So Sad...

[dEHmom]

I can't get part 2 it doesn't work for me.

but I agree, and by the sounds of it the fire department or at least the chief (is that who was in the interview?) knew, but there was nothing they could do. They can't go accusing people and until they had the legal paperwork, they couldn't do anything.

****s but she will be found and punished. I bet if she isn't found, she will turn herself in or commit suicide due to the nightmares. STUPID F^&#ING WOMAN!

[Cat Herder]

I can't get part 2 it doesn't work for me.

but I agree, and by the sounds of it the fire department or at least the chief (is that who was in the interview?) knew, but there was nothing they could do. They can't go accusing people and until they had the legal paperwork, they couldn't do anything.

****s but she will be found and punished. I bet if she isn't found, she will turn herself in or commit suicide due to the nightmares. STUPID F^&#ING WOMAN!

I fixed it....

I flipped letters....

[dEHmom]

I fixed it....

I flipped letters....

I'm so confused??? Did I write the f bomb wrong? I just hit a bunch of symbols and then deleted until there was just enough.

[Cat Herder]

I'm so confused??? Did I write the f bomb wrong? I just hit a bunch of symbols and then deleted until there was just enough.

I think the forum did that...or maybe a Mod?

I just fixed my link of part 2 of the press conference...

That is where the reporters get to ask pointed questions.

To me, that is the most telling part...

[dEHmom]

ok sweet thanks! Watching it now

[Cat Herder]

New...

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/video?id=7993080

just heard this, myself.




Also....this explains alot...

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/video?id=7993629

[daycare]

I was wondering the same thing? Any kids of her own? I thought it was a bit strange that a single 22yr old would be running a home daycare without a child of her own of interest????

[gbcc]

I can't watch the videos on my computer? :confused:

Can someone fill me in? What is the latest?

[Cat Herder]

TO HELP FAMILIES
The families of the victims of the day care fire have provided the following information about donations:


Elias Castillo, 16 months

• Fund: Comerica Bank, Account No. 7002534415; Care of "Elias Castillo Benevolent Fund"


Elizabeth Kajoh, 19 months


• Fund: BBVA Compass Bank, Account No. 2528905393; Care of "Elizabeth Kajoh"

• Fund: Wells Fargo Bank, Account No. 1789035951; Care of "Briarmeadow Charter School Ukera-Kajoh Memorial Fund"


Kendyll Stradford, 20 months

• Fund: Wells Fargo Bank, Account No. 5335104153; Care of "Kendyll Stradford"


Shomari Leon Dickerson, 3 years

• Fund: Wells Fargo Bank; Care of "Shomari Leon Dickerson" (or of his sister, Makayla Dickerson, who was badly burned in the fire.)

Farewell to 3-year-old fire victim
Funeral honors Shomari Dickerson. He's the first of the four day-care fire victims to be laid to rest. Video: Jason Witmer.

DALLAS — Jessica Rene Tata was three months shy of her 22nd birthday when she sought to be registered as a home child-care provider in Texas. Her education ended at high school, and there was no indication of formal training in child care.

Even so, the west Houston woman had everything she needed under the law to receive the state's approval as well as thousands of dollars in federal subsidies.

Since a fire last month killed four children being cared for by Tata, who is now a fugitive facing charges of reckless injury to a child and child abandonment, new attention has been focused on the adequacy of child-care regulations in Texas and elsewhere.

"You have somebody with no background in child development, very limited regulation and too many children to take care of," said Susan Hoff, a senior vice president with the United Way in Dallas who serves on the board of the Texas Association for Infant Mental Health. "That's a recipe for disaster."

Prosecutors allege the fire started when Tata went grocery shopping, leaving seven toddlers and preschool-age children alone in the Houston house she was renting. Tata fled to Nigeria as authorities began their criminal investigation.

During the funeral Thursday for 3-year-old Shomari Dickerson, one of the children who died, the boy's grandfather told mourners that Tata needs to return to the United States. Glenn Price said she must take responsibility for what she is accused of doing.

As investigators reconstruct the events of Feb. 24 and Tata's travels since, more details about her have emerged through state records. That story is one of a young woman who was legally able to receive approval from Texas' Department of Family and Protective Services to serve as the sole caregiver for as many as 12 children a day, including some under preschool age, despite no known specialized training.

Tata, operating as "Jackie's Child Care," was approved by the state last March 1 after she provided paperwork showing she was at least 21, had a high school diploma, was certified in CPR and first aid and didn't have a criminal record.

She also signed an affidavit stating that she'd never been convicted of, or pleaded guilty to, a felony as an adult or juvenile. The document was submitted without the signature of a notary, even though one was required.

