New York State Office of Children and Family Services - Program Information
In New York parents can at least look up the information on-line if a day care provider's license has been suspended, denied or revoked unlike in Washington State. The citizen legislature of Washington State passed such a law in 2007; and the Department of Early Learning (DEL) has simply ignored it.
The New York site shows violations for the last 24 months. This provider where a four month old died in October 2010 had concerning violations. Unfortunately, for New York parents, the violations she may likely have had going back to 2002 aren't listed.
In Washington State before the day care licensing agency became DEL, it had started posting violations of law and regulations regarding day care facilities. The information I received was in combination with a minority of day care providers and the Services Employees International Union (SEIU), they complained about having violations listed on the website for parents to see. So DEL removed important and vital information parents need to make a decision about where to put their children while they must go to work.
The news article lacks important information about the functioning of their child day care licensing agency. This "inspection" occurred the day the four month old died. Then the government agency simply "closed" the investigation.
In my experience as a child day care licensor this is a red flag. It tells me the government agency doesn't want anyone looking too close at its fulfillment of their regulatory functions. The type of "uncorrected" regulations New York cites on their website causes me to want to see the entire history of this facility.
Regulations don't work because unelected government managers aren't enforcing the laws.
In addition, to not enforcing regulations I know and I am the witness from inside Washington State government in my twenty years of evolution in learning and understanding the system that the public and most importantly parents are not given the most vital information they need to make decisions to keep their children safe. In addition, unelected bureaucratic government managers in Washington State ordered the alteration of public records and had public records destroyed.
Meanwhile taxpayer money has given such managers a high income, health benefits and retirement benefits. The deputy direction of DEL in Washington State makes $112,000.00 a year. The communication manager makes $93,000.00 a year. When I pointed that out in another article then got their emails, the deputy director wrote in an email to the communication manager that he was happy to find out he made more than she did. Another email showed him asking her what she was doing. She said she was doing nothing and that she was bored.
The times are hard for so many folks, children have been permanently damaged and some children died; and such a cavalier attitude is not ok.
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