DATE: Sunday, November 23, 1997             TAG: 9711230053

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH SIMPSON, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:  197 lines

BABY PALACE OWNER WHO SHUT ONE SITE SELLS THE OTHER BOTH HAVE BEEN THE SUBJECT OF COMPLAINTS AND HAVE LOST SUBSIDIES

The owner of Baby Palace child-care centers, who closed shop at her Newtown Road site Monday, has now sold her other center, which is under investigation for abuse.

Barbara Calevas said she sold her center at 3794 Virginia Beach Blvd. last week. The license had expired on Nov. 14.

Both centers had been the subject of recent complaints and had lost city child-care subsidies. Calevas said some of the allegations were ``nitpicking'' and others untrue.

But Susan Hackney, regional licensing administrator for the Department of Social Services' Eastern Regional Office, said the problems with licensing were rooted in code violations.

Calevas said a licensing specialist who works for Hackney had told her renewals of licenses of both centers likely would have been denied if the center on Newtown Road wasn't closed.

``I was forced to close it down,'' she said.

Calevas said she hopes shifting ownership of the Virginia Beach Boulevard center to Christie Matthews, the former assistant director, will allow that center to stay open and flourish. But Matthews may have a tough road ahead of her.

Among the problems:

Virginia Beach Child Protective Services is investigating the center because of a report of abuse, according to Calevas and Matthews. A parent made what Calevas termed ``a false allegation'' because she was angry that her child would no longer be transported to the center. Calevas would not elaborate on the charge, and Child Protective Services agencies cannot comment on ongoing investigations.

The Virginia Beach Department of Social Services withdrew child-care subsidies from the centers, according to Calevas. While the parents who receive child-care subsidies could continue to send their children to the center, the centers no longer would receive child-care subsidies. That move, made against both of the centers in early November, caused the centers to lose more than 100 children from enrollment.

Local Social Services agencies usually withdraw child-care subsidies from centers that are under investigation by Child Protective Services, according to Mike West, regional day-care specialist.

Also, inspection and complaint records from the Department of Social Services' Eastern Regional Office show that the center on Virginia Beach Boulevard had code violations.

For instance, a complaint lodged in May said that a staff member had hit children with plastic baseball bats, that the center was very disorganized, and that it had an untidy play yard.

``Not a happy school,'' the complaint report read. The person who filed the complaint said a staff member yelled at the children and hit children on their buttocks and their backs with plastic bats.

During a May 9 visit to investigate the complaint, a licensing specialist observed children playing aimlessly with yellow, plastic baseball bats and hitting one another.

``Teacher also engages in the activity of hitting children on their legs, arms and back, not as a gentle tap but with a whack,'' read the licensing specialist's report.

Calevas and Matthews said the teacher was playing with the children and hitting them in a playful manner rather than maliciously. Calevas said the staff member has since been asked to leave the center. She said the licensing specialist observed the center without letting her or the assistant director know she was there, which she thought was wrong.

Other code violations in the record include:

Babies laid in cribs with their shoes on, and also left unattended with their bottles in their cribs.

Staff records that lacked some criminal record checks on employees, dates of employment and documentation of reference checks. Also, there was no record of insurance coverage of the center.

Staff-child ratios were sometimes out of compliance. At a June inspection, there was one staff person caring for 19 toddlers on the playground. State regulation requires one staff person to care for 5 toddlers.

Calevas described the inspection reports as ``nitpicking'' by the licensing specialist, and said she believed the licensing specialist wanted to close the center down because she wanted to buy it. She said the specialist said both centers would probably be denied licenses unless the one on Newtown Road was closed.

``It's terrible when one person has so much power that they can destroy you,'' Calevas said.

Hackney, however, said the problems with licensing were linked to code violations and complaints filed against both centers. She said the specialist discussed with Calevas the option of closing the Newtown center, so Calevas could focus her efforts on the remaining center.

Calevas cleaned out and closed her Baby Palace center at 544 Newtown Road on Nov. 15. The license for that center had expired in May, and the licensing specialist had told her it would probably not be renewed because of code violations.

Parents and employees were angry because they were not notified that the center was closing, and many showed up Monday to find a stripped-down center. Calevas said she tried to notify everyone.

However, Kimberly Thomas, who had two children at the Newtown Road center, said Calevas did not bother to let her know. ``There was not even a note on the door when it closed,'' she said. ``I went by the center and saw my children's things laying on the floor. That was wrong.''

Thomas said she occasionally used the Virginia Beach Boulevard center, and felt that center was not as well-run as the one on Newtown Road.

