I’m not a part of the investigative team, so I don’t know if Mrs. Edwards is directly responsible for the death of an infant in her care, but that is not the issue here;

City ordinance requires an in-home day care to register with the city and not have more than 12 children at one time.

Before Ulmer’s death, the city cited Edwards in March and April for having 17 children in her home. She was given fines of $100 and $200 for those citations.

Two additional citations were issued to Edwards after Meredith’s death – again for having more than 12 children in her home that day, and for having unregistered day care helpers in her home. When they arrived, police said the day care staff consisted of two girls, 16 and 18. Neither was registered to care for children in a day care setting.

The third citation for having too many children in her home brings a $300 fine, Franken said. A first-time violation of having unregistered helpers is $100.

Even if Meredith would not have died, it was clear Mrs. Edwards was breaking rules and should not have a license. Her hearing on Sept 13 should be interesting.

 

10 Thoughts on “When you break rules, there are consequences.

  1. Costner on August 30, 2011 at 8:37 am said:

    There is consequences? How about there are consequences.

    I’ll say the same thing here as I said on the Argus. Although that was on their original story yesterday, so I see they have a new story today with new comments (I hate it when they do that):

    She had three chances to follow the rules, but she continued to ignore them. We aren’t talking about one extra child here, but having five extra children. Perhaps if she didn’t have all of those extra children (or perhaps if she was actually there doing her job instead of having teenage girls do it for her) that child who died might have been noticed in time for that baby girl to be revived.

    How many violations is too many? Three strikes and you’re out seems fair to me. I just hope those parents find child care at places that actually care more about the children and less about how many kids they can pack in their facilities in the name of profit.

    I’ll add to that by saying – how many more kids need to be killed before she has her license yanked? Sadly, there is nothing to prevent her from opening up shop without a license – which many, many in-home daycares are doing on a daily basis.

    Me thinks the fines need to be a lot higher than $100 or $200 for this type of thing. Heck the fine for driving 30mph through a school crossing can be more than the fine for having 10 extra kids in a daycare. Both are potientially putting the safety of children at risk, yet our city spends a lot more time patrolling school crossings where children spend 15 minute a day than they do inspecting daycares where kids can spend up to 10 hours a day.

    Sad.

  2. It reminds me of the airline industry and people sitting on the tarmack. Once the fine was increased to $27,000 per passenger, the airline industry has virtually stopped the practice. Regulations do work, if implemented correctly.

  3. Alice15 on August 30, 2011 at 10:39 am said:

    Unfortunately – how many violations are too many? Is she getting shut down just because this baby died? This wasn’t a SIDs death (from what I have been told). The whole thing is very sad and the fact that she is choosing to appeal after all of these violations does nothing but drag this on for the family and keep it on the limelight.

  4. Brenda on August 30, 2011 at 11:48 am said:

    By the way, I thought Plaintiff Guy’s case said that issuing a city violation after city violation was not allowed. But, is it ok or allowed when the city citations center around a city bureaucrat counting noses in a local daycare?

  5. Brenda – There is a difference. Daily didn’t have to obtain a license to pour concrete on his property. Mrs. Edwards had a city license, and when you have this license, you have to follow certain rules, if you don’t, you get citations. Sure, she can still have a daycare without a license, just like you can drive a car without one, but is it wise? No.

  6. Pathloss on August 30, 2011 at 4:18 pm said:

    Even if there’s a license, fines cannot be collected. The city doesn’t allow appeals into court, you or THEY. City civil procedures (generally) are unconstitutional. They’re a yappy little dog you send away with a kick.

  7. Like I said, she can operate without a license, nothing stopping her, as you point out PL.

  8. Pathloss on August 30, 2011 at 4:32 pm said:

    Never pay a fine. It’s an admission of guilt. You accept their authority. You can offer to negotiate and somewhat conform. City authorities are dumber than a box of rocks. They can’t spell or fathom ‘negotiate’. Sit on all citations 7 years until they expire per statute of limitations.

  9. I think the alarming part in this is the parents who support her dont care how many kids are there or that young teens supervise the kids when she is gone. She had 6 year olds going to wild water west every day this summer.

  10. It all comes down to money. Parents want the best rate, and day care providers want the best deal. Sometimes that means breaking rules and sometimes there is consequences.

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