Day care receives more than 90 complaints, according to state documents

ROCK HILL, S.C. — Channel 9 dug through pages of public records that reveal accusations against A Child’s Heart day care in Rock Hill.

Reporter DaShawn Brown requested those documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request after employees admitted they left a 3-year-old boy alone in a Fort Mill park in June after a field trip.

Day care leaves park, toddler left behind, officials say

The mother of that child did not know about the other allegations.

“I still just feel hurt,” the child’s mother, who did not want to be identified, said.

The child was not harmed.

“Don't get me wrong, we're all human. We all make mistakes,” the mother said. “This was a very careless mistake.”

Brown found more than 90 complaints about the day care that had been reported to the Department of Social Services since late 2015

Nearly 30 of those complaints were ranked highly severe, which means a child's health or safety could have been at risk.

Documents show that there were fake CPR certifications, expired food, and a staff member “popped” children on the hand.

There were also previous incidents of children not being tracked in the day care and on a field trip.

“My child could've been hurt and no one would've known,” the mother said. “He could've been kidnapped.”

The owner of A Child’s Heart invited Brown into the center but declined to comment.

A DSS director said the day care is under investigation as part of a process to include a corrective action plan.

Typically, that's used to get a day care back on track before a final warning.

“I'm not talking about those who may have a citation one time in six months,” said Cynthia Lara, director of DSS Child Care Licensing. “I'm talking about those who have repeated violations.”

Day care facilities in North and South Carolina must be licensed by the state and are subject to regular inspections. Those inspection reports are public information.

To find information about day care services:

• North Carolina Child Care Search  
• South Carolina Child Care Resource and Referral Network 
• S.C. Child Care Early Care & Education

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