The Houston Chronicle reported Thursday that it obtained documents showing Tata had received three years' probation as a juvenile for setting a fire at a high school in Katy. She was 14 at the time, the newspaper said.

Patrick Crimmins, a spokesman for the Department of Family and Protective Services, said the agency's criminal background checks of Tata didn't show any arson convictions or "dispositions" of any kind. One check was done at the time she applied, and two others have been done since the fire, he said.

A month after being approved to operate her day care, Tata began receiving federal grant money on behalf of the families of low-income children. Five of the children in her care were eligible for that assistance. At the time she fled the country, the total in government money paid to her was $5,773, according to the Texas Workforce Commission, which distributes the funds.

Some in the child-care industry say Tata's lack of experience shouldn't be viewed as a sign of a wider problem with Texas' regulations.

"This is a good example of when one particular individual makes a mistake, we all pay the price for it," said Tym Smith, president of the Texas Licensed Child Care Association, an industry group. "Most follow the rules to a 'T.'"

But for child-care advocates and others, the case speaks to a serious gap in oversight - one made particularly glaring because public money is involved.

According to the Department of Family and Protective Services, more than 6,500 registered child-care homes with the capacity to handle nearly 76,000 children were operating in Texas last year. Registered homes, where single caregivers work in their own residences, aren't held to the same standards as licensed child-care homes and centers, whose operators must complete some level of training prior to approval.

The distinction is important, experts say, because the low end of child care is often all that poorer families can afford.

"If you want more skilled (child-care workers), then you're going to have to pay more money," said Heather Boushey, an economist who specializes in family issues for the nonprofit Center for American Progress in Washington. "And if you have to pay more, then you'll have to subsidize it more. That's the problem."

Texas is one of 11 states that do not require pre-service training for low-level child-care operators, according to data compiled by the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies.

Linda Smith, the nonprofit's executive director, said her group believes all child-care operators should be required to receive a minimum of 40 hours of training before going into business.

"I know you can't regulate the insanity of a woman leaving the kids to go the store," she said. "But, in some ways, screening and oversight would prevent so much of this."

The Texas state senator in whose district the fire occurred, Joan Huffman, read the names and ages of the four children at the conclusion of Wednesday's session. She told her fellow senators that the tragedy should be a reminder to be "ever vigilant" in ensuring the safety of the state's children.

To date, however, only one bill under consideration deals with training for child-care providers. The bill, introduced before the fire by Sen. Royce West of Dallas, would increase the training hours for employees of day-care centers from eight to 16.

West's bill has industry support, but child-care advocates believe it doesn't go far enough - something they say the Houston tragedy has reinforced.

"Unfortunately, it takes the loss of a child to make people see what should be done," said Melanie Rubin, a consultant for a child-care advocacy group in Dallas.

[gbcc]

Wow, thanks for posting that!

Here in NY you need 3 years of experience in childcare. Thats great, except they consider being a mother as experience. Which I do not agree with at all. For good people like most of us yes that experience matters but just look at so many of our dc parents that don't have common sence. It is a scary thought to think some of my parents could legally watch other children and the possible damage that can do.

[countrymom]

you know what I don't understand, why is her daycare named jackie. Also, I blame the people who gave her a liscence, funny how you all found out that she set fire at her highschool but the agency didn't know that. Also, this women had too many red flags. Like how did she afford her huge house, she had no children of her own, she didn't have a husband (I know it doesn't apply but it could be used to credit her) she had no other education but highschool, and she was only 22 and never worked in a childcare setting. Also, there should have been more state visits especially considering that she was getting money from the state.

[tenderhearts]

I was wondering the exact same thing, why it's called "Jackie's Daycare" when her name is Jessica? Seems very very strange.

[SilverSabre25]

I was wondering the exact same thing, why it's called "Jackie's Daycare" when her name is Jessica? Seems very very strange.

Another one who's been wondering that exact thing since, well, since this whole thing started.

[dEHmom]

Weird, because I remember the name being said, and then her name, and it never even clicked to me that they were different!

But now that you've said it, it would raise a red flag to me if I was dropping off my kids. Unless she lied and pretended to the parents that someone else owned it????

Very strange.

[daycare]

well my DC is not named after me, but i don't go by real legal name... I havent for almost 20 years.... It like ronaldo being called aldo or ron or ronnie,
My father in law his name is leonardo and they call him nard.....

perhaps this is why....

but yes I do also finding it interesting.... maybe she thought someone would remember her by her real name.... the girl that set the school on fire.........so she changed it??

is this what you guys are thinking??