In California - Complaint Filed On 5/9 - Still No Word!!

[Unregistered]

On Friday, May 13th, Licensing visited my sister's home daycare to notify her that a complaint had been filed on Monday that week. She was asked who all lived in her home, and she said that her analyst was scrutinizing photos on walls as if to verify who was living there.
No inspection was done, and none of the children were removed. That was almost six weeks ago, and as of today my sister has still heard NOTHING from Licensing about their findings, nor has the complaint been posted on the state's daycare database.
Is this typical? I always thought these investigations were completed in a far more timely manner than that.
My sister is sick to death with worry, and I have been chastising her - telling her to just CALL and ask what is going on.
This underscores my frustration with Licensing in California. It is so easy to file an anonymous complaint against a licensed provider, and there are no consequences for filing a FALSE complaint. I'd bet that there'd be far fewer complaints filed if people had to give their names AND pay a fine or worse if their complaints were proven to be false.

[Blackcat31]

On Friday, May 13th, Licensing visited my sister's home daycare to notify her that a complaint had been filed on Monday that week. She was asked who all lived in her home, and she said that her analyst was scrutinizing photos on walls as if to verify who was living there.
No inspection was done, and none of the children were removed. That was almost six weeks ago, and as of today my sister has still heard NOTHING from Licensing about their findings, nor has the complaint been posted on the state's daycare database.
Is this typical? I always thought these investigations were completed in a far more timely manner than that.
My sister is sick to death with worry, and I have been chastising her - telling her to just CALL and ask what is going on.
This underscores my frustration with Licensing in California. It is so easy to file an anonymous complaint against a licensed provider, and there are no consequences for filing a FALSE complaint. I'd bet that there'd be far fewer complaints filed if people had to give their names AND pay a fine or worse if their complaints were proven to be false.

I have no idea where you would have heard something like that as that is rarely the case.

I have a provider friend that is currently under a "temporary" closure while the county/state investigated a complaint initiated in October of 2015. She was cleared of all wrongdoing in January but is still not able to re-open due to the red tape and paperwork.....

So not very timely IMO.

As for being visited by licensing, she (your sister) may have just been visited and since nothing was found to be wrong...it's done. If there was nothing to substantiate the call/claim then there is no findings to report.

I am not sure how licensing works in your area and since each state operates differently maybe someone from your state can chime in and give a more applicable answer.

What state are you in?

[Blackcat31]

Sorry, just noticed you posted California...

Well hopefully someone in California can chime in and help

[Thriftylady]

She should just call them and ask about it IMHO. Perhaps they closed the complaint as being bogus. It seems odd to me that all they were worried about was who was living there and didn't do an actual "inspection".

[Nurse Jackie]

If it's not in the database and she was telling the truth about who lives there I wouldn't worry about it. They're probably gonna just pop up again. I'm in California and I've heard some horror stories about parents making false reports and it seems like your sister came out on top.

[proudmommyofthree]

I'm in California. You can check their website. Submit either her name her license number and you can view her file. Click on the date the inspection was done and a report will appear.

Here is the link to the website:

https://secure.dss.ca.gov/CareFacilitySearch/

Hope that helps. Now I know in California when there is a complaint, Licensing makes a visit within 10 days of the complaint. They will do a follow up. She should expect a follow up visit within a month or two.

[Unregistered]

Thanks ladies

I appreciate the replies. I recently retired from home daycare after two decades, and because of how easy it is to file a complaint in California (even a bogus one) I am AMAZED that I never had one filed against me. It seems like most every provider who I know has.

My sister has had two complaints filed in her 25 years of doing daycare, and the first was proven to be unfounded. The second is the one that I'm referring to in this thread. My sister and I reside in opposite sides of the state.

In answer to the comment about where I heard that complaints in California typically get resolved in a more timely manner - it's something I heard at an orientation and at a provider support group. But, I suppose, every situation is different and some complaint investigations take longer than others.

I'm going to keep urging my sis to just call Licensing and be done with it. Even if they tell her the investigation is still ongoing, to me that is better than her worrying about the unknown. I personally couldn't wait and wonder like that.

[Thriftylady]

I appreciate the replies. I recently retired from home daycare after two decades, and because of how easy it is to file a complaint in California (even a bogus one) I am AMAZED that I never had one filed against me. It seems like most every provider who I know has.

My sister has had two complaints filed in her 25 years of doing daycare, and the first was proven to be unfounded. The second is the one that I'm referring to in this thread. My sister and I reside in opposite sides of the state.

In answer to the comment about where I heard that complaints in California typically get resolved in a more timely manner - it's something I heard at an orientation and at a provider support group. But, I suppose, every situation is different and some complaint investigations take longer than others.

I'm going to keep urging my sis to just call Licensing and be done with it. Even if they tell her the investigation is still ongoing, to me that is better than her worrying about the unknown. I personally couldn't wait and wonder like that.

I would just encourage her by letting her know that it could ease her mind. I mean how much better would she feel if she called to find out they had just closed it for being silly.

[Unregistered]

Update

I'm horrified for my sister, my brother-in-law, their whole family. The complaint was filed by a close friend of the family, whose teenage daughter recently attempted suicide. The daughter claimed that, through repressed memory therapy, my brother-in-law inappropriately touched her back in 2010.

A police detective interviewed my brother-in-law today, and told him that there is usually an element of truth in cases like this!

It's a true nightmare for everyone involved.

[spedmommy4]

I'm horrified for my sister, my brother-in-law, their whole family. The complaint was filed by a close friend of the family, whose teenage daughter recently attempted suicide. The daughter claimed that, through repressed memory therapy, my brother-in-law inappropriately touched her back in 2010.

A police detective interviewed my brother-in-law today, and told him that there is usually an element of truth in cases like this!

It's a true nightmare for everyone involved.

Something similar happened to my children's daycare provider many years ago. The parent accused the providers husband after the kids were expelled for non payment.

My son is 19 now but that situation still haunts me. The biggest mistake her husband made was talking to the police without legal counsel. He assumed that since he did nothing wrong he had nothing to worry about. The police were on him for months. And She ended up losing her business

In that situation, he should not talk to anyone without counsel.

[AmyKidsCo]

Something similar happened to my children's daycare provider many years ago. The parent accused the providers husband after the kids were expelled for non payment.

My son is 19 now but that situation still haunts me. The biggest mistake her husband made was talking to the police without legal counsel. He assumed that since he did nothing wrong he had nothing to worry about. The police were on him for months. And She ended up losing her business

In that situation, he should not talk to anyone without counsel.

It's scary what can happen even when a provider is innocent.

My friend had a toddler break his collarbone at home on the weekend, but the Dr reported that he attended child care so she was investigated by the police, CPS and licensing. The parents told all agencies that it happened at home but they still did a full investigation of my friend.

[Daycare Insurance]

We're so sorry that your sister is going through this. Unfortunately, these investigations can go on for a long time. Does your sister have insurance? If so, she can most likely obtain legal help for this, as you now know that it is an abuse case. If she does have a liability policy, she should call her insurance company immediately. The less she speaks to licensing without an attorney representing her, the better. Sadly, licensing will often twist providers' words and use anything they say to try to prove them guilty. We wish your sister the best of luck in this stressful situation. If we can be of service, please don't hesitate to call us.

[MarinaVanessa]

I'm in CA and had licensing do an investigation on me last year for an incident much less than this and it was a nightmare. I agree, I would have them get legal counsel and the elastic they say the better. I got an attorney and I doubt things would have come out in my favor if I hadn't.