Email sent to OCFS executives:

Hello,

As promised in our reform request e-mail sent on Thursday 11/30, we have gathered real-life experiences from providers of every modality across the entire state demonstrating the oppression and injustices of the current regulatory and enforcement process and intend to share them with you daily until our requests are satisfied.

An 18th month old child choked on orbeez resulting in the provider performing a life-saving Heimlich maneuver and simultaneously contacting 911.  The provider immediately contacted the mother of the child, advised the parents to call the pediatrician, and the child stayed overnight at the hospital to be monitored out of an abundance of caution.  The provider immediately self-reported the incident to the Child Care Council the following morning as soon as they opened.  10 days following the incident, under the direction of the local OCFS regional director, the program was closed and a CPS case was filed against the provider by OCFS.  CPS showed up with 6 charges against the primary caregiver as a provider and as a parent.  CPS interviewed all the children with their parents and licensor present and after consulting with the Director of CPS, ultimately found all the charges unfounded.  When the OCFS demanded to meet with CPS for an explanation of how/why all charges were unfounded, the provider turned in her license, resulting in a revocation status.  The provider was licensed for 4 years with no serious violations.  This incident continues to haunt her into her new career path as a licensed family therapist when a colleague reported her to the NYS licensing department for not reporting a former license revocation which now puts her current professional therapy license in jeopardy.

-Former Family Childcare Provider in Western New York

Your urgent consideration and action is requested as a systemic reform is long overdue and there are elements of the current regulatory/enforcement process that infringe on our constitutional protections. We eagerly await your response.

NYS Childcare Providers