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Law to prevent child daycare van deaths fails to pass
by Katie Lagrone 5/23/11
PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. - Nearly one year after 2 1/2 year old Haile Brockington's young body was left behind strapped in a hot daycare van, a bill designed to save other children from the same tragic ending failed to become law.
"It's sad, very sad," said Democrat State Senator Maria Sachs of Delray Beach. Sachs proposed "Haile's Bill," which would require all Florida daycare vans be equipped with alarms that must be manually turned off. The alarms would require drivers to walk to the back of the vans to turn them off making sure no child is left behind.
The bill passed unanimously in the Senate, but failed in the House of Representatives. Sachs says politics got in the way.
"The Speaker of the House said they were not going to hear any of my bills. I was like ‘please let this one pass, this one's important’ and he said no," said Sachs.
Haile's bill was the senator's first priority bill.
What the bill would have done has already been a priority to Katie Muhammad, owner of Katie's Kids, where Haile died. Four months after the little girl’s death, Muhammad spent $6,000 equipping all of her transportation vehicles with similar child alarm systems.
"I'm very disappointed in legislation for not passing that because that's a huge problem we have and will continue to have," said Muhammad. "There's always going to be human error, there's been recent incidents where children have still been left in vehicles," she said.
It was an effort born out of tragedy that is now being put on hold indefinitely.
"To think that Florida being such a dangerously hot time in the summer, that we would have to go through another summer without this technology really shows that politics gets in the way of safety," said Sachs.
Haile Brockington's mother said the fact that the bill did not pass was a real shame. “This says, the issue is more important to parents, than lawmakers, " said Nelder Lester.
Sachs will introduce the bill next session. In the meantime, she plans on contacting every daycare center in Florida over the next few weeks, encouraging them to invest in alarm systems without the legislative mandate.
2 Arrested in Toddler Daycare Van Death Out on Bond
By: Ruth Manuel-Logan 06/22/2011
The two Georgia adults who stand accused of leaving a toddler to roast to death in a daycare van were released on bond early Tuesday evening.
Two-year-old Jazmin Green (pictured) passed away Monday afternoon, after she was left to sit in a van for two hours outside Marlo's Magnificent Early Learning Center after returning from a field trip.
Marlo Maria Fallings, 41, and her daughter, Quantabia Shantell Hopkins, 23, were arrested in the wee hours of Tuesday morning and charged with cruelty to children, involuntary manslaughter and reckless conduct. A third unnamed underage teen was also taken in to custody.
As temperatures reached the mid-90's on Monday afternoon, the daycare staff and children had just returned from a visit to a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant at about 2 p.m. An hour and a half later, Hopkins noticed that Jazmin was missing. When the daycare provider went to the parking lot to search for the child, she found her in the van (pictured below), still strapped in her carseat.
Authorities were called on to the scene and the toddler was rushed to the Southern Regional Medical Center in nearby Riverdale. Despite doctor's efforts, Jazmin Green was pronounced dead
Child Care Worker Arrested in Brevard County Florida for Leaving 19 Month Old in "Hot" Van - Dangers of 102 Degree Heat to Children
August 18 by David A. Wolf
In Cocoa (Brevard County), Florida, a day care worker (Rondalyn Dixon) was arrested for leaving a 19 month child unattended in a hot day care van. It was reported that the child was left in the vehicle for about 15 minutes. When deputies from the Brevard County Sheriff's Office arrived, the temperature was 102 degrees
I could go on and on (I am sure you guys can google
....but you get the point. 
Why wont states do something???
by Katie Lagrone 5/23/11
PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. - Nearly one year after 2 1/2 year old Haile Brockington's young body was left behind strapped in a hot daycare van, a bill designed to save other children from the same tragic ending failed to become law.
"It's sad, very sad," said Democrat State Senator Maria Sachs of Delray Beach. Sachs proposed "Haile's Bill," which would require all Florida daycare vans be equipped with alarms that must be manually turned off. The alarms would require drivers to walk to the back of the vans to turn them off making sure no child is left behind.
The bill passed unanimously in the Senate, but failed in the House of Representatives. Sachs says politics got in the way.
"The Speaker of the House said they were not going to hear any of my bills. I was like ‘please let this one pass, this one's important’ and he said no," said Sachs.
Haile's bill was the senator's first priority bill.
What the bill would have done has already been a priority to Katie Muhammad, owner of Katie's Kids, where Haile died. Four months after the little girl’s death, Muhammad spent $6,000 equipping all of her transportation vehicles with similar child alarm systems.
"I'm very disappointed in legislation for not passing that because that's a huge problem we have and will continue to have," said Muhammad. "There's always going to be human error, there's been recent incidents where children have still been left in vehicles," she said.
It was an effort born out of tragedy that is now being put on hold indefinitely.
"To think that Florida being such a dangerously hot time in the summer, that we would have to go through another summer without this technology really shows that politics gets in the way of safety," said Sachs.
Haile Brockington's mother said the fact that the bill did not pass was a real shame. “This says, the issue is more important to parents, than lawmakers, " said Nelder Lester.
Sachs will introduce the bill next session. In the meantime, she plans on contacting every daycare center in Florida over the next few weeks, encouraging them to invest in alarm systems without the legislative mandate.
2 Arrested in Toddler Daycare Van Death Out on Bond
By: Ruth Manuel-Logan 06/22/2011
The two Georgia adults who stand accused of leaving a toddler to roast to death in a daycare van were released on bond early Tuesday evening.
Two-year-old Jazmin Green (pictured) passed away Monday afternoon, after she was left to sit in a van for two hours outside Marlo's Magnificent Early Learning Center after returning from a field trip.
Marlo Maria Fallings, 41, and her daughter, Quantabia Shantell Hopkins, 23, were arrested in the wee hours of Tuesday morning and charged with cruelty to children, involuntary manslaughter and reckless conduct. A third unnamed underage teen was also taken in to custody.
As temperatures reached the mid-90's on Monday afternoon, the daycare staff and children had just returned from a visit to a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant at about 2 p.m. An hour and a half later, Hopkins noticed that Jazmin was missing. When the daycare provider went to the parking lot to search for the child, she found her in the van (pictured below), still strapped in her carseat.
Authorities were called on to the scene and the toddler was rushed to the Southern Regional Medical Center in nearby Riverdale. Despite doctor's efforts, Jazmin Green was pronounced dead
Child Care Worker Arrested in Brevard County Florida for Leaving 19 Month Old in "Hot" Van - Dangers of 102 Degree Heat to Children
August 18 by David A. Wolf
In Cocoa (Brevard County), Florida, a day care worker (Rondalyn Dixon) was arrested for leaving a 19 month child unattended in a hot day care van. It was reported that the child was left in the vehicle for about 15 minutes. When deputies from the Brevard County Sheriff's Office arrived, the temperature was 102 degrees
I could go on and on (I am sure you guys can google
....but you get the point. Why wont states do something???
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