SEATTLE — The state agency overseeing child care centers may not always protect families from providers who break the rules.
The death of a baby boy on his second day at a West Seattle day care last year highlights the systemic problems at the Department of Early Learning.
Vanessa Eng, the mother of that child, said she researched the center run by Colette Libolt.
"I trusted an individual, and I trusted a system that doesn't work the way I thought that it worked," she said.
The fact that Libolt's license had lapsed for six months in 2014 was unknown to Eng and the parents who already brought their children there. Licenses have to be renewed annually. Libolt's business did not renew in time, and from January to June 2014, Libolt was trying to reapply for a license. Parents continued to bring their children there, without knowledge of this change in status.
DEL, who licenses child care centers, told KIRO 7 child care providers are not required by law to tell parents when their licenses expire. Centers are sometimes allowed to remain open while trying to get back into compliance.
During a six-month period, Libolt continued to operate her child care center, unlicensed, and continued to receive public dollars in the form of subsidies for low-income families. While DEL sets the eligibility requirements for subsidies, the Department of Social and Health Services administers the checks. When KIRO 7 asked if there is a system in which DSHS can tell when a provider's license expires, a DEL spokesperson said that communication between the agencies needs improvement.
Libolt's subsidies could have been legitimately acquired during that time if she provided care in a family's private home instead of at her center. But two parents and Libolt's husband confirmed that her business was still open and unlicensed during the time she received the money.
Providers are required to post their licenses in a visible spot for clients to see, but the licenses don’t have expiration dates printed on them.
Lester Libolt, the owner’s husband, told KIRO 7 the license expiring was due to his wife not being able to do fingerprints while her hand was injured.
When asked why they didn’t explain that to parents, he said, “at the time, we just thought it was a simple thing. We’ll just have your fingerprints done again.”
Vanessa Eng was not told about this situation when she visited the center to explore it as an option for her son.
And she was never told a whistleblower reported two family members living in the Libolt home had not been background-checked.
“I just can't understand why they were even allowed to be open,” Eng said.
CPS had previously found one of Libolt’s relatives neglected her own children. The other, Libolt’s husband, Lester, had a conviction for DV assault.
“I can see why they’d be concerned, but I don’t think there’s any reason why – why it was an issue,” Lester Libolt said.
KIRO 7 found a Seattle Police Department report, stating Libolt threw a coffee mug at his pregnant daughter, which he said was not true. He was later convicted of assault in the third degree.
“If I had known any of these horrible things, I never would have brought Gage there in the first place,” said Vanessa Eng.
By the time her son, Gage Wilday, started attending the day care, Libolt had regained her license.
Eng said she called Colette Libolt multiple times on her son’s first day there. When her partner picked him up, there was no indication that DEL staff had been there for a surprise inspection the day before.
On that visit, DEL staff followed up on the whistleblower complaint. They confronted Libolt about the family members that had not been background checked and found a 6-month old child sleeping face down.
Documents obtained by KIRO 7 show DEL employees telling staff on site that this puts children at risk for SIDS.
At the end of Gage Wilday’s first day there, Libolt drove her license to a DEL office and dropped it in the mailbox. Documents show DEL staff had told her it was an option to surrender her license that way. But DEL told KIRO 7 there was no note attached or any indication of what this gesture meant.
Still, Libolt accepted children into the home the Monday after she dropped off her license.
That morning, Gage died of SIDS.
“I got a phone call saying that he had stopped breathing during a nap,” Eng said. “I couldn’t even fathom the fact that my four-month-old baby would die.”
While it’s hard for Eng to assign blame for a SIDS death, CPS told her the result of their death investigation was that Gage was laid down to sleep the wrong way.
Lester Libolt told KIRO 7, “My wife’s a hero, but she’s treated like a villain.”
He said Colette Libolt gave the child CPR until medics arrived.
When KIRO 7 initially reported the death, there were no complaints visible in DEL’s online records system called Child Care Check.
A DEL spokesperson said the visits made by staff to follow up on the whistleblower complaint would typically be documented and uploaded, but might have seen a delay in getting them online.
Once a child care center is summarily suspended, however, Child Care Check no longer shows any information about the center. It only states the center is closed, without any information about an investigation.
A DEL spokesperson said they are working to improve the system so information remains online even after the suspension.
There is also a community-based website called Child Care Aware, to help parents find licensed providers in their area. DEL stated that this "provides parents with accessible and understandable information regarding the licensing requirements, different types of child care, and prudent steps parents should take in considering child care options."
DEL declined to do an interview with KIRO 7, but said they would like to improve communication with parents. Currently, they do not keep records of parent contact information, but they ask providers to keep those records. That system is paper-based, and DEL would like to eventually make everything digital so parents can be called or emailed.
In written responses to KIRO 7’s questions, DEL said that when a child care provider’s license is suspended, DEL licensors “must make reasonable effort to inform parents of the licensing action by phone, email, or by meeting them at the facility. The licensing staff will inform parents of referral resources to find alternate care.”
A spokesperson also wrote, "Ensuring that parents are fully informed and empowered in making decisions about child care is an ongoing priority of the Department of Early Learning. We are constantly exploring new tools and resources that can bring parents up to date with timely information regarding the actions of the agency and the status of a particular child care provider. As technology and our understanding evolve in terms of what can be made available to parents and how it can be made available, the Department will reevaluate its practices to better provide timely information."
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