First Posted: 7/31/2014
The Department of Public Welfare has filed documents to revoke the child care license at the Greater Pittston YMCA Day Care.
Executive Director Mary Ann Dziak received notification by mail, which stated, “The Department of Public Welfare has made a decision to REVOKE your certificate of compliance to operate a child care center known as Greater Pittston YMCA Daycare located at 10 North Main Street, Pittston.”
It is stated that the decision to revoke the certificate is based on the YMCA’s “failure to comply with the department’s regulations, failure to comply with acceptable plans to correct noncompliance items, and gross incompetence, negligence or misconduct in operating the facility.”
According to those documents, the YMCA has 30 days to appeal from the mailing date of the letter. The letter was mailed on July 24. The YMCA can continue to operate the facility pending the outcome of the appeal. If the appeal is received in a timely manner, a hearing will be held with a final decision to be made.
The YMCA plans to continue to operate the facility under the appeal. Therefore, it must first submit plans to correct the current violations and return them to the North Central-Scranton Office of Child Development and Early Living within 15 days.
According to Department of Public Welfare press secretary Kate Gillis, the DPW had not received an appeal as of Thursday morning.
However, the YMCA released the following in a statement on Thursday: “We submitted our corrective plan of action to DPW on July 24th. We are implementing our corrective action plan by scheduling additional training on staff professional development and supervision of children through Community Services for Children, the NEPA Keystone Stars Technical Assistance division. We have also conducted additional staff training on child safety protocol and pool safety. Finally, we have been in constant communication with our local DPW office to provide us with assistance in reviewing all policies and procedures to be sure that we are in total compliance with all regulatory mandates.”
The Greater Pittston YMCA has been under fire over the past month after an employee left a 6-year-old girl unattended in a van for 45 minutes following a field trip. As a result of the investigation into that matter, the YMCA was found with five violations relating to suitability of persons in the facility, aide qualifications and responsibilities, supervision of children and transportation.
During that same investigation, the DPW conducted an unannounced inspection of the YMCA. It found two violations relating to adult health assessment and content of adult records.
Prior to that most recent incident, the YMCA was cited for improper supervision of children in 2013. The facility was cited for “improperly supervising children” in May 2013 after one staffer took seven preschool-aged children for a walk away from the facility. During that walk, one child ran into a busy street. The staffer left the other children unsecured to gain control of the child attempting to run into the street.
In June and September 2013, the facility submitted acceptable plans to correct the violations cited which were accepted. However, according to the documents, the YMCA failed to comply with those acceptable plans, as verified by the most recent inspection.
“I wish to reiterate that the Greater Pittston YMCA takes its commitment to the safety and well-being of all of our children quite seriously and we are doing everything that we can to resolve this situation so that we can continue to have a successful child care program,” Dziak said in the statement.
