day care’s staff-to-child ratio being below state standards. One violation read “center does not have at least one person with every group of children with current CPR (and first aid) training.”

The violations were reported by Lisa Hall, the regional child care center licensor for the state out of Spokane. Hall reported the violations to the church pastor Aug. 25.

Pastor Stephen Johnson said he and the church staff will work closely with the state to do everything necessary to get the day care operating up to code again.

Sixteen of the 25 violations had been resolved as of Aug. 27, as they were one-time fixes like properly instructing staff on specific issues.

Approximately 30 children stayed at Little Angels at some time over the past month.

Johnson said several times in an interview with the Gazette that he had no prior knowledge of the extent of the downward spiral of the day care before the center’s bank sent a letter advising them the center’s finances were in trouble.

He added he also did not know of the numerous violations before the church was informed by the state.

Johnson added he and church staff are doing everything they can to keep the center open despite its financial hurdles. He said the day care was a necessity for parents and he was very determined to continue offering that service.

“The love, safety and education of those in our childcare program are incredibly important to us as a congregation. We hope to continue providing the best care we can for your children,” Johnson said in a letter to parents.

Gazette interviews with parents who had children in the day care said the center is the only place in Colfax that accepts drop-ins, infants and children on state assistance. Some parents do not have other options outside of Little Angels.

“I don’t have any other options for the baby,” Vorderbrueggen said.

The church called a public meeting with parents and church staff last Thursday, Aug. 26. Johnson, pastor of the 50-member church, passed out the list of state violations and a statement on the day care’s financial issues.

Vorderbrueggen said her 3-year-old daughter, Taylor, has regularly come home hungry, thirsty or with stories of being yelled at by staff. She recounted picking up Taylor to discover she had wet her pants because staff wouldn’t let her go to the bathroom on time.

“She ended up wetting her pants. Then they yelled at her and said it was her fault,” she said.

Vorderbrueggen said her main concern was that her child doesn’t get enough attention in terms of food, cleanliness and emotional care.

“They are just loud and they yell at the kids for no reason. It’s dumb stuff. They are two and three and four years old. You can’t just scream at them like that,” said Vorderbrueggen.

Grandmother Gwen Hunt-Palmer frequently takes her 14-month-old grandchild to the center. She was troubled on multiple occasions when she picked up her grandchild to find she was dirty.

“I know they’d be absolutely filthy from head to toe,” Hunt-Palmer said.

Both women said Little Angels is the only place in Colfax that will accept the family’s state-assistance funding, leaving them few options.

Hunt-Palmer said they are seriously considering other options for child-care, while Vorderbrueggen said her child will start preschool in a few weeks.

Spokesperson Amy Blondin said state-licensed day care centers are inspected by a child care center licensor every 12 months. Depending on the recommendations from the licensor, a center can, among other options, be shut down or be put on a probationary license.

Little Angles center is now on a probationary license for the next six months while they work with Hall to get up to code.

Because the state has many guidelines for a state-licensed facility, Blondin said it is very common for a center to have a few violations. But a list of 25 is long, she said.

“At the end of the day, parents have to be able to trust that a place licensed by the state is a safe, healthy place to leave their kids,” Blondin said. “There are very few [centers] that don’t have some issues come up when there is a monitoring visit that comes up.”

Johnson gave the Gazette a rough time line of how the issues with the day care ensued.

In July, Hall made her regular unannounced visit to the center.

In early August, the bank sent a letter to Pastor Johnson saying the day care had run into financial troubles. Their account was overdrawn for both July and August.

Johnson presented the details of the day care’s finances to the church’s staff and to the parish committee Aug. 18. The committee made the decision to fire the director, who was let go Aug. 19.

On Aug. 25, Hall had a sit-down meeting with Johnson where she informed him that Little Angels Childcare had 25 violations cited.

The next day, Aug. 26, Johnson held the public meeting with parents and church staff informing them of the challenges facing the day care.

“Ultimately, it’s my and the congregation’s responsibility and we weren’t doing our job properly,” Johnson told the Gazette.

Johnson said the days after learning about the day care’s finances were particularly stressful for himself and the church. He told the Gazette and members of the church that he and his staff were doing everything possible to keep the day care open.

In a letter to parents and the public, Johnson wrote;

“We feel that it is a needed service in our community, and we are eager to turn the center into a first rate education operation. There is no reason our children cannot have the opportunity to learn and grow in a safe and loving environment. It is unfortunate that the current situation exists and we are deeply apologetic that we as a congregation were not more informed about the previous management of Little Angels.”