A daycare business in Eureka was closed on Thursday, through an emergency order of suspension from Secretary Roderick L. Bremby of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
The order suspends the license of Shannon Shue and Shelia Shue Day Care Home at 108 S. Walnut in Eureka.
According to a copy of the suspension from KDHE spokesperson Maggie Thompson, the order resulted from an annual inspection conducted by the Greenwood County Health Department on Tuesday and Wednesday. The inspection uncovered “numerous serious violations that pose a substantial threat to the health and safety of the children in the daycare home,” the order stated.
Among those violations were:
• licensed capacity, with three children under 18 months of age and four children 18 months to kindergarten age.
• infant left lying unattended on couch
• infant found sleeping in a car seat
• two bottles of formula sitting uncovered on couch where one infant was lying.
• home not clean; very cluttered with dirty dishes, dirty laundry and other miscellaneous items strewn about the daycare home
• smoke detector — the only one in the home — had been taken down and not re-installed
• alternate exit in the event of fire was blocked by wooden stool and piles of dirty laundry
• portable, ventless heater was on and guarded by a plastic baby gate on all four sides. “Inside the gated area were numerous flammable items including a diaper, plastic toys, crayons and a computer modem that was later found to have almost melted beyond recognition,” the order stated.
• few inches of standing water in an area of basement
• items in the water have mold; basement walls moldy, posing health hazard
Shannon Shue, who shares the license for Tater Tots Day Care with her mother, Shelia Shue, said that the deficiencies noted in the annual inspection by Greenwood County’s Deina Rockhill had been remedied.
“Everything that was put into that emergency order was corrected on-site,” Shannon Shue said. “Nothing is that way now. I would invite you to come into my home now to see it.”
Shue said that the allegation that the daycare was over-capacity had been a temporary situation that had resolved itself during the inspection.
The state had licensed Shue to care for a total of 10 children, with restrictions according to combinations of ages. She explained that she could have seven children 18 months to kindergarten and three aged kindergarten to 11 years old; if she had two infants and four toddlers, she also could care for three school-aged children.
“I was over by one child by an hour, because the parent was coming to pick her up,” Shue said. “I kept the infant. I stated that to Miss Rockhill. She was there when the mother picked up one of my toddlers.”
Shue said that she had been sitting on the couch with a 12-month-old infant and was holding another, rocking her to sleep, when Rockhill knocked on the door. She said she placed the sleepy child in the car seat and left the other on the couch to answer the door. The sleepy child had been choking from drainage from a cold, and the mother had asked her not to place the child down flat to sleep, Shue said.
Shue said that she had left dishes in the sink after lunch in order to take care of the children.
“I had seven kids. I couldn’t get to my dishes,” Shue said. “... So I had to make a determination. Do I not watch the kids or do I clean my kitchen right after lunch.”
She said that she had put the laundry on the back porch to keep the children away from it and that it was not blocking the door. The wooden stool easily could have been pushed aside in an emergency.
“And besides, I have a third exit,” Shue said. “... That wasn’t noted that I had a possible third exit, and it was not blocked, except for the baby gate.”
The heater infraction noted in the complaint was in the process of being remedied.
“I had informed my father, who owns the house, I needed it changed. That heater had been approved by Miss Rockhill the previous year when she was there to give me my license,” Shue said. “I put the guard around it for the safety of the children.”
Shue said that she has the box the heater came in and it states it is a ventless heater.
“I put the guard around it for the safety of the children,” she said.
“Given the seriousness of the fire safety issues, the standing water in the basement and the provider being over capacity while caring for three infants, an Emergency Order of Suspension is recommended in order to protect the health and safety of children in care,” the order stated.
The suspension was immediate and will remain in effect until an order is issued to rescind the suspension.
The Shues are required by statute to notify the parents and guardians of the children in care in writing that the license has been suspended.
The Shues received a daycare license on Aug. 28, 2008.
They have a right to request a hearing on the issues within 15 days of the suspension notice. Failure to file a timely request will result in a waiver of the Shues’ right to a hearing. The emergency order of suspension then would become a final order suspending the Shues’ license to operate a daycare home, the order stated.
Shue said that she intends to fight the suspension, and that parents are writing letters in support of the daycare center.
“They have been in my home every single day to pick up their children and not one time have I ever been reported of their children ever being in harm’s way,” Shue said. “... I would never jeopardize a child.”
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citizen43 (anonymous) says...
We as parents are scared to know what is out there. What are the parent's thinking leaving their children in such a home? Did they not go in to see these conditions? As a person looking for a daycare at this time, I'm scared to leave my child with anyone. Come on parents look around the daycare. And as for me, I wouldn't be afraid to ask questions. My child is number one nothing else matters. Quit giving these business's chances. Obviously they don't care about anything but their money that they are making. And as for the State who issues the licenses out do your routine checks more frequently. Anyone who has a license for daycare should get routine checks frequently.
February 14, 2010 at 8:48 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )