Four employees of a child care facility that cares for special needs children have been fired two days after the death of a child left in a hot day care van. (Photo courtesy WATN)
Four employees of a child care facility that cares for special needs children have been fired two days after the death of a child left in a hot day care van.
The CEO of Ascent Children’s Health Services is a state lawmaker.
Dan Sullivan is a state representative from Jonesboro who aggressively advocates for less regulation of the child care industry in Arkansas.
But had existing regulations been followed at one of his centers, five-year-old Christopher Gardner would be alive.
"It didn't take them but two minutes or one minute to go back and get off their lazy asses and go see where they kids at,” says Carrie Smith, the grandmother of Christopher Gardner. “They didn't check for my grandbaby."
The family of Christopher Gardner got an apology from Ascent Children's Health Services on Wednesday.
A statement released by CEO Dan Sullivan reads in part "...we know our staff did not follow company policies and procedures, and if they had, this tragedy would not have occurred. We will continue to reach out to the family to see how we can be of assistance during this difficult time."
Last April, Sullivan appeared before the Arkansas Early Childhood Commission and requested it reduce a new requirement that 50% of all child care employees at any facility be certified in CPR and first aid.
When they refused, four commissioners tell KATV they heard Representative Sullivan while leaving vow to address the need for the commission during the next legislative session.
Act 576, the only bill sponsored by Sullivan that became law during the 91st General Assembly, stripped the commission of its authority to regulate child care centers.
Meanwhile the investigation into the death of Christopher Gardner continues.
"This child was going to school and his parents were putting him on a bus,” says West Memphis Police Chief Donald Oakes. “No bad decisions. Just a horrible lack of effort on the part of people taking care of this child."
Representative Sullivan told a House committee in February that the child care industry is vastly overregulated and that somebody has to take a stand.
Ascent Children's Health Services has offered assistance in covering funeral expenses.
yes_its_him on June 18th, 2017 at 18:01 UTC »
Here's what happened for the people who are confused here.
"Bus driver Felicia Ann Phillips, bus monitor Pamela Robinson, Ascent's Transportation Supervisor Wanda Taylor and Van Safety Inspector Kendra Washington are all charged with manslaughter.
Police said it was reckless negligence that led to Christopher being left alone on that van in the first place.
Detectives said all four women had a duty to either check the van Monday morning after it dropped kids off at Ascent Children’s Health Services or make sure all the riders made it inside the facility.
Employees said they checked the bus that day, but during a news conference on Friday, police said based on their investigation, there is no way they could have checked the bus and not seen the child from where he was.
The workers were supposed to do a walk-through of the van to make sure it was empty and then hit a safety button in the back, but police said the workers instead opened the back door from the outside and hit the safety button without walking through the inside.
Police said one of the woman, Wanda Taylor, also admitted to checking Christopher into the classroom even though he didn’t go inside."
http://wreg.com/2017/06/16/police-four-people-to-be-charged-after-child-dies-in-daycare-van/
iafmrun on June 18th, 2017 at 16:31 UTC »
In the early aughts there was a cluster of children dying in WI daycares for a variety of reasons, most of them would have been preventable if the providers had been following existing rules.
One successful outcome of the public outrage was a state wide rating system. Losing points on a scale because you don't have trained staff or because your staff were not washing hands after diaper changes, helps lead to a culture and expectation that your staff will follow the rules and your facility is safe. Having an incentive to usually pay attention to follow rules that were made for a reason reduces the shitty attitude that anything goes because there are really no consequences.
kelbokaggins on June 18th, 2017 at 15:21 UTC »
I worked for seven years in the day care industry in Arkansas. It is NOT over regulated. Much of the staff is under trained and/or underpaid. They take care of our most vulnerable citizens and they should hold themselves accountable to a high standard of care.