CFN – Heart of the Family, a 24 hour daycare facility licensed for up to 150 children has been shut down by order of the Director for the purposes of the Day Nurseries Act.
Friday officials shut down the facility with parents left with the weekend to find places for their tots.
Sexualized behaviors, lost children and other issues reported by CAS of SD&G. Playing and possibly ingesting cleaning fluid?
Sounds like some disgruntled former employee(s) had something to share.
List of what it will take to reopen.
Families of children that went to HOF have created a Facebook page. LINK License info LINK
Calls starting Friday night to HOF from CFN have not been returned as of press time.
Update:
Judy Rose, Executive Director of A Child’s Secret Garden Day Care sent in the following statement;
Is there going to be a story on how this lady obtained her funding from the city? I would really like to know how a person with no credentials in this field obtained the funding to purchase such a large building, renovate, supply and staff it?
We most likely cannot count on the freeholder to give us these answers.
XScramblerX could you clarify your question? I think in over four years and over 30,000 comments CFN clearly stands behind free speech? There is no definition of free speech that says that vulgarity and personal attacks from anonymity is included.
That’s why we only allow certain types of comments when someone is clearly not anonymous. It has nothing to do with polite and relevant free speech.
And speaking of relevance if you wish to discuss this subject further might I suggest an email to jamie@corwnallfreenews.com or sending in a Letter to the editor so that we can stay relevant to this subject.
An open forum always opens the door to ignorant comments and one-sided arguments and this is definitely no exception to that. What you all fail to realize is that it doesn’t matter where this happened and that there are two sides to every argument. Taking sides and going as far as basically pledging allegiance to one daycare over the other is stupid. Are you so arrogant to think your child is 100% safe at the daycare they are at? Whether that be HOTF, or the garden one makes no difference, you could be one here defending a Childs Secret Garden only to have something happen down the line. Who’s to say your own parenting methods are perfect? In separated families abuse can occur in one household or the other and it’s even harder to spot since ,children trust each parent. My point is use some logical thinking and don’t be so quick to bring out the pitchforks, the evidence will come out. This could easily happen at your childs school, friends house, church or you know, basically anywhere where you can’t read what’s on a persons mind….CAS as well is by no means perfect for that matter, not to say I don’t respect what they do but in the end everyone is unpredictable, you could be living next door to a child molester, rapist, or murderer for all you know. You can’t shield your children from the evils of the world and your own children can grow to do their own horrible things, all you can do is talk with your child, ask questions and hope to catch signs, and even then you may not always know, this is reality.
skeptical we don’t base comments approval on intelligence. could you imagine that though….
In response to my earlier post Sarah Campbell..as a matter of fact I HAVE visited Heart of the Family, and I will say I have never got a good feeling from that place. A director who has no qualifications what so ever to own a daycare is asking for trouble. I did my research in choosing a daycare, and obviously I have done it well. I am NOT judging anyone who sent their children there, all I am saying is that I, myself, and my husbands for that matter choose that Heart of the Family was not a place WE wanted to send our daughter too. Although I do find it quit shocking the amount that families that are so willing to send their children back to this facility when and IF this place opens again. One disgruntled employee simply could not cause all of this if there wasn’t truth to any of this. There was and I think it’s disgusting that people feel its safe to bring their children back. To each your own but I love my child way too much to bring her to some shady daycare. Again, my opinion.
The ministry just doesn’t decide to close a daycare for the fun of it! This is beyond horrendous!! This is not Speculation!!!! I know personally of a newly hired employee that shared some insight on this topic…..This is very real and heartbreaking!! This place will never be taken serious again! So sad!!!!!!!!!!
Well said, Theadore Wisely, well done man!
My granddaughter attends Heart of the Family, and these allegations have left us nauseous. While I am grateful that we have the Ministry of Education to investigate these allegations in order to keep our children safe, I can’t help but wonder what took so long. The first two allegations listed happened on or before October 18, 2012. Why did it take 7 months for this investigation to occur? Seems really suspicious to me.
We at Freedom TKD operate a Leadership Camp during the summer. We recommend to all our parents that they can and should stop by at any time. While I do not hold Early Childhood Credentials I do have a nursing background as well as I have taught Taekwon-Do to children for over 10 years. It is imperative for your child that you arrive unannounced and check the credentials of the caregivers. In this day and age there are steps you must take to ensure the safety of those most precious to you.
OUCH! The comments on here are pretty harsh, to say the least, people are allowed to say what they want, so here goes………MY question is, if it is such a bad place, then why do sooooooo many children go there?? Think about it people! How many are there…..180 or more? Before you pass judgement LEARN the facts! I mean anyone could post things on here like derogatory comments (or not) and say they have been there and they have seen neglect, or what be it, I mean what if the real perpetrator was on here posting as 10 or 100 different people, (you don’t have to post your name and you could be as many people as you want ot be)???? Trying to bring down the daycare?????? Just a thought… and yes it could be more than one disgruntled person, who has nothing better to do than to try to take people down in such a disgusting kind of way…We don’t know, it is everyone’s opinion but here is a fact…..I HAVE been there and just for anyone on here’s information, it is a truly a caring center that will be stronger than ever WHEN it re-opens! To all of the Heart of the Family Staff and children and families, ignore the ignorance and fight for the truth!
