Do You Know Who is Watching Your Kids?
By: Laurie Monteforte
Updated: October 25, 2012
East Stroudsburg, Monroe County - Standing in her play kitchen, Ravyn Serrano whipped up a batch of Chocolate Milk, Garlic, Lettuce Soup. She served it to her Mom, Sapphire, who sampled the plastic concoction with a smile on her face.
The daily Mother-Daughter lunch dates will soon end. Sapphire is going back to work part time. Her son seven-year-old son Ryan will be in school. Her two month old son Rhys will be in good hands at Grandma's house. Sapphire wants to make sure Ravyn will also be in good hands. With tears in her eyes she said, "I would do anything for my children. I would lay down my life. I would cut my arms and limbs off for them. I would never want to see them in any harm."
Choosing child care is an agonizing choice for many moms. Pennsylvania has a website http://www.dpw.state.pa.us where you can see inspection reports on child care facilities. But the site does not tell you everything you might want to know. For example, it does not show you if a daycare owner or employee has a criminal history. Serrano reacted, "It's kind of like a false sense of security."
The records won't tell you Heather Nembhard, who owns Precious Moments Academy in East Stroudsburg, is a convicted felon.
In 1997, Nembhard plead guilty to "Grand Theft Over $20,000 Less than $100,000." She also plead guilty to "Unauthorized Possession/Use of Driver's License/Identification." She violated probation and spent more than four months in prison.
Nembhard committed her crimes in Florida. Broward County Court records show she is behind on penalty payments. In August her account was sent to a law firm for collections.
Nembhard declined to speak to Eyewitness News. Her attorney, Brett Riegel, spoke for her. He said the charges are "ancient history." Heather was almost 19 when she had the bad ID. She was almost twenty when she was charged with Grand Theft of the 2nd Degree. She is now 35.
Reigel added Pennsylvania law allows Nembhard to run a daycare. He noted, "It is our way as a nation to allow youthful indiscretions to be overcome and to become successful as members of society."
The Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare issues day care licenses. DPW spokesperson Anne Bale wrote, "The fact that these crimes are so old and that she had no other criminal history from 1997, we chose to use our discretion." Serrano asked, "At their discretion but what, isn't that like a very blurred line?"
Though she questioned the discretion, Serrano said she would be willing to over look the criminal charges. She explained, "I think in this instance she may deserve a second chance because it is not involving children."
But then Eyewitness News told her about more information that she would not have found on the state website. Eyewitness News learned Heather Nembhard was a manager at the day care that used to occupy her building. It was 4 Kidz Christian Academy. In 2009 a toddler got through a fence one Saturday. Someone found her wandering on a busy road. The state forced the day care to close after that incident.
Nembhard's attorney said that information is irrelevant. Riegel explained, "She had responsibilities for personnel during the week, not for the program itself or for any of the rules and regulations governing the program."
The DPW spokesperson said department records do not reflect that Nembhard had a management role in the closed daycare. Serrano said that type of information should be public."So that you know. Why do you want to put your child, go blindly?" she asked.
The state website also leaves out important information about past inspections at Precious Moments Academy. The place opened in 2010. But the DPW says when Nembhard incorporated the business this July it started a new online file.
That means when parents research the day care, they will only see the most recent reports. There are no violations in those reports.
They won't see previous reports that detail some security and safety violations. Eyewitness News obtained those reports from the DPW. They show Precious Moments Academy once had to fire an employee because she left infants and toddlers alone while she went to another room. An inspector also found an employee worked at the day care for nearly three months without an FBI clearance. Another inspection found two staff members did not have proof of required clearances.
Attorney Reigel said those inspection reports should not be a concern. He noted, "Obviously it was something that the Department of Public Welfare thought was sufficiently insignificant that they didn't put her into a position where her license was suspended while they were dealing with it."
Serrano said after learning about Nembhard's management history and the inspection reports she would not send her daughter to Precious Moments Academy. However, she added parents should have all that information available to make their own decisions.
She will continue her child care research to make sure Ravyn has all the ingredients she needs to cook up a happy and safe child hood, along with that Chocolate Milk, Garlic, Lettuce Soup.
State Representative Rosemary Brown said the Eyewitness News investigation spurred her into looking at possible law changes. She will consider proposing changes that would require parents to be notified about day care workers' felony histories.
The DPW said that could be expensive. Bale wrote, "At this time we do not have financial or staff resources to do this, but certainly we are always looking at ways that we can help make child care safer and more reliable for the families that need them."
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