Training suggestion from day care provider Robin Johnson who murdered 18 month old Charlotte Wetzel

In Robin I. Johnson's 1999 letter to her former licensor she wrote: "There is a serious need for mandatory training hours in the area of positive alternatives to discipline, as well as anger and stress management. Workshops instructing providers how to appropriately deal with the stress of behavior problems common among young children (especially toddlers and pre-schoolers) would be a positive step toward the prevention of abuse."

10 hours of annual mandatory training WAS put into the family home child care licensing regulations in 1999. Then in 2004 DSHS program manager Mary Oakden re-wrote the regulations and TOOK OUT that annual training requirement. 7 years ago.

But Deputy Director, Bob Hamilton with his $112,000.00 a year salary and Amy Blondin, Communications Manager with her $93,000.00 salary can't fill out one of those little expedite-this-form (that could have been done back in 2004) that would get that requirement put back into the Washington Administrative Code (WAC).

Amy Blondin is the "Communications" manager and she won't add a link to the DEL website to be in compliance with RCW 43.215.370.

With the money, health care benefits and retirement benefits they get from you the parents and grandparents who use day care, you the taxpayer who provide financially very well for Bob and Amy, they seemingly don't care about your children or your peace of mind when you go off to work. Does Director Betty Hyde care? Does her boss, Governor Gregoire care?

If the issue is not intentional failure of duty by civil servants what other explanation is there? Are you, the parent, the grandparent, to believe that Bob can't read, that Amy can't read? Betty can't read? Are we to believe the "education" governor, Christine Gregoire hired folks without such basic reading skills as to how to read RCW and WAC? Then to follow the law? Is that too much for the taxpayer to expect.

It's ironic that a provider who murdered an 18 month old girl made a suggestion that providers be trained properly to protect children and the unelected bureaucratic managers of the Department of Early Learning went in the opposite direction and took out that training requirement.

But Bob and Amy are doing well...with your money.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------