11 week old Jenna Knudtson suffocated December 21, 2004 after being placed on her stomach alone upstairs in the day care home of Jennifer Florentin.
In January 2004 Florentin told her licensor she had stopped doing child care and returned her license.
When the paramedics arrived Florentin, the only adult on the premises, had 12 children in her care. A number of people reported that Florentin "didn't like all the red tape" in being licensed. After Jenna died Florentin continued to unlicensed care.
Staci Sturges her former licensor did two stakeouts and Darcy Taylor, the supervisor one in February 2005. The department issued a cease and desist and fined Florentin $18,000.00. Then DSHS reduced her fine to $5000.00.
Florentin continued to do unlicensed care. I took a voice message on May 24, 2005 from a referent advising the department Florentin was still providing unlicensed care. I forwarded the message to supervisor, Darcy Taylor and phoned in the information to DSHS CPS Intake. Taylor did nothing. I made yet another whistle blower report.
DSHS did an investigation on 3 of my whistle blower complaints including Florentin and Taylor's lack of investigating and/or taking action.
The DSHS investigators before investigating Taylor and talking to other DSHS staff made "clear statements indicating that there would be no retaliation or discipline as a result of their cooperation or giving of information."
On Florentin Taylor wrote her narratives late in violation of DSHS policy, Taylor the investigators wrote: "...admits to being chronically behind in her documentation." Taylor called the referent back on June 16, 2005, 23 days after the complaint was called in. Taylor then didn't go out until July 26, 2005, almost a month and a half later. Taylor only talked to Florentin who claimed "a cranky neighbor" made the call. Taylor closed the case the next day as "invalid".
The DSHS investigators wrote regarding the May 24, 2005 licensing complaint on Florentin wrote about Taylor: "She staked out the residence on two separate occasions and contacted neighbors." No, Taylor did not. The narrative records (SERs, now called "FamLink provider notes")show no such activity.
The DSHS investigators talked to Taylor's boss (with the same promise of no retaliation or discipline), Marjory Johnson, about the lateness of Taylor's documentation. Johnson told them there was no time frames on writing case narratives. The investigators found CAMIS Policy #25 which states 30 days. Johnson declared under penalty of perjury in a Superior court document that she was an expert on writing SERs, yet told the DSHS investigators there was no time frames in writing SERs.
Columbian newspaper reporter Erin Middleton in Vancouver wrote on findarticles.com: "In 2004, Rice and I wrote a story about the shaking death of a child in an unlicensed child care home. In interviews, state officials said they didn't have the resources to go after unlicensed child care facilities in Washington. We wondered: How well does the state police the ones that are licensed? "
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3720/is_200904/ai_n32128789/
It was not about resources. DSHS managers wouldn't let me do my job. In the early 2000s it was "known" that licensed providers were quitting licensed care and continuing to do unlicensed care. One had not only been on my caseload, but I noticed she was still president of the day care association. When I mentioned this to another provider on my caseload and wondered if she knew anything; by the next week she was no longer listed as the president. I wanted to go out and verify her status and my supervisor Mary Oakden would not let me.
In 2003 we had an excellent supervisor Glen Berringer who not only let me do my job including doing a stakeout on an unlicensed provider operating right across the street from a licensor provider, he went with me to the unlicensed provider's door to inform her to stop.
In the 1990s we licensors checked the local newspaper listings for people who advertized they were doing day care. We called them. We warned them. We contacted the local paper to not take their ads without verification or at least keep a blurb in there that having a license was required. We contacted the schools to not allow ads for day cares be posted at the school without verification that they were licensed.
2004 the Columbian newspaper wrote an article about a shaken baby in an unlicensed day care home. Another baby Jenna Knudtson suffocates in a formerly licensed home in 2004.
In April 2005 I believe the father of Jenna make a public disclosure request for the licensing file of Florentin. With the CAMIS computer system when you clicked to print the Service Episode Records (SERs), which are basically, the notes licensors/supervisors made on licensing files, a window popped up "reminding you" that if this print job was for a public disclosure request to be sure you checked all records.
I wanted to call the requester, to see if he or she wanted any and all emails related to the provider file. Darcy Taylor, the supervisor would not let me call the requester. Taylor wouldn't tell me who the requester was. I can only guess it was Jenna's father Greg Knudtson.
6 years later, 9 month old Colby Thompson was shaken and permanently hurt. As the insider, the whistle blower on and off, for most of my career inside the DSHS Vancouver Office the disrespect shown to parents, the disregard shown to parents, the denigration of parents and the ignoring of parents was and is abominable.
DSHS child care licensing, the unelected bureaucratic managers, who continually say that the taxpayers don't cough up enough money as the reason why children are treated meanly, hurt, maimed and some die, created a special manager position at headquarters just for day care providers to call in complaints on licensors. No such special position was created for parents.
RCW 43.215.370 was passed in 2007. It has very clear language that the Department of Early Learning (DEL) "shall" post on their website providers who treated children meanly, providers who hurt children, providers who maimed children and/or where children died; and had enforcement action taken against their license.
This is a "shall" under the law, the unelected bureaucratic DEL managers say there was a deal cut that until they get millions more in taxpayer money they won't post this information so parents can have a chance to know about such people who could like Jennifer Florentin continued to do unlicensed care...even after a baby's death.
A note of appreciation for the courage of Colby's parents with all they must contend with and manage in Colby's life now and for their other children, they cared so much that this not happen to other parents; they spoke out and a bill got passed before the one year anniversary of Colby's being maimed.
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