Clinton Township

Daycare center investigated after child found wandering outside

By Heidi Roman
C & G Staff Writer

CLINTON TOWNSHIP — The Department of Human Services (DHS) Bureau of Children and Adult Licensing is recommending that the license for Little Scholars and Clinton child care facility be revoked after a 2-year-old boy allegedly got out of the center and was found wandering near the intersection of Cass Avenue and Heydenreich in Clinton Township during rush hour.

According to a report prepared by a licensing consultant from the bureau, the incident first came to the bureau’s attention when a witness called to report that he had found the child near the roadway while he was driving on Cass Avenue, a high-traffic, five-lane road, April 3. The witness had brought the child back to the daycare center, which is located at the intersection.

The licensing consultant made a surprise visit to the center April 7 to investigate, and the program director reportedly admitted that the boy had been found outside.

According to the witness, the child was walking on the muddy shoulder of the road at about 5 p.m. The witness said the child was “bare armed and bare legged,” and was dragging his coat behind him. It was about 43 degrees at the time, the report said.

The administrator of the facility, Lore Cooper, directed inquiries to the center’s owner, Vince DiLorenzo, who declined comment.

The licensing consultant investigated the incident further by interviewing staff at the facility, some of whom said the child had walked out when one staff member left the door to one of the classrooms open.

The staff member claimed she had closed the door, but that the child was capable of opening it himself. According to the report, the staff member has been terminated since the investigation was opened.

The mother of the child, Clinton Township resident Keeley Sanders-Masch, was not informed of the incident until April 7. Sanders-Masch, a single mother and full-time student, said her biggest concern was that she was not immediately informed that her son had gotten out.

“I’d like parents made aware of what happened at their daycare,” she said. After the incident, Sanders-Masch kept her son in the daycare for a while as she tried to find out exactly what had happened.

“I kept him there to get answers,” she said. “After the investigation, I figured there was not a safer place since they put locks on the doors.”

 She has since removed her son from the center, she said.

According to the DHS, three violations were established at the center: that there was not appropriate care and supervision of the child, that there was no primary caregiver system in place, and that therefore the primary caregiver system was not properly documented. According to law, a primary caregiver must be established for each child, and that information must be documented and provided to parents.

“We are recommending revocation of the license, and our first step is a compliance conference,” said Department of Human Services spokesperson Colleen Steinman. That conference is scheduled for July 8.

“It is the first step where we sit down with the provider and say what the deficiencies are,” Steinman said. “We feel they are strong enough to revoke the license unless they can provide very compelling evidence to the contrary.”

Little Scholars’ license to offer childcare had expired in May, and the facility submitted a renewal application before the expiration. Steinman said the Administrative Procedures Act allows a license to continue beyond the expiration date so long as the application is submitted in a timely matter, but the DHS is unable to get out to the site for a renewal.

“In this case, we will not renew until a decision is made at an administrative hearing on our recommendation to revoke the license,” she said.

According to DHS records, there have been two other violations established at the center in the last few years.

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Heidi Roman at hroman@candgnews.com or at (586)218-5006.