Friday, Oct. 23, 2009

Belleville day care center closing; DCFS complaints focus on cleanliness, care for kids

DCFS complaints leads to surrender of license

A financially troubled Belleville day care center will surrender its license and close permanently today after a state probe of complaints that it was not properly cleaned and that children were not properly fed or supervised.

Workers at Lil' Munchkins 24 Hour Childcare, 423 S. Illinois St., told some of their 105 customers on Thursday that it will close.

"This day care center has agreed to close as of the evening of Friday, Oct. 23," said Kendall Marlowe, spokesman for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. "The operator has agreed to surrender the license, and DCFS will monitor this location going forward to ensure it does not reopen."

Day care owners Jacqueline and Brian Hofmann, who also own Hofmann Properties Inc., said they volunteered to close because the day care's license would have expired Nov. 17. The Smithton couple said they no longer wanted to deal with late payments from the state.

"It's a battle trying to get our money," Jackie Hofmann said. "The state is the main reason we're closing. I wanted to get out of the state of Illinois."

DCFS identified licensing violations March 23 when authorities made their annual monitoring visit, Marlowe said. Since then, DCFS received additional complaints on June 5, Sept. 4, Oct. 2 and Oct. 13.

The four complaints are similar, Marlowe said. The Oct. 13 complaint states the center:

* Failed to provide children with enough water or food or the right kinds of food.

* Failed to properly supervise children or provide enough qualified workers.

* Failed to properly clean and sanitize the center.

* Failed to properly comply with requirements for background checks on staff.

DCFS would have proceeded with an administrative order of closure had the Hofmanns not volunteered to close.

Jackie Hofmann said DCFS did not notify her of the violations. She said she has corrected violations whenever DCFS has identified them in the past. The only standing violation she is aware of is that one of her staffers does not have a cardiopulmonary resuscitation certification.

"These minimal things DCFS is after don't matter as long as we're caring for the kids," Jackie Hofmann said. "We put a lot of love into this place. This isn't easy for me. I hate to see my parents go. I've got people who have been with us for three years."

Carolyn Ritchey, a Belleville mother of a 3-year-old girl and 18-month-old girl, has used Lil Munchkins' services since the day care opened in 2007.

Ritchey said she depended on the day care, and its abrupt closure is upsetting.

"Now I don't know what to do," Ritchey said. "It's ridiculous. I have to be at work tomorrow, and all the day cares close by are full and no one will take my 2-year-old because I don't have a full-time job."

Ritchey said she may be able to negotiate a day off from her job as a Hardee's manager to watch her girls, but after that, she may lose her job if she doesn't find a place to watch her children.

Jackie Hofmann said 98 percent of her clients are families who pay for day care services with funding from the nonprofit Children's Home and Aid. Hofmann said the foundation has owed $18,556 -- money that would have provided for payroll -- since April.

Many staffers left because they were not getting paid, and the center was forced to reduce its hours, Jackie Hofmann said. The center also has been plagued with employees who steal and parents who do not make their payments on time.

The center's financial troubles also started because of misinformation from DCFS, Jackie Hofmann said. The Hofmanns had to get a higher loan when DCFS told them they also had to renovate the second floor of the day care.

The Hofmanns filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in November 2008, which this month converted to a Chapter 7 liquidation of assets. The bankruptcy filing stated the Hofmanns had $516,392 in assets and had a total debt of $1,240,550, listing about 80 creditors.

The day care is listed on a second bankruptcy filing, a Chapter 11 filed April 20. Hofmann said the day care debt reorganization is ongoing.