Teacher Locks Toddlers in Closet

In shocking security-video footage at Pinocchio Children’s Palace in East Flatbush, teacher Shandra Fallen, 25, and her assistant, Amellia Samuda, 34, are captured ushering 2-year-olds into the classroom closet.

A sadistic Brooklyn day-care teacher locked terrified toddlers alone in a tiny, dark storage closet and laughingly claimed it was a lesson in “how to survive,” according to the facility’s owner. Day-care owner Tatiana Ilyaich said she discovered the solitary confinement in June, when she heard crying coming from Fallen’s classroom across the hall from her office. 

She found the teachers in the room and most of their young charges taking naps on their cots — and sobs coming from the supply closet. She opened the door and saw a scared young boy inside.

It’s kind of a game they’re playing with the kids,was the response from the daycare authorities The owner said she immediately scoured security-camera footage for signs of similar incidents. Images taken on May 14 chilled her.

In the footage viewed by The Post Fallen can be seen putting one small child into the closet, which is packed with supply-stuffed shelving, and leaving him there alone for three minutes before releasing him. She then picks out 2-year-old Mahli Mathias and guides him to the same closet before shutting him in. Seven minutes later, Fallen returns and opens the door. She steps into the closet and out of view. After about a minute, Fallen steps out and shuts the door behind her, leaving the boy inside.

Another toddler walks over and pounds on the outside of the closed door, but neither adult pays any attention. Samuda then goes into the closet, shutting herself inside with the boy for another minute before exiting alone. Mahli is finally allowed out 10 minutes after he was first imprisoned.

The day she viewed the video, Ilyaich said she reported the abuse to authorities and alerted parents. She fired the two teachers the next business day. The Administration for Children’s Services and the city Health Department said they investigated. But it is unclear if law enforcement was ever notified, or if investigators ever viewed videotapes or interrogated the teachers about being alone with the child inside the closet. Both the NYPD and the Brooklyn DA’s office told The Post they had no record of the case.

Mahli’s mom, Gabrielle Henmings, is suing Pinocchio, Fallen and Samuda in Brooklyn Supreme Court, for unspecified damages and is accusing the teachers and the day care of negligence.

Source: http://nypost.com/2014/09/07/teacher-locks-toddlers-in-closet-to-teach-them-how-to-survive/

Worried About Exposed Outlets, Accessible Knives at Day Care?

Worried about exposed outlets, accessible knives at day care? There’s a better way

Many were concerned to learn of the deficiencies found at licensed child care providers in Maine after a 2013 audit by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s Office of Inspector General.

In unannounced visits to child care providers, inspectors found the following: exposed outlets; an unprotected, active space heater directly next to toys; an exposed sewage pipe and water stains on the ceiling; pet food, trash and stained carpet in a child’s play area; and knives in unlocked cabinets accessible by children.

There also were expired medications in first-aid kits, a broken slide, no record of rabies vaccinations for pets in several facilities and no records that criminal history reports on staff had been completed. Because having safe facilities and being able to prove staff members don’t have a history of abusing children are basic requirements for running a day care facility, these places failed to meet a relatively low bar.

Does worrying makes anything possible it will cause you only health problems so before you decide to enroll your kid in a daycare center then you need to check about the daycare center quality check.

If you, as a responsible parent, want to know ahead of time whether a local child care provider is apt to electrocute your kid, there is a resource you can use. Go to childcarechoices.me, search for providers in your area and see how they rate. 

The Quality Rating and Improvement System was created by the Maine Department of Health and Human Services. Participating early childhood programs are given a rating on a four-step scale, with Step Four being the highest level attainable. Of the 1,829 family child care and center-based providers enrolled in the voluntary rating system — only about half of them are enrolled — nearly 17 percent are at the highest Step 

Four, which means their program has had no substantiated licensing violations within the past three years, has a daily schedule and curriculum plans, observes children’s skills and records them three times per year, is in regular communication with parents, has parent conferences twice a year, conducts parent surveys, holds regular staff meetings, has national accreditation, has staff with the highest amounts of training and more.

If your child care provider isn’t participating in the rating system, consider asking why. If they’re on a lower step, ask if they’re working toward a higher one. Sometimes parents are hindered by where they live — there may not be many child care options nearby — so it could help to inquire.

Also, know that there are incentives in the form of tax credits for parents to send their children to top-rated child care providers and help offset the costs associated with higher quality care.Parents shouldn’t have to worry about their children at day care. The ratings system is a great start to help ease their minds.