Heartbreaking Story in My Home Town

[Josiegirl]

Oh my. That poor little girl Her family must be devastated.

Have no idea about the dcp as I don't know the details. But I'd be scared to bring a number of kids to the pool. They're too quick.

[Silly Songs]

Our local pool just had a group of day camp children come a few weeks ago. I was with a neighbor's child and we left when we saw all the kids. I think one lifeguard told me there were over 90 children and 10 counselors !!! Poor lifeguards .

[mommyneedsadayoff]

Update

Just read that they are now pressing charges all the way up to the head of the DHS. Apparently, they new the daycare license had expired and they falsified records to make it look like the license was still valid. There are 3 new people being charged, including the head of the DHS of the county.

So, the provider is facing negligent homicide, the county official, as well as the head of the dhs are also facing class c felonies.

I was reading the comments on the news feed of this new report and I am mad.

They are calling for the heads of the officials and saying they should face prison. I know what they did is wrong, but this daycare was licensed for over 30 years. The license expired and was in renewal process. I have spoken to three families who had their children there and they loved it and were well aware of the situation. The grandparents of the girl who died knew how many kids were at the daycare, knew they were going to the pool, and even said they wanted her to wear a life vest, because she could not swim.

I am not taking away form the provider's responsibility. But when do we stop the lynch mob from going after everyone and not holding the parents even a little bit accountable? They knew the situation, yet they took their kid there (because the daycare is actually a great daycare) and they knew they were going to the pool, they knew the girl could not swim, ect...

I guess the comments just made me mad. It feels like parents can drop their kid off and all responsibility on their end is frozen. My son has a birthday party this weekend and it is a pool party. He knows how to swim and the mom said parent s can stay or not. I will be staying. I could take the 3 hours and go shopping or have me time, but I do not want to put the responsibility of keeping y son safe and alive on a person I really don't know that well, who is also in charge of 10+ other kids. I will not pass that responsibility off at the price of $150 for daycare either. I know I sound harsh and I am sorry. I am mad and venting, because I think that while they should be following the laws, none of it would have prevented this little girl from drowning. I know this daycare personally and I know the woman being charged, so maybe I am biased, but I hate to see people (many who have never worked in childcare) calling for their heads! Grrr

[Blackcat31]

Just read that they are now pressing charges all the way up to the head of the DHS. Apparently, they new the daycare license had expired and they falsified records to make it look like the license was still valid. There are 3 new people being charged, including the head of the DHS of the county.

So, the provider is facing negligent homicide, the county official, as well as the head of the dhs are also facing class c felonies.

I was reading the comments on the news feed of this new report and I am mad.

They are calling for the heads of the officials and saying they should face prison. I know what they did is wrong, but this daycare was licensed for over 30 years. The license expired and was in renewal process. I have spoken to three families who had their children there and they loved it and were well aware of the situation. The grandparents of the girl who died knew how many kids were at the daycare, knew they were going to the pool, and even said they wanted her to wear a life vest, because she could not swim.

I am not taking away form the provider's responsibility. But when do we stop the lynch mob from going after everyone and not holding the parents even a little bit accountable? They knew the situation, yet they took their kid there (because the daycare is actually a great daycare) and they knew they were going to the pool, they knew the girl could not swim, ect...

I guess the comments just made me mad. It feels like parents can drop their kid off and all responsibility on their end is frozen. My son has a birthday party this weekend and it is a pool party. He knows how to swim and the mom said parent s can stay or not. I will be staying. I could take the 3 hours and go shopping or have me time, but I do not want to put the responsibility of keeping y son safe and alive on a person I really don't know that well, who is also in charge of 10+ other kids. I will not pass that responsibility off at the price of $150 for daycare either. I know I sound harsh and I am sorry. I am mad and venting, because I think that while they should be following the laws, none of it would have prevented this little girl from drowning. I know this daycare personally and I know the woman being charged, so maybe I am biased, but I hate to see people (many who have never worked in childcare) calling for their heads! Grrr

I am confused at to what the parents knew or didn't know?

Was the provider over ratios and the parents knew and still dropped off?

Was the provider not legally or technically licensed (if she was in the renewal phase)? Were the parents aware of that?

I guess I agree with you to some extent that parents should definitely be responsible too but I am not seeing what the parents could be responsible for in this situation?

Just because she (the provider) planned to take the kids swimming? I think that's a great option for a program to offer AND there were two life guards on duty. I dont really think there could have been any other safety methods offered to make a parent feel anymore comfortable...kwim?

The only other option would be to not enroll their child in a program that participates in off site activities and it sounds like that is sometimes THE reason parents choose certain programs. They WANT their child to get out and get those opportunities and they may not be able to provide them themselves if they are a full time working family.

So yes, I agree that in a lot of daycare related accidents/situations parents SHOULD bear some responsibility but I am not seeing it in this case so are there more details or did I miss something?

[Cat Herder]

The provider was operating because her licensor told her she could while she pulled strings (known or unknown to provider)? And the provider is being charged with operating illegally?

I know charged is not the same as convicted but :confused:

[Cat Herder]

I just read the articles. Terrifying.

