Email sent to OCFS executives:

Hello,

We now have bipartisan attention on our reform initiative and meetings scheduled this Thursdaywith Monica Wallace’s team and next Tuesday with Senator Ortt’s team.  Both parties are copied on this thread.  Our Change.org petition currently has 257 signatures with 73 people signing just this week.

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.

A parent was picking up their child and left the gate to the classroom unlatched while asking the teacher about the child’s day. Another child slipped past the parent and walked down the hall briefly before a staff member saw them and returned the child to their classroom immediately. The child was unharmed.  The center self-reported the issue to OCFS as required by licensing regulations (despite violating self-incrimination protections) and called the parents of the child involved to let them know. The parents had no issue and continue to send the child to the center. 

OCFS came in and “interviewed” multiple staff for approximately 45 minutes per staff member without the right to representation or a witness during questioning (despite violating both the 5thamendment – the right to not be compelled to be a witness against him/herself and the right to due process). The staff members came out of the office crying stating they didn’t want to continue working in daycare. The OCFS contacted CPS and the center was given a serious violation (publicly visible on the OCFS’s compliance website with no explanation or context) when a new CPS worker accepted the case (she admitted she was new and would have to check with a supervisor). CPS ultimately decided the case was unfounded and reported the center was in compliance with all state regulations at the time of the incident, but the OCFS stated there must be a violation because CPS initially accepted the case. 

Shortly after the violation was posted publicly on the website, the center’s insurance company dropped them during a renewal process because they saw this “serious incident” on the OCFS website.  

-Center-based 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