Local

Two Jacksonville day cares tagged with second most serious DCF violations

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

This week’s Kid Care report includes a center that’s appeared on the series before, All About God’s Children Academy Inc.

All About God’s Children Academy Inc. was due for its latest routine inspection.

TRENDING: 

This time, the inspector tagged the center for one class 2 violation, which DCF says could pose a risk to the health and safety of a child.

Action News Jax Investigative reporter Letisha Bereola went to the center to get the director's side of the story.

The inspector said the infant room wasn’t large enough for the number of children inside.

The director, Lavish Hillery, said that was only for a few minutes.

Bereola: "What’s your side of the story?"

"She’s the only DCF worker whose ever had anything to say about how we change the kids in the infant room. The kids go in there just to wash their hands and then they are removed from the class room,” said Hillery.

STAY UPDATED: Download the Action News Jax app for live updates on breaking stories

Download WJAX Apps

All About God’s Children also received seven class 3 violations.

They are the least serious, according to the state, and include things like old medication still in the refrigerator or uncompleted training for personnel.

“We’re a 5-star center. And we’ve come a long way. And in these communities we’ve brought a lot of good support to families and children,” said Hillery.

The second day care in this week’s Kid Care report is KinderCare Learning center off McCormick Road. It received two class 2 violations. The first was for an employee working without required training, and the other was for an employee missing a background screening.

A spokesperson, Emily Snyder, sent the following statement:

"There is nothing more important to all of us at KinderCare than the safety of the children in our centers. Our goal is to always do what's best for the children in our care and to provide every child with a safe, loving, nurturing place to learn and grow.
 
"All of our teachers and staff members must pass state and national background checks during their hiring process.
 
During a routine visit from state licensing in March, we learned that one of our teachers had not completed her state background check, although she had passed the national background check. As soon as we were made aware of this concern, we immediately placed the teacher on administrative leave until she passed the state background screening. She has since returned to our center.
 
"Since the time of this citation, our Monument KinderCare center reviewed their staff files to ensure all staff members successfully completed the required background screenings."

Check back for the most recent clean inspections.

Click here to search your day care.