The following are incidents where the department has worked with the providers and/or community partners in Region 3 to address the safety of children in day care:

The following is the narrative from the department's data base:
"A certified letter was mailed to Mr. and Mrs. 'Smith' notifying them of the denial of their day care license, effective 3-27-2006. The denial was due to the IDAPA and Idaho statues regarding criminal history checks. Mr. Smith had received a substantiated disposition of sexual child abuse. With that, he will no longer be able to pass a criminal history check and since he is in the home during day care hours, the day care license has been denied per Jeremy Player."

The Smith's did not request a hearing on the matter of the day care license. Instead, the couple decided to open a day care for less then five children and provided care for children out of their home. In 2007, two more girls disclosed being sexually abused in the home, and one additional girl is seen as a possible victim. The matter is under review by the Canyon County Prosecutor's office.

Note: the administrative hearing office ruled that we did not have enough to deny the issuance of the license to the parents who had assumed ownership. The original owner has a substantiated CP. Our position was that the original owner was, in essence, the operator and the parents were just a front for the license.

Child Care Center "C":
On 1-5-2007 the Nampa Fire Department revoked a permit held by Sharon 'Jones' for a residential facility. She must live in the facility if she claims it is her residence. However, she did not live in it and the permit was revoked. Consequently, Health & Welfare revoked her child care license because she was not in compliance with the fire regulations. A certified suspension letter was sent to Sharon Jones On 1-23-2007. She did not respond so her day care license was not renewed.

Child Care Center "D":
The most difficult case we had was with child care center D. We have a history of 11 complaints dating back to 2002 on child care center D. This facility locked a four-year-old child in an upstairs play pen with a makeshift top on it. The upstairs room, allegedly, was not air conditioned. When the parents came to pick him up he couldn't stand very well and seemed lethargic. The parents' inquiry led to the disclosure of the cage. The operators were charged for the cage incident at day care center D. The charges were bargained down to a misdemeanor. The owners were given a suspended judgment with conditions they needed to meet. They reportedly completed the requirements, and the case was dismissed, so we were unable revoke the license. There are hard copies of the legal documents in the licensing file located in the Nampa office, as well as a picture of the cage.

Child Care Center "D":
In 2007, Richard 'Doe' was working as a handyman and helped care for children in an unlicensed child care facility in Nampa. The owner of the child care was a neighbor of Doe. She was operating out of her home and had less then five children at any time. Doe is a client of the department and has a history of sexually abusing children. He is also a known sexual offender. Since the facility was providing care for less then five children the owner was not required to be licensed and no background check was performed on Doe. The department worked closely with law enforcement and as a result the situation was resolved. No children alleged abuse and Richard Doe no longer has access to the child care facility.

Source: Canyon County Drug Court, 2/23/2007
The Canyon County Drug Court has noted that one of its participants has opened up a childcare with her child and three other children, aged six years, three years, and an infant under her care. She has a history of methamphetamine abuse and has violated the rules of her felony conviction probation. The Court also finds concern in the participant's temper, and the situation in which the children under the participant's care are located. The Court was dismayed by the lack of background checks used by ICCP and the lack of regulation of childcare centers with less than 6 children.

Source: Coeur d'Alene Press, 10/4/2007
The Coeur d'Alene Press reports that a child care provider was taken into custody after a report that she had been intoxicated while working. The Rathdrum Police Department reported that the provider had a blood alcohol content of .018.

Source: The Spokesman-Review, 7/29/2005
A registered sex offender was taken into custody for violating his parole by repeatedly visiting a child care provider. The center, run by the sex offender's wife, made a stringent effort to conceal the criminal history of the sex offender even while the sex offender visited the premises. The childcare center was investigated, and the offender taken into custody, after a complaint was received by the local police concerning inappropriate contact between a three year old in the center and the sex offender.

Source: The City Clerk's Office of Coeur d'Alene, 1/30/2007
Kathy Lewis, the Deputy City Clerk of Coeur d'Alene states that two childcare centers that were closed due to complaints of improper supervision were reopened right outside of city limits. She further states that two denied applicants, one of which failed a background check due to a spouse with a child abuse conviction simply moved outside the city's jurisdiction and opened up their centers.

Source: Landis Rossi, DHW, 1/10/2008
Landis Rossi, the Regional Director of Region IV for the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare noted that there is no requirement by the state for notifications to be issued by governent agencies to parents with children enrolled in childcare centers about investigations into the childcare center. The notification responsibility falls upon the childcare provider.

Source: Anonymous Health Inspector, 3/2/2007
An Environmental Health Specialist from Region 1 has highlighted several instances of abuses and lapses in the system. The most egregious of these include leaving children unattended for hours, the lack of background checks on potential owners of child care centers leading to abusive parents and convicted sex offenders being able to open such centers, the lack of oversight leading to fraud and failure to provide for a healthy environment, and the herculean task confronting ICCP inspectors, from the range of issues to the sheer number of centers to inspect.