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KCCI really dropped the ball on this. They didn't even discuss that the child shouldn't have been on the equipment in the first place. 18 month old children should not be ON equipment with that high of a fall zone. It's not designed for babies and toddlers.
Secondly the child should have never been on the equipment unsupervised. It is obvous from the providers own words that she wasn't spotting this baby on the equipment.
Thirdly: It is the providers responsiblility to CHECK the temperature of ALL outdoor equipment before a child plays on it or near it. That means checking the temp of it with your bare hands and your bare feet for surfacing. You should always place your hand on it for at least five seconds to test the exterior temperature.
Fourth: Plastic DOES heat up. Any slick surface can heat up in direct sunlight. Simple rule of thumb... if it is slick it can heat up.
Fifth: The Mom doesn't even GET that her provider is first and foremost responsible for this. She doesn't understand the four points above. She doesn't get it NOW but she will soon enough when the Department of Human Services intervenes with a child neglect investigation.
This is a perfect example of providers believing if the parent says or thinks what they did is okay then it's okay. This parent has NO clue that she doesn't have a thing to say about whether or not this will be a founded case of child neglect with possible criminal charges. The parent and provider are sitting side by side on the tape discussing the danger of the hot slide.... with the parent being none the wiser that the provider was RESPONSIBLE to not allow the child on equipment not safety approved for her age, not allow the child to climb without direct proximal supervision and "spotting", and not allowed to allow children on equipment without assessing FULLY the safety of the equipment BEFORE allowing a child on it.
Parents can not give you permission to do the wrong thing. Parents can't forgive you for doing the wrong thing and keep the insurer of the child, DHS or the County Attorney from filing charges on you.
The provider and parents are a team now but they won't be in a few weeks. Once the parent "buys a vowel" she will figure out that the provider shouldn't have had the kid on there in the first place and is required by law to CAREFULLY supervise all children all the time. If she couldn't manage her "group" of children at the park and give them the supervision they needed then she shouldn't have stepped foot into the park.
The DHS and County Attorney need to shut this provider down TO-DAY. The parents of the other children in care (if there are) must be notified that pending a full investigation that this provider can not provide child care services. The investigation will be pretty darn easy since the provider herself stated ON TAPE she was not in close proximity to the child and allowed the child to climb on equipment that is not designed for that age group.Comment
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well the spokesperson for the park wouldn't comment due to pending investigation. I would assume they were investigating the daycare provider right?Comment
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Parks Department is interested in whether or not the equipment meets safety standards. They can't possibly eliminate every stupid thing somebody is going to do on City property.
My guess is the Parks Department will insist a DHS investigation begin. They won't take a stand until their buddies at the DHS and the Polk County District Attorney's office has their way with the Provider.Comment
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I completely agree Nanny that there needs to be some accountability on the providers part....she certainly was neglectful.
I don't know that it warrants her being closed down though. Sure, a validated complaint goes in her public file for parents to check prior to enrolling children, and if there is ever another incident of neglect documented and proven, then she should be closed. Honestly though, who among us feels the temperarture of any playground equipment, every time we get ready to use it, with our bare hands AND feet? And who would ever think that the temperature of a slide would get to 163 degrees and cause burns like that? Sure, you realize they get hot, but not THAT hot.
It certainly is also the responsibility of the parks department to ensure that equipment they provide to the public, unsupervised by the parks dept. themselves, is safe for the people who are most likely to use it, and that would be small children.
I also think there needs to be some accountability on the manufactuer of the slide if there was no clear, written warning provided when the equipment was released for sale.
Sad situation. I hope the little girl fully recovers.Comment
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I disagree. It is every providers responsibility to assess the safety of any equipment the child will be using before they use it. This includes a visual inspection to assure there isn't anything that can catch the child's clothes, cut the child, entrapment hazards, etc. An assesment of the AGE appropriateness is crucial. Children should not be on equipment that has a fall zone inappropriate for their ages. This equipment was COMPLETELY inappropriate for this child.
The temperature of ANYTHING touching the children should be checked before the child has access. This includes playground equipment and surfacing. I live right next to a city park that we use for the children. It is very simple to check the equiment and test for the temperature. It takes SECONDS to do this. I pop my shoes off and walk thru the sand. I put my hands directly on the surface for about five seconds of the slide and any metal the children will come in contact with. I go THRU the climbing equipment BEFORE I allow the kids on it.
The whole checking process takes a couple of minutes to check the area for safety. I use the same park over and over so I know the equipment. The way I judge it is by the high temperature of the day. If it is over sixty degrees outside the temperature of the equipment could harm the kids. These are the days we are particularly vigilent about checking all of the areas of the play structure, the asphalt on the tennis court, the poles, the swing set seats, the ride on spring toys etc.
The visual inspection is also very important. The provider needs to check for broken glass, garbage, and any debris in the area. When we go into the tennis courts we go along the permiter of the fencing and check for anything that could harm the kids.
We have the kids trained to stand next to the strollers while holding onto them while we check. They do not move until we give them the okay. We park the strollers adjacent to whatever equipment we are going to use and have the kids connected to the strollers with "tot a longs" so they can't go astray. The whole time we are checking we are also watching the children and the activity around them.
