Report: Conditions At Some City Day Care Centers Could Put Your Child At Risk
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A disturbing new report shows serious safety violations at day care centers around New York City that could be putting your children at risk.
An undercover video shot at several different day care centers in the five boroughs shows workers apparently lying about violations and violations that allegedly included storing harmful cleaning chemicals within reach of children, CBS 2's Don Champion reported Thursday.
The video was part of an investigation by state senators Jeff Klein and Diane Savino, both of whom claim that a lack of accountability by the city's Department of Health is putting children in danger.
"They're not doing anything to take these inspections seriously, and they're not doing anything to make sure there's real enforcement," Sen. Klein said.
Database Of Connecticut Day Care Centers: Here
Common violations included failure to properly screen workers for criminal records, not keeping areas clean, and not maintaining window guards.
The investigation also found that none of the alleged violators had its license suspended or revoked in the past five years.
"If you're a vendor out there, they're ticketing you left and right. But, for some reason they're not doing the same thing with our most precious commodity, our children," Sen. Savino said.
Database Of New Jersey Day Care Centers: Here | PDF
The Department of Health released a statement regarding the investigation:
"New York City conducts more than 7,000 inspections each year for its 2,100 child care centers, for an average of more than three inspections per center. We follow up on every complaint, almost within 24 hours."
The senators are now introducing a bill that would require day care centers to post inspection reports for parents.
Database Of New York Day Care Centers: Here
Parents said posted inspection reports would be a big help.
"I look for cleanliness of the day care. I look for the different activities they do outside of the day care," Eupersha Henry said.
Senators Savino and Klein suggest that parents go online to research violations by any day care center that they may be considering.
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