12/3/2008

By TIM UNRUH

Salina Journal

ABILENE -- Web camera footage of toddlers being tied to chairs, flung against walls and thrown under a sink at Learn and Grow Depot Child Development Center contributed to the center's state license being suspended Tuesday by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

The action came the day after the child care center's owner, Memorial Health System, the company that owns Memorial Hospital of Abilene, temporarily shut the center for "an internal review of services," said Ann Brussow, hospital spokeswoman.

In the Tuesday emergency suspension order, the state health department wrote that a Web cam, which parents could access from their own computers, showed multiple examples of "prohibited punishment used against the children in care."

Toddlers were tied to chairs during meals. One toddler was observed "being shoved and flung, still tied to the chair, against a wall with such force that his feet sway briskly in the opposite direction upon impact," the order reads. The child was tied to the chair for 40 minutes.

Betty Nebelsick, of Abilene, said the child tied to the chair was her 16-month-old grandson, whom she observed on the Web cam Nov. 25. When she saw what was going on, she went to the center to get the child. The toddler hasn't been back since, she said.

"I just saw him tied to this chair, up against the wall. At that time, I didn't know how long he'd been there, or how he'd gotten there," Nebelsick said. "That was enough for me."

She described her grandson as a "regular 16-month-old baby," and was shocked after reading the KDHE emergency order.

" I just can't fathom what this poor little kid went through," Nebelsick said.

The Web cam video shows a preschool teacher using her leg to hold a child on a nap cot and forcing a child's head down, face first, on the cot. Another teacher approaches and "completely lies upon the child, covering the child's body for several minutes," the order reads.

In another instance captured by the video, a child was "grabbed by the arm and yanked across the room, out of camera view," according to the suspension order. One child was pinned under a classroom sink for not being quiet during nap time.

"The child was thrown under the sink with such force that she hit her head on the pipes," the order reads.

A child care facility surveyor heard a teacher "yelling at a child in a harsh, frightening tone of voice" and opened a door. The surveyor found "a toddler gasping, shaking and in tears," according to the suspension order.

Allegations shock mom

The state has child care facility surveyors and also hires them through an agency, said Mike Heideman, KDHE spokesman.

After reading the suspension order on the KDHE Web site, Abilene mother Kathy Reitz said the account was "pretty sickening. I think they need to be brought up on charges and put in jail."

Reitz had taken her 2-year-old daughter to the center since Nov. 1. She was surprised that center employees would act as alleged in the order.

"The cameras are out in the open. They knew they were being watched," Reitz said.

She was able to access the Web cam, but only observed her daughter napping.

"I was never able to see anything else. At work, I couldn't get the Web stream to go through," Reitz said.

She had no complaints about the way her daughter was treated at the center.

"As far as the teachers are concerned, I think they're doing a fine job. (Her daughter) never acted like she didn't want to be in there, and she was happy when she was picked up," Reitz said.

A sign taped to the front door informed Reitz of the center's closing Tuesday morning when she arrived to drop off her daughter.

"I had a few choice words," Reitz said.

She was able to find someone to watch her daughter Tuesday and is scrambling to find a permanent provider.

Mark Miller, Memorial Health System chief executive officer, said he decided Monday night, after reviewing video from the Web cam, "to suspend operations to determine what corrective actions we needed to make."

He said it was a "hugely difficult" move.

"Parents were left at the last minute without care for their children, including some of my employees," Miller said. "With regard to the whole issue, I'm extremely disappointed and extremely frustrated."

Brussow said many parents were informed of the temporary closure during a parent-teacher association meeting Monday night, and others were called.

Brussow said Memorial Health System "self-reported" problems to KDHE, but state officials dispute that claim.

"The facility did not self-report," Heideman said. The order of suspension was the result of an investigation initiated by a citizen complaint, he said.

Police given video

The Web cam footage has been turned over to Abilene Police Chief Bryan Dunlap, who plans to review it with Dickinson County Attorney Keith Hoffman. Dunlap said Tuesday the evidence from the child care center was "very fresh," and wouldn't say if it would result in criminal charges.

"We understand that the KDHE has initiated an investigation. What may be a regulatory violation may or may not be a criminal violation," Dunlap said.

The Learn and Grow center is licensed for a maximum of 100 children at one time from 6 weeks to 12 years old, and has 122 enrolled, Brussow said. Jill Nussbaum is the director of the center. There are 24 employees, but "some staff have left our employment," Brussow said.

The center had been open from 5:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday for a little more than a year, she said.

The center has 15 days to file an appeal. If that happens, the Kansas Office of Administrative Hearings will set a hearing date, Heideman said.

Meanwhile, Memorial Health Systems is at work, trying to get the center reopened.

The closing was in response to complaints received over the past two weeks, Brussow said.

Miller said in a news release that he was not aware of any children being injured.

"What we're investigating at this point is inappropriate discipline. There is no mention of child abuse in that order," Miller said Tuesday night.

Goal is to reopen

Miller added that "some of those allegations I am unaware of, that so far I have not been able to validate."

Other incidents noted in the suspension order were "corroborated by us even before it was issued, and we took appropriate action a week ago regarding one of those incidents. We have made staffing adjustments," Miller said.

The center was opened to fill a big need for child care in Abilene, and the goal is to get the center reopened. He said a number of parents have called offering support.

"To have these kinds of challenges and difficulties is not what we're about," Miller said. "I'm not trying to make money doing this. My only interest is to fix what needs to be fixed ... get this thing opened again, and provide a service that is needed and wanted."

n Reporter Tim Unruh can be reached at 822-1419 or by e-mail at tunruh@salina.com.