Province increases scrutiny of daycare centres after auditor report finds gaps in oversight

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This article was published 09/05/2015 (3854 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Daycares with licencing orders placed against them

The map shows child care centres that received licencing orders from Manitoba's child care department. Zoom in or out to see daycares close to you and click on a marker to see details about the daycare and the order. Note that the map includes brief summaries of violations and orders; the full reports are available here.

Source: Manitoba Early Learning and Child Care

One kid drove his Big Wheel onto a street in Norwood. Two preschoolers got lost for 45 minutes in the Spruce Woods forest. Another child was forgotten inside during a practice fire drill.

Those are some of the risky incidents at Manitoba daycares in recent years that make up a spike in the number of orders issued by provincial regulators. The spike isn’t necessarily because the number of dangerous incidents has increased. Instead, provincial inspectors are getting tougher, as recommended by Manitoba’s auditor general two years ago.

“We did increase our oversight efforts,” said the province in a statement. “The procedure for issuing a licensing order remains the same – it is based on serious or repeated violations of the act or regulations.”

In January 2013, provincial auditor general Carol Bellringer issued a report on the state of the province’s child-care regime and found, among other things, the province was hesitant to slap orders on daycares that put kids at risk, even repeat offenders.

Bellringer said the province didn’t issue orders until a critical incident had occurred, usually a lost child. And, the province sometimes failed to follow up to make sure the orders were followed and kids were no longer at risk.

Since then, orders have increased. There were three orders in the year before Bellringer’s report was issued and nine the year after.

So far this year, there’s only been one order issued – for a door left unlocked and open while one daycare worker cared for a whopping 21 children inside. A provincial child-care co-ordinator, there on an unannounced inspection visit, saw the open door and issued the order against the Yours & Ours Child Care Inc. on Balmoral Street in February. Staff at the centre, which has 31 children, told the Free Press parents occasionally forget to latch the door closed when picking up or dropping off children. The centre has since posted a note and been more vigilant about its entrance.

Orders are posted on the province’s website. There have been 25 since 2006, with none being issued for the years between 2006 and 2010. An order typically includes a list of fixes, including staff training, better supervision protocols or a temporary ban on field trips.

The province only issues licensing orders when a violation is hazardous to the health, safety or well-being of children. Bellringer was gently critical of the province for occasionally issuing orders only after a second or even third incident had occurred.

The next most serious enforcement step is a licence suspension or repeal. Those are also rare. Manitoba Early Learning and Child Care has not revoked or suspended a centre’s licence since 2010, but could not offer any details Friday about what triggered the daycare’s closure.

In her audit, Bellringer noted, among the cases she reviewed where daycares lost their licences, child-abuse or domestic-abuse allegations were at play. There was no indication the province could have taken early enforcement action before the trouble began.

maryagnes.welch@freepress.mb.ca