State records showed numerous violations at the Newtown Road center, including equipment that was unsanitary, broken chairs with exposed nails, equipment in ``devastatingly substandard condition.'' The licensing specialist also found the children didn't have enough to do, and that one infant was left for more than an hour and a half in a crib, rocking and pulling on the bars of the crib.

There had also been a complaint made that there was not enough food for the children at the Newtown Road center, and that staff often bought food and snacks for the children on their own. The complaint also accused various staff members of hitting children with a block, a belt and ``upside the head.''

Calevas said all the charges are untrue, and were made by a parent who was angry about having to pay a bill.

Still, at least one parent said she felt the owner neglected the center. Thomas said she felt that the teachers and director at the Newtown Road center were very good, but that the owner failed to give them the resources they needed. ``I have taken milk there - gallons of it - because the owner would not stock it,'' Thomas said.

Thomas said she has lost faith in Calevas.

``My kids will not set foot in a Baby Palace again,'' she said. ``I don't think she can run a center.''

The license for the Baby Palace on Virginia Beach Boulevard expired Nov. 14. The Department of Social Services has 60 days to renew the license, but now that a new owner is in place, the department must process an application for new ownership, rather than renewal.

Hackney said the department will have 60 days to process the application, which includes checking the new owner's references and inspecting the center again.

While Hackney cannot comment as to whether the Virginia Beach Boulevard center was in danger of being denied a license - since the center is still operating - she can say the department was planning to deny a license to the Newtown Road center.

Hackney said that parents who want to make sure their center is not in danger of having its license denied should check the license, which, by law, should be placed where parents can see it. If the center's license has expired, and more than 60 days have elapsed, parents can call the Department of Social Services to review records to see if there are serious code violations.

Meanwhile, Matthews could face a struggle running her new center. While the center is licensed for 60 children, only about half that number are enrolled. Matthews said parents of about five children withdrew their children last week because of media reports about the other Baby Palace.

But she hopes a new owner will allow the center to start with a clean slate. ``I have confidence in the staff here,'' Matthews said. ``Everyone here is loving and responsible. We don't do anything to harm children.'' ILLUSTRATION: Graphics

KEEPING AN EYE ON QUALITY

How to monitor the quality of your day-care center:

Check the license, which must be posted. If it has expired, the

Department of Social Services has 60 days to renew it. If a longer

time elapses, check inspection records to see whether violations

are holding up renewal. The most recent inspection must be kept on

file at the center, but you can also ask a DSS licensing specialist

to review the center's inspection records, complaints and code

violations.

Check to see if a license is conditional or provisional. A

conditional license is issued when a center first opens. A

provisional license is issued when an annual license expires and the

center isn't able to meet state requirements. If the license is

neither provisional nor conditional, the center has a regular

license, which means it meets state standards.

Drop in at times other than drop-off and pick-up times. Drop in

during the early morning, late afternoon, lunch time, even nap time

to see how children are supervised.

Meet other parents who have children at the center. Also, try to

get involved in field trips or any other activities.

Check menus to make sure meals are nutritious. Check your child

for bruises, scratches, bites. Count heads and check them against

state regulations on child-staff ratios. If there's a problem, talk

with the director. If that doesn't do any good, make a report to the

Department of Social Services, Eastern Regional Office, 491-3990.

Talk to your children. Make sure they are not afraid.

In case of a problem, file a complaint with the Department of

Social Services, Eastern Regional Office, at 491-3990.

WHAT IT TAKES TO DENY A LICENSE

Denying a license is a long and arduous process, and one that is

not exercised frequently. In the eastern region of the state, for

instance, there was one denial last year, at a Newport News center.

This year, one center is in the process of being denied, in

Gloucester. The region has 561 licensed centers.

The steps before closure include:

1. An owner has 15 days after receiving a letter of denial to

appeal the decision. If there is no appeal, the owner has 30 days

to close.

2. In the case of an appeal, an informal hearing is conducted

with the regional administrator, who has 90 days to make a decision.

3. If the denial is upheld, the owner has 15 days to appeal.

4. A formal appeal hearing is conducted and that hearing officer

has 90 days to make a decision.

5. If the denial is upheld, the Social Services commissioner

makes a final order. The owner has 30 days to close but can still

appeal through Circuit Court.

6. The owner can ask a Circuit Court judge to issue a consent

decree allowing the center to stay open during the court appeal

process. However, once a denial letter is received, owners must post

a notice that the license has been denied and is under appeal. KEYWORDS: DAY CARE CENTERS

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu