A London, Ont. child care centre has been ordered closed for the second time in less than a year after being hit with a protection order from the province citing an “imminent threat to the health, safety and welfare of the children in care.”
The protection order for Kidorable Child Care Centre, located at 35 Jim Ashton St., came after inspectors with the Ministry of Education, which licences child care centres, attended the facility on Feb. 6 in response to an unspecified “incident,” a ministry spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
The spokesperson would not elaborate further about the “incident,” and said licensee Altaqwa Academy Foundation was “prohibited from providing care, and the licence is suspended until the Ministry is satisfied that the licensee has complied with the steps outlined in the order.”
The child care centre reopened its doors in December after being closed for roughly six months by the province. A second Kidorable location that was also ordered closed last year has yet to reopen.
In an emailed statement, officials with Kidorable said that following last year’s closure, staff underwent extensive training, and new policies and procedures were put into place, along with a “renewed commitment to offer the best early childhood education.”
“Unfortunately there was a serious occurrence with a newly hired employee that occurred at our centre. We took all steps required to report and manage the said incident, including working with the Ministry agents assigned to our childcare centre,” the statement from Kidorable reads.
“The occurrence was handled according to Ministry standards, but for this unfortunately was not enough. The Ministry still chose to temporarily close us again. We feel like the additional scrutiny is unfair to our staff or families, and while we do not agree with their decision, we are working with the Ministry for a swift re-opening,” the statement says.
“Our aim, as always, is for full transparency. We stand by our hard-working staff and only regret the suffering this brings to them and our families.”
No further information is provided about the “serious occurrence” that took place.
In a statement, Trevor Fowler, director of child care and early years with the City of London, said the municipality was helping impacted families “by providing information and resources available to locate alternative child care, recognizing this is difficult and unexpected news for them.”
“Families who receive a fee subsidy will continue to receive it, to support them in their search for alternative child care,” Fowler said.
The ministry’s Feb. 6 protection order came two weeks after a licence inspection of the facility found nearly two dozen licencing requirement violations at the facility, including one deemed critical risk and 12 deemed high risk, according to Ontario’s early child care centre registry.
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Among the violations found by the Ministry during the Jan. 23 inspection:
- The licensee has not implemented an individualized plan (critical);
- The licensee has not implemented the playground safety policy (high);
- At least one individualized plan for a child with medical needs does not include a description of the procedures to be followed in the event of a medical emergency (high);
- The licensee has not implemented the written procedures for the administration of medications (high);
- The licensee has not developed an up-to-date individualized support plan for each child with special needs (high);
- The licensee has not obtained a vulnerable sector check from every employee as required (high);
- A licensee has not required a person who has started interacting with children and who has not provided a vulnerable sector check to apply to obtain a vulnerable sector check (high);
- The licensee has reduced the ratio to less than two-thirds of the required ratio (high).
All 21 alleged violations were later resolved, according to the registry.
It’s not clear whether the inspection played any role in the protection order that was issued two weeks later. This month’s closure marks the second time that Kidorable has been ordered to shut its doors in the last eight months due to an “imminent threat to the health, safety and welfare” of children.
The ministry previously ordered the facility closed on June 16, 2022, along with a second Kidorable Child Care Centre location on Trafalgar Street which remains closed.
Few details were available at the time as to why the locations were ordered closed, however the province’s early child care centre registry showed the two facilities were alleged to have violated numerous licencing requirements over the course of multiple inspections.
One inspection, held the same day the facility was ordered closed, found six violations at the Jim Ashton location, including one deemed critical risk and two deemed high risk, according to the registry:
- A child who is younger than 12 months has not been placed for sleep in the manner required (critical);
- The licensee has not implemented the policies and procedures with respect to sleep (high);
- The licensee has reduced the ratio to less than two-thirds of the required ratio (high).
An inspection three months earlier on March 9 had found the facility in violation of 10 requirements, including that the licensee had “permitted physical restraint of a child for the purposes of discipline or in lieu of supervision,” according to the registry.
The ministry also found that “a person” had knowingly given false or misleading information to the minister, a director, an inspector, or a designated senior staff member about a matter related to the Child Care and Early Years Act or its regulations, according to the registry.
Seven months after its closure, the licence for the Jim Ashton location was reinstated on Dec. 3, 2022 after the licensee complied with requirements issued by the province, the ministry spokesperson said.
Attached to the licence were a slew of conditions, a number of which related to staffing at the facility.
“The licensee shall ensure that CCLS is up to date at all times with current staffing information. Licensee shall email a program advisor an updated staff list each time there is a change to the regular staff employed in a classroom,” one condition reads.
“A director of the corporation shall be onsite at least once a week to monitor and record compliance with the Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014 (CCEYA) and it’s regulations,” reads another.
One condition called on the licensee to implement a submitted “ongoing training plan,” for “staff professional learning pertaining to child development, curriculum and documentation, child guidance and positive re-enforcement techniques, and self regulations techniques.”
At least four of the conditions pertain to the facility’s playground equipment, including one that the licensee complete repairs and renovations and submit a written confirmation from a certified, third-party playground inspector that all health and safety concerns had been addressed, and that the playground was CSA compliant.
Another states, “the licensee shall implement the ‘playground restriction document’ submitted to the Ministry on December 15, 2022. This plan includes ensuring fixed equipment (specifically the wooden platform with slide and surrounding area) is not used by children until it is confirmed” they are CSA compliant, and that all health and safety concerns are eliminated.