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Documents detail violations leading to closure of Wyoming child care center

Posted at 10:18 PM, Mar 04, 2019
and last updated 2019-03-04 22:18:51-05

WYOMING, Mich. — New details are emerging after a Kent County child care center announced it was closing their doors last month.

Last month, the Spartan Stores YMCA said the child care center would close March 29 after a comprehensive review of their program and discussions with state licensing officials.

FOX 17 obtained new documents from the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs outlining recent violations at the child care center.

In September 2018, two allegations of wrongdoing at the Spartan Stores YMCA Childcare Center were reported to a LARA consultant: the first involving a male and female child found in a bathroom stall together with their clothes off.

According to documents, child care staff reported the children went into the bathroom and into separate stalls, but when staff went to check on them, the boy and girl were in the same stall with their clothes off. Employees told the consultant children of the opposite sex were no longer allowed to go to the restroom together and staff would be there to supervise.

Another reported incident in September involved a male infant repeatedly biting other children, allegedly nine times that month alone. According to the documents, that child’s enrollment at the center was terminated.

Those two instances caused them to receive a second provisional license, but in October, another allegation was reported to LARA. Two male students were allegedly touching each other in a sexual nature out of sight of caregivers for approximately eight minutes. Because of those incidents and repeated violations established, officials recommended the center lose their license.

The YMCA decided to close March 29 before the state closed them down.

In a release to FOX 17 last month, the YMCA said they are planning to reopen the child care program in the future, pending conversations with the state and an effort to recruit new staff members.

The center says they’ll help the families find alternate child care options in the area.