It's a very simple process that insures that anything they come in contact with will not harm them. It takes training the children to be patient while you do a survey. A few minutes of their play time is worth the precaution. Once you get used to doing it you will be able to size things up very quickly.
I do think she should be shut down and charges filed. She not only allowed this child access to equipment that was too hot but she allowed a young toddler unsupervised access to a fall zone that was VERY VERY unsafe. If you stop the tape and look at the equipment you will see that there was a substantial height from the poles on the side at the top of the slide to the ground. She could have fallen off of the side of that and broken her neck, back, or worse... died. The provider didn't even CONSIDER that. She left her there without spotting her. She shouldn't have allowed the kid on that equipment without physically holding onto her at all times.
She doesn't know what she is doing. It is NOT safe for children to be in her care. Even after the tradgedy she didn't have the capapbility to realize the child shouldn't have been on the equipment at ALL. She talked about the amount of time the child was on it being injured NOT that she shouldn't have been on there for ONE SECOND without direct physical supervision.
If you don't understand how to keep children safe in your care you shouldn't be caring for children at all. This wasn't a case where the child walked by the slide and touched it and got burnt. This was a case where an unsupervised baby was on a very high and hot surface with no adult to protect her.
To me, this is absolute common sense. It's basic child care 101.Comment
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I agree with you totally, Nannyde.Comment
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edited by nannydeComment
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Here's some info I found on http://www.dhs.state.ia.us/consumers...hildabuse.html I'm thinking that this would probably fall under denial of critical care under the last requirement (I put it in red) - if not for the temperature of the equipment, for allowing a child to use playground equipment that was inappropriate for her age. I'm not a lawyer or anything so I could be wrong about all this.
What is Child Abuse under Iowa Law?
The Department of Human Services has the legal authority to conduct an assessment of child abuse when it is alleged that:
•The victim is a child.
•The child is subjected to one or more of the eight categories of child abuse defined in Iowa Code section 232.68:
◦Physical abuse
◦Mental injury
◦Sexual abuse
◦Child prostitution
◦Presence of illegal drugs
◦Denial of critical care
◦Manufacturing or possession of a dangerous substanced (defined in Iowa Code 232.2)
◦Bestiality in the presence of a child
•The abuse is the result of the acts or omissions of the person responsible for the care of the child.
A perpetrator of child abuse must be a person responsible for the care of a child. A person responsible for the care of a child is defined in Iowa Code 232.68 as:
a. Parent, guardian, or foster parent.
b. A relative or any other person with whom the child resides and who assumes care or supervision of the child, without reference to the length of time or continuity of such residence.
c. An employee or agent of any public or private facility providing care for a child, including an institution, hospital, health care facility, group home, mental health center, residential treatment center, shelter care facility, detention center, or child care facility.
d. Any person providing care for a child, but with whom the child does not reside, without reference to the duration of the care."
A person who assumes responsibility for the care or supervision of the child may assume such responsibility through verbal or written agreement, or implicitly through the willing assumption of the care-taking role.
Denial of critical care includes the following eight sub-categories:
•Failure to provide adequate food and nutrition to such an extent that there is danger of the child suffering injury or death.
•Failure to provide adequate shelter to such an extent that there is danger of the child suffering injury or death.
•Failure to provide adequate clothing to such an extent that there is danger of the child suffering injury or death.
•Failure to provide adequate health care to such an extent that there is danger of the child suffering serious injury or death.
•Failure to provide the mental health care necessary to adequately treat an observable and substantial impairment in the child's ability to function.
•Gross failure to meet the emotional needs of the child necessary for normal development evidenced by the presence of an observable and substantial impairment in the child's ability to function within the normal range of performance and behavior.
•Failure to provide proper supervision of a child which a reasonable and prudent person would exercise under similar facts and circumstances, to such an extent that there is danger of the child suffering injury or death.Proverbs 12:1
A reminder to myself when I resist learning something new.Comment
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Yikes, how absolutely scary! Thanks Nanny for sharing this! I always check slides and swings before any of my dc kids get on...I will make sure to double and triple check now though!Comment
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How very sad for this poor little girl.
I always do a visual insoection of the equipment and surrounding area but I have to admit that don't always do a heat check every single time
I typically only check it based on the temperature outside BUT from now on I will check every time!
I agree that when the sh.. hits the fan and the mom buys a vowel (I love that!) she will no longer be on the same team as the provider.
I still can't believe 163 degrees! That's insane!!!Comment
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Wow, how scary. Just a reminder to us that take care of children every day to always be dilligent about safety, even in the everyday routine things. Thanks for posting.Comment
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surprise, surprise - i agree.
i've never felt the equipment with my own kids or anyone else's. i guess i'm irresponsible.
i used to slide down metal slides when i was a kid, and they got HOT - but i'd never assume a plastic slide would be dangerously hot.
i'm glad the mom is being rational. that's what's so messed up about our world today - everyone is sue happy. my stepdad and i were talking about this the other day. kids used to play outside all day long and if they wandered off, a neighbor would call or send them home. today - let someone catch your kid on the porch while u watch them through the window and you'll be facing child neglect charges cus you weren't close enough for them to smell your breath.
plastic slides can get dangerously hot. OKAY - lesson learned.Comment
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