Listen to that "gut" feeling when interviewing potential child care clients, especially if it tells you "Somethings off"!
This is a true story... .
"All money is not good money"...
It was a Friday morning when a CPS Investigator and a Criminal Detective showed up at my child care center. We had never received such a visit EVER so you could imagine the shock and confusion. After introducing themselves, one of the agents said "We're here regarding a complaint from a client". I knew immediately what was going on.
Let me start at the beginning, in June of 2019. The day of the family's tour...
I have to first say that one of my favorite things to do at my center is the Center Tour.
My program and what we offer is exciting to me and that has a positive impact on the tour interaction. This tour was no different.
As we requested, our tour guest arrived with her two sons. While touring the center, the prospective parent would ask questions that seemed ordinary. Like, "Do you allow parents to come into classrooms?" Which I replied, "Yes, as a matter of fact we encourage it."
She seemed a little "off" but I couldn't quite place my finger on it at the time. Her sons were 2 and 9 yrs old. At this time she was only looking for care for her younger son. During the tour she complained about her son's care at the previous program. She mentioned that her toddler would regularly have a wet diaper at pickup and that he would cry all the time and didn't like the teachers. I have learned over the years to not get pulled into siding with parents who complain about other programs, but I always sympathize with their concern. At one point during the tour, she was shocked because her toddler wanted to leave her to visit a classroom right after stating that he only wants to cling to her. She also complained about her toddlers clothes being wet on several occasions and that she was not allowed to walk through the classrooms of previous program. At the end of the tour she was ready to start enrollment to begin care. Approximately 2 weeks later she requested to enroll her oldest son.
The sons. We noticed right away that there was a developmental delay with her toddler. He did not speak any words. He would only cry, laugh, or grunt. He would drool an unusual amount of saliva most of the day. He would heavily urinate an unusual number of times during the day. There were times when he would cry while performing repetitive movements. During nap time he would throw his body around on the cot. He was also very aggressive with the other children. The more we observed him, the more we realized the aggressive actions toward the other children was his way of playing. There was clearly something wrong. It took us about a week to adjust to his habits.
When the older son started, he exhibited concerning behaviors as well. He seemed very distant. He would curse, hit, and disregard instruction. The other school-age children did not want to be around him. I made the decision to suspend him early so that the parent would know from the start that we take our Behavior Policies seriously. She claimed she did not know where he got the behavior and asked to speak with him. She could be heard threatening him over the phone.
The teachers began expressing concerns about the mothers behavior as well. They reported that she would arrive for pickup during nap time and before ringing the bell she would peer through the window for a long time. When inside the center she would find something to complain about and would not talk to the classroom teacher appropriately. There was another complaint that she attempted to walk into a staff only area. The classroom teacher would repeatedly send notes for extra clothes or bibs due to the excessive drooling, but would never receive them. In addition, the diapers she used were of poor quality which were not suitable for her son's heavy urinating. We spoke with her about our concerns. She claimed her pediatrician said he is just a heavy wetter. However, she would not supply the best tools necessary to care for his needs.
On Monday, during the third week of care, the mother arrived for pickup during nap time as usual. When she made it to the welcome area to exit she noticed a small bump on her toddlers eye and asked the teacher about it. The classroom teacher nor the other teachers noticed the bump prior to nap time. It would not have been missed since this child is in close proximity to the teacher throughout the day. The mothers behavior escalated and I was called immediately. I met her in the welcome area and asked her to bring him back to the bathroom for better lighting, as it was nap time and the lights were dim. The mother decided that someone "punched" her toddler. The teachers were there as well reminding her that he was usually unbalanced and could've fallen at the playground earlier that day or been bitten by a mosquito or countless other possibilities. Having been hit was not possible due to the size of his class at the time (4 children between 19 mths and 2) and the size of the room. The teacher would've seen it happen or heard the commotion. The mother refused to take any of this into consideration. I asked her several times to let us clean it and write an incident report and suggested she take the child to the doctor. She refused. Our cameras caught the entire conversation.
I decided to meet with my Center Director and teachers to hear their thoughts and talk about what the best course of action would be. Also during this time I discovered that we were the family's 5th child care program. It began to dawn on me what was actually happening. We had a "daycare hopper" on our hands. The mother dropped the kids off for care the very next day, after swearing the day before that her toddler was hit. I decided to contact the previous program that the family came from on that Tuesday. I actually knew this provider and her character. She proceeded to share her troubles with this parent. She mentioned how the parent would creep around staring through windows, wanted to walk in areas she did not belong, wouldn't pay on time, and complained about the staff. She also shared that they had concerns about the toddlers development as well and that the mother would not send the necessary supplies. She told me that the day she was able to dis-enroll that family was like a weight being lifted.
That was more than enough for me to decide that we would be dis-enrolling the family that week. I typed the letter that night making Wednesday their last day. We had a very special field trip on Wednesday and I really didn't want the older son to miss it. He was finally getting better with communicating. We emailed the letter to the mother and left physical copy for her at pickup, which she forgot so I also called her. That conversation did not go well. I asked her to pick up her toddlers belongings by Friday, which she never did. This family was enrolled a total of 21 days. Just 21 days.
About a week later a CPS representative and a detective were at our doorstep to investigate the mother's claims. We answered all their questions and submitted any supporting documents they asked for. They were in the center for about 2 hours conducting individual interviews. They told me that these types of investigations could take up to 45 days before we would hear anything. This was a Friday. We heard from them the very next business day letting us know that because the facts did not "show a preponderance evidence that abuse or neglect occurred" the report was determined "unfounded". They saw right through what this parent was doing and thankfully my staff are professionals and all our systems were in order. They even asked to review our Accident/Injury policies to determine if they could add anything to improve them during their visit. They had zero suggestions after reviewing our policies.
What I learned:
1. Listen to that gut feeling, don't ignore the signs. "All money is not good money."
2. Having fool-proof systems does and will pay off!
3. Having professional teachers who can carry conversations with officials is priceless. (The agents actually shared with me that they were impressed with my staff who were interviewed.)
What about you? Have you experienced something similiar? Share your comments or commentary below.
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