No Cameras, No Accountability…read more
My child was enrolled in the Newborn room at Heights One World from April 2021-January 2022. During that span of time, we picked him up to discover two serious injuries that were not disclosed to us by an incident report or phone call.
The first incident was a dislocated left elbow which took place in June when he was only 7 months old. There was no explanation as to how or when it happened, but it was clear that our child was distraught and completely not using one arm until we got it x-rayed and a doctor popped his elbow back into place. This type of injury is not uncommon, but it is caused by being picked up inappropriately by the arms instead of the armpits. We were told by the teachers and administrators that our child would be safe there and that additional care would be provided to ensure that nothing like that would happen again. Looking back, we deeply regret not withdrawing him at that point because the second incident was significantly worse.
In January, when our son was 14 months old, we arrived at the daycare and could hear him crying in a very painful, unusual way. We had never seen him like this before. When we asked about what happened, we were told that the crying started after one floating teacher/aide was left alone with him to change his diaper. This person was also present/in the room when the first incident happened. After taking him to the doctor and getting him x-rayed, we discovered that his right arm was fractured.
We were not only concerned for our child's safety, but the safety of other children. We contacted the police to file a report and then contacted the daycare administrators to provide a written record of the information that we knew thus far. We had so many unanswered questions and requested a meeting. Their response, prior to learning about law enforcement being contacted, was essentially that if there is no incident report then there was no incident however, they would meet with us. They claimed to have interviewed with the teachers in the Newborn room and the information had changed from what was said to us the day we picked him up and what was said to us via text messages, to now a new story that protected the daycare staff from being implicated.
Instead of showing concern for our child's wellbeing, they were incredibly defensive. Then, after the investigation began, the administrators contacted us again to say that they would no longer be interested in a meeting or resolution with us. That kind of behavior would be shocking and disturbing to any parent. It reinforced the need for us to trust our gut as we did to get the authorities involved. Our son was put in a cast for two weeks (as shown in the photo) and upon getting it removed, struggled to begin crawling again. He continues to have a trauma response anytime he is up on a traditional changing table because that is most likely how/where he fell and broke his arm.
I truly appreciate how quickly the local police department, state licensing agency, and CPS responded to this case. We knew that without cameras in the facility or employees that are willing to tell the truth, it would be hard to get answers. The person directly responsible for causing harm to our child has not come forward, but the case is still open. If you have any information that could be relevant to this case, please reach out to us.
I continue to look back on the experience and just wish it didn't have to come to this. If they had cameras installed after the first incident, this could have been avoided. Still to this day, they do not have cameras which says a lot about how seriously they're taking these claims and striving to do better. Be better! For the safety of our kids. While I feel sadness and empathy for how truthful this review is, it is not done with ill will or malice. Parents that are looking for a safe place for their children are looking for honesty in order to have an informed opinion. I hope that this can serve as an understanding of our experience at this daycare.
