Kid Care Report: Jacksonville day care tagged for violations by DCF inspector

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — UPDATE, 7/24/19, 1 p.m.: A representative from First Baptist Academy of Jacksonville Early Education sent Action News Jax the following statement:

“At no point in time did our employee ‘not have a current background check on file.’ This employee serves as an elementary teacher throughout the school year and occasionally serves in our early education program as needed in the summers.  The employee has a current background check on file through another screening portal required by the Department of Education. She also had been screened through DCF’s official background check protocol when she first began serving in our early education division. However, DCF considered this employee as having a break in service as they are only reviewing her time of service in early education (summer to summer). When we learned of this, we immediately re-ran her information through the official DCF clearinghouse at the time of inspection and were back in compliance with the DCF guideline.”

Original story below:

Every week Action News Jax investigates local child care centers to show you how they measure up to state guidelines.

In this week’s Kid Care Report Letisha Bereola shows you two day cares: one with a clean track record since opening day, the other with training requirements issues.

First Foundation Childcare Center on Soutel Drive has been open since October of 2016.

Bereola checked out its history. Every inspection, including its most recent, has been clean.

She stopped by the center to speak with the director about their track record, but no one came to the door.

The next center in this week’s Kid Care report is First Baptist Academy of Jacksonville Early Education.

In a recent inspection, the academy received a class 2 violation due a staff member’s background screening not being up-to-date.

According to the state, it could pose a threat to the health and safety of a child.

The provider resubmitted the screening during the inspection but DCF still tagged them with a class 2 violation.

They also received two class 3 violations, which, according to the state, poses a low risk of harm to kids. The violations were for two staff members not completing the early literacy course within a year of employment and for five staff members not completing the “in-service” training.

Both violations had a due date of July 19. Bereola reached out to see if they are back in compliance and if the director wanted to add a comment. She is waiting for a response. Check back for updates.

Cox Media Group