Did the Audit check for other convictions of day care operators and their family? Many of them can be a serious threat to children!3-27-2013 Massachusetts:
State Auditor Suzanne Bump says an audit found 119 matches between the addresses of registered sex offenders and the addresses of child care providers.
Bump immediately brought the matches to the attention of the Department of Early Education and Care and the agency began investigating, revoking provider licenses in four cases, Bump’s office said today in a statement.
“No parent who drops their child off at day care should have to worry about the safety of their son or daughter,” Bump said in the statement. “The presence of registered sex offenders in such proximity to groups of children is information parents, providers, and the EEC must have and act upon.”
The child care agency said in a response included in the audit report that its investigation had found that 16 of the address matches were for programs that were closed, 39 were for workplaces or community college campuses where the sex offenders were either working or going to school, and 10 simply weren’t matches.
Of the remaining 54 cases, the agency said, “in several instances,” the child care provider and sex offender lived in the same building but in different units and at different times. In those cases, the agency said, it had directed the providers to complete a “safety plan” for the children.
In four cases, the agency said, the investigation found that sex offenders’ home addresses were the same as family day care homes.
“Although EEC determined that the registered sex offenders at these four addresses did not have access to children, EEC revoked the licenses of these four child care programs” because the licensees knew about the sex offender and failed to disclose that to the agency, the agency said in its response.
Bump called on the agency to periodically match the addresses of registered sex offenders against that of child care providers.
While criminal background checks are already required on staff and household members at child care providers, Bump called for making sex offender registry checks required, saying 17 other states have such a requirement.
The audit matched the addresses of Level 2 and Level 3 offenders against the addresses of child care providers licensed by the agency.
The audit also contained other findings critical of the agency, but Bump said the agency had already taken actions in response.
“While I know that EEC has the best intention to fulfill its mission, this audit shows that more can be done to protect young children,” said Bump. “Unfortunately, there is little margin of error as just one case can have dire consequences.”
“EEC is in agreement that the safety of children in EEC licensed or funded programs is of utmost concern to the Department and must be prioritized,” the child care agency said in its response. “And, it is EEC’s intent to develop a joint plan with the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, the state agency that oversees [the Sex Offender Registry Board], to accomplish this goal.”
A message left for an Early Education and Child Care spokeswoman wasn’t immediately returned.
The commissioner of the department, Sherri Killins, resigned earlier this month after revelations that, while working at her nearly $200,000-per-year state job, she was enrolled in a superintendent training program in the town of Ware. ..Source.. by Martin Finucane, Globe Staff
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