Day cares with lax oversight rack up millions in subsidies

A Tennessean review of Department of Human Services' child care inspection records reveals a pattern of problems at local child care facilities that violate licensing rules and place children’s welfare at risk but continue to be subsidized by taxpayers.

The majority of Nashville child care centers have never been cited for rule violations — just 33 of 290 licensed centers operating in Davidson County between 2011 and 2014 were cited with violations that rose to the level of civil penalties.

But more than half of the agencies that were issued civil penalties by inspectors — 19 — received taxpayer subsidies and bonuses for their care of young children. In total, those 19 agencies got paid nearly $10 million over a four-year period despite findings of lax oversight that led to child injuries in some cases.

Nashville day cares earn top marks despite safety violations

Closer look at violations at Never Grow Up child care centers

On Sunday, The Tennessean reported that Never Grow Up, a for-profit company that operates 12 child care centers in Middle Tennessee, amassed dozens of serious violations at child care centers it operated out of state before expanding to Tennessee, and earned two- and three-star ratings here. Three stars is the highest quality rating the state gives child care centers.

DHS has paid one of Never Grow Up's three-star child care facilities, Holly Tree Christian Preschool of Priest Lake, $301,987 in subsidies and bonuses for serving children from low-income families since it opened in 2011 — even as the agency has been issued multiple civil penalties for violations and was once placed on a 60-day probation. The agency's history shows major supervision violations that include two in 2013 when caregivers let an 11-month-old wander alone out of the classroom and left another child unsupervised for at least 30 minutes when he fell asleep.

Between 2011 and 2015, Never Grow Up took in $408,399.60 in subsidies.

And that pattern extends to other agencies in Davidson and Williamson counties.

Assessing your day care: The star rating system

Dominique’s Academy in Madison is one of them.

Between 2011 and 2014, Dominique’s operator, LaJuanda Davidson, received more than $122,000 in taxpayer subsidies and bonuses to care for children from low-income families in her child care center run out of a small converted ranch home on a residential street.

The payments came despite repeated violations discovered on surprise visits by inspectors with DHS:

• Inspectors spotted unrefrigerated milk being fed to infants instead of being discarded.
• A child care worker walked away from a changing table where a baby lay unguarded until an inspector quickly moved to protect the child.
• Child care workers putting infants to sleep on their stomachs instead of backs, a serious violation of safe sleeping standards.

On one visit, inspectors witnessed an unsupervised child run out the door to the parking lot before a parent got hold of the child — one of three instances inspectors observed of lax supervision. Staff had not received proper emergency medical training or child abuse reporting training. And the child care center had gone for months without insurance. Davidson, according to one inspector’s account, blamed the child and her parents for running out the door, blamed inspectors for not stopping the child and blamed her own husband for not paying the insurance bill.

Other inspectors with the Metro Public Health Department discovered there was no fence between the parking lot and the playground, a safety hazard for children playing outside.

The agency was put on probation, stripped of its ability to take in children under 15 months old and its petition for a new license was denied in March 2013 — a ruling that was overturned when the agency appealed. Davidson paid fines ranging from $50 to $450 for nine serious violations over a three-year span — a total of $1,600.

The agency closed after Davidson was evicted after her landlord successfully sued Davidson for $20,000, according to court records.

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Davidson reopened a new facility shortly afterward at a new location under a new name: Dominique’s Charter Preschool.

Dominique’s Charter Preschool continues to participate in the state certification program to receive taxpayer funding for children from low-income families and has begun the process of becoming qualified as a star-rated provider, allowing the agency to receive bonuses in the future.

In the year since Davidson opened her new facility, inspectors at Dominique’s Charter Preschool have observed nine new violations of child care center rules.

A brief explanation of those nine violations is posted online by DHS. A parent seeking to learn the full history of the facility from DHS cannot.

Davidson disputed that inspectors had observed nine violations. When told they were listed on the DHS website, Davidson said she would contact the agency to straighten out that information. She declined to speak to The Tennessean further, saying, "I don't have to talk to you about my center."

Chat transcript: Day care investigation in Nashville

DHS officials noted they had denied Davidson's request for a new license "due to numerous uncorrected violations cited in 2013 and additional violations cited in 2012." The agency's decision was overruled by a review board after Davidson appealed, spokeswoman Stephanie Jarnagin said.

Jarnagin also noted that DHS is "committed to child safety, and we are always looking for ways to improve quality and safety of our licensed child care facilities."

"History is always considered before issuing a license and are handled on a case-by-case basis," Jarnagin said.

Asked why subsidized child care centers are disproportionately represented in the facilities with violations in Davidson County, Jarnagin said the agency "would need to review the specific data you are referencing."

Jarnagin noted the majority of child care providers in Nashville — 270 — participate in the certificate program.

However, that figure also includes group and family homes, not just the child care centers examined by The Tennessean.

Licensed child care facilities can receive millions of dollars in subsidies and bonuses to serve children in families that participate in Families First, Tennessee's welfare-to-work program. Last year child care providers participating in the “certificate program” for low-income kids in Davidson County received $8.3 million in reimbursements for child care and $990,000 in bonuses. In total, the program paid child care providers in Tennessee $178 million last year.

Agencies that participate in the star quality program earn even more, depending on how highly they are rated. Child care centers that decide to participate in the voluntary program are rated up to three stars. Zero stars means a facility meets licensing standards; three stars means it meets the state’s highest standards.

The reimbursement rate for a three-star agency caring for an infant in the certificate program is $158 per week, which includes a built-in 20 percent bonus. The reimbursement drops to $139 for a one-star facility, with a 5 percent bonus included. Agencies with no stars receive $132.

The formerly three-star-rated Gartland Child Development Center received more than $820,000 in child care subsidies and bonuses in a four-year period despite racking up more than 40 violations and a 60-day probation stint for improperly supervising and transporting children. Those violations included a caregiver left to supervise 18 children aged 6 months to 3 years old, violating rules that require children of such varying ages to be in separate classrooms and that no more than six toddlers be supervised by one caregiver.

In February, a driver for the center dropped a child off at the wrong school. DHS inspectors noted the agency wasn’t properly logging children on and off a bus. The agency subsequently lost its star ratings and is now a "0 star" rated facility, meaning it meets the standard for a licensed facility.

The three-star Happy Care child care center went without liability insurance for six years. It paid a $150 fine — and received $148,987 in child care subsidies and bonuses over a four-year period.

The three-star P.H.P. Learning Center received more than $855,000 in subsidies and bonuses despite being placed on 60-day probation in 2013 after repeatedly ignoring rules intended to keep track of children as they get on and off agency vans and buses. The agency paid a $500 fine.

In September, a 4-year-old child was left in the early preschool classroom by himself at La Petite Academy in Goodlettsville as a form of discipline. The agency refused to cooperate in DHS' investigation of the incident, withholding documentation of staff about the incident. It was not the only questionable discipline applied at the agency. In March, a caregiver in the infant room pulled roughly on an infant, used a "harsh tone of voice" and threw a blanket over the child's face. The agency allowed the caregiver to keep working despite several staff members coming forward with claims that she was verbally abusive to the children and rough with them physically. DHS has not yet posted information on the amount of fine levied, if any.

Reach Anita Wadhwani at 615-259-8092 and on Twitter @AnitaWadhwani. Reach Jessica Bliss at 615-259-8253 and on Twitter @JLBliss.  

Live chat with the reporters of this story between 11 a.m. and 12 p.m. Wednesday at Tennessean.com.