Did the family provide a life jacket? Did they sign a field trip form?

I don't understand how this is all the providers fault. Knee jerk charges?

[Play Care]

I feel like this was posted before? I know I commented. :confused:

There have been times when I've had to renew that paperwork was kicked back to me which held up my renewal. I was *never* told during that time that I was technically unlicensed or couldn't operate or was operating illegally. More of an issue when my own kids were little, not STTN and I was exhausted and forgot to cross a t or dot an i

[mommyneedsadayoff]

Playcare, I started this thread a while back, but just wanted to update on it, as new charges were filed.

Can I post a link to the story, BC? Not sure if that is allowed?

Basically, the daycare license expired a week before the accident and the state and local officials knew this. They issued a renewal and back dated so it would show the daycare was licensed at the time of the drowning. As far as I know (I know one of the woman who performed cpr on the girl), the provider and her assistant were at the pool and they were within ratio. The provider is facing negligent homocide, child neglect, and operating without a license. Her trial is in April. The local license agent is facing charges of criminal conspiracy, filing false paperwork, and tampering. Now, they are charging the executive director and 4 or 5 other people in the dhs with criminal conspiracy and failure to their duties. The city is also being sued, since it is a public pool and there were life guards present, I would guess:confused:

I feel this was a terrible accident. The little girl was on life support for a month and after she passed, the charges started coming in full force. The city attorney said the family is not behind these charges, but many in the community feel otherwise, including some relatives. Many of the comments on these local news stories are relatives and friends of the family and they are definitely looking for someone ot be held accountable. I feel like the provider is the one who will take the majority of the blame, even if she had the state's support for continuing to operate. The families I know who went there said she was within ratios and followed the childcare regs, but the trial is closed, so it will be awhile before we see if there is other information that she had too many kids or did something criminal that resulted in this tragedy.

I was having a bad night last night, so I guess just to clarify my post. This daycare has been around for almost 30 years and is the largest in the town, with 35+ kids enrolled I believe. Closing the daycare when the license expired would have left so many families without care (only a few other home daycares in town) that I think they figured it was best to keep it open. I don't think it was some conspiracy to commit fraud and pull the wool over the eyes of the families. I think it just ended up being bad timing. If the license was valid, it would not have prevented this tragedy. If they had closed the daycare until the license was complete, parents would have been p!ssed. I just find it funny/sad that some of the comments on the news site equate the licensing issue to the cause of death. I feel like, since she had the support of the dhs to keep operating, they were probably very stern about her keeping things on the straight and narrow. If she didn’t it would open up an investigation. Unfortunately, this situation happened, and an investigation was opened up anyway, but I really don’t feel that lack of a valid license would have prevented this death. Even if she had shut down while waiting, almost every daycare in the community goes to that pool during the summer. The child could have gone to another daycare and had it happen. She could have been with her mom and dad and had it happen. It is horrible and tragic, but for people to really believe that not having the license would have prevented the whole thing is what really bugs me for some reason.

When I speak of the parent's responsibility, I guess I just mean that this is a terrible accident and they were fine with the daycare up until this point and now they want to make sure everyone pays for something that was a terrible accident. They knew she couldn't swim, and they knew it was a large group of kids who go, yet they allowed her to go to the pool multiple times with this provider. I know it is ultimately the provider who is responsible, but I guess it is just bugs me that we always get vilified right off the bat. If it comes out that she was out of ratio or neglected to follow safety rules, then she should face consequences. Until then, I just cannot get behind the judgement of her and I hate that it is tearing up a town I was born and raised in. My mom’s employee started this daycare to compete with my mom, who had the first and largest daycare in the town. The daycare is actually part of my grandma’s old property. They bought it from us to expand their playground area. I know many people who go there and I just feel it is a huge loss to the community. Just makes me sad for everyone involved.

[Ariana]

If a child dies anywhere outside a parents home someone needs to pay for it. It is sad but it seems to be the way things work now. It doesn't matter if this daycare was licensed out the ying yang this still could have happened. It happened here where I am too. The providers were doing nothing illegal and although the provider didn't get charged the heavy hand of the government has come down hard on all providers over this incident....as if this will prevent accidents from happening.

Parents get angry and this is how it comes out. Someone needs to pay . Long gone are the days of support and rallying around your neighbours.

[Blackcat31]

Can I post a link to the story, BC? Not sure if that is allowed?

Absolutely!!!!
This is a tragic situation in which sounds like a lot of "stuff" was either covered up or swept under the rug.

You are always welcome to post links to things you post about.

[mommyneedsadayoff]

Ok thank you!

Here is the most recent story:

http://www.kxnet.com/story/31237939/officials-facing-charges-in-velva-pool-death

[Michael]

Ok thank you!

Here is the most recent story:

http://www.kxnet.com/story/31237939/...lva-pool-death

Boy, this is a complicated story on so many levels. A long time provider fell through the cracks with their license and DHS tried to help by bypassing the law, gets whacked by the a death of a child. This is going to destroy a lot of families and careers with prison time. Unfortunate and sad.