You ask me what forces need to speak? A strange thing: my conscience -Victor Hugo
Well said, Jasmine! You speak for many of us! Nice choice of clever words! Cheers
Jasmine, quoting Victor Hugo does not validate a pointless ramble. You want to speak of the facts, Jamie did a good job of posting the facts above. If you would have read them you would have noticed that there is already proof to these allegation that is why they shut the day care down. There are many more allegations they are investigating however since they found proof to the earlier ones they have deemed the daycare to be unsafe while they finish the rest of the investigation.
Also if you would read the notice on their door the Ministry has stated that Chris Stephenson who is the Executive Director has been found too negligent to continue on as the E.D. She is no longer allowed on the premises as long as it is licences to hold children. This is just step one despite what the staff who are calling parents think.
J.Stuart- for a pointless ramble, please refer to your first post
and the definition of allegations: assertion made with little or no proof.
Ah speculation, allegations, misconception how you provoke the mind to form theory and judgement based on what little we know.
Such emotionally charged characters on this forum, some relatives, some ex-employees, even some of the childless variety which up until this point have never needed to critique childcare.
But where are the parents of the “abused” children? Well if you would refer to the link Jamie kindly posted you will see where they are. 138 members of the public rallying to show support to their beloved daycare. Children asking their parents when they can return to their second home and see the faces of their beloved staff members.
People, the hatred, slander, and mudslinging isn’t a solution to over 100 families, many government assisted with nowhere to place their children on Monday.
Cornwall needs Heart. Whatever the end result is in this investigation, unfounded or not, this facility still needs to get back on its feet and continue pressing forward. The lively hood of over 100 families relies on it.
Regardless if Heart needs to make some changes at this point or not…… Cornwall needs it
Speak up or you are as guilty as the ones who remain silent. My child has had a few shady occurrences over the years. Parents of HOTF, lets not be naive. Children won’t come home and tell you their caregiver was not watching them 100%. These allegations are pretty shady. I had plenty of accident reports filled and they probably got ripped up and kept secret. Maybe I should have trusted my gut more. I feel so naive now and taken advantage of by the excuses. Thank god it was never as serious as the other injuries children sustained within those walls. Lots of secrets hide behind those walls and being a parent of a child who attended this daycare I can confirm these allegations are probably not far from the full truth. Come on parents. Did you file lots of accident reports? Was your kid in a class with much older children for after school care? Was your kid dancing to ‘adult’ dance songs learning to dance to these songs with older students and rough housing and bullying from older boys? Mine was. I can only imagine what other parents experiences were like. Please share. Staff who neglected to speak up about improper conduct are just as guilty in this. Don’t you have children as well? – CWT
What about the child who was kicked out based on an abortion a mother had previously? What about the fraud they committed by forging a parents signature on a release form. If this place receives subsides from the government then the person’s license should be permanently revoked as they’re using their religious morals to govern themselves and the school….funny how they will scold you for breaking their own morals but at the same time commit an actual crime. This place makes me sick.
Ahhh, very wise Mr Wisley! Cheers!
Speak up or remain silent, or you are just as guilty? Strong words coming from somebody with the pen name ” anonymous jane”!!! Just a thought, what will be you feelings when your children move on to elementary school? Or scarrier yet, highschool? You aint seen nothin yet!
It’s very interesting reading some of these comments. Very very strong feelings which is the norm for issues in Cornwall. The Ministry notices were quite clear and CFN has left a voicemail for HOF with no reply. At some point they will have to make a statement and I’m sure there will be more information from the Ministry and any further investigation. Cornwall does seem to be a town that sadly more often than it should show much rending of the cloth over those that have been caught than the victims. Not sure how that works and not suggesting or pointing a finger. But I have a hunch this story is just starting. Stay tuned.
At confused grandma..I can you exactly why this information is only surfacing now and not sooner..as a former employee when you quit or get fired from that day care knowing to much…a threatening letter is set to you by management and their “lawyer” saying that a confidentiality agreement was signed and none of our information is to be exposed or we could be sued…everyone who has gotten this letter was scare until former employees started talking to each other..and one former employee went to the officials and the officials seeked us out for our statements…everything you have read in this article is true..parents please open your eyes and protect your children..they may not have been the children who were affected..but they could have been..how would that have made you feel..
JASMINE – pretty harsh comments? did you read what happened at that daycare? i feel like these comments should be way worse. i have heard from people who’ve worked there and from people who had their kids at the daycare there some stories, so maybe you should learn the facts before you comment on a topic that has evidence to support what has been going on.
Well done Anonymous Jane! We need more brave parents like you to share their experiences. Its strange to think there is a group of parents banding together to be proud of the good experiences their own kids have had and ignoring the negative experiences of others.
There is closer to 300 children that are enrolled at the HOTF because they are licensed to have approx. 150 at one time and you must factor in all the night shift and summer attendees. Say 30 kids experienced some of the PROVEN charges stated above, that is only 10%.
Ten percent who were either lost for extended periods of time, were in unsupervised situations where they harmed themselves and then reports were never filed and the parents were never told. I wont repeat the entire list that CAS believe had MERIT that others seem to be ignoring.
So 30 kids experience all of the above, is that acceptable? Is it acceptable to rally behind a daycare that has been proven to present itself falsely with such a conviction of their innocence without properly looking over the FACTS. It is arrogant and dangerous to be of the mind frame that because my own child to my knowledge was not harmed some how that others were not either. Not only stating they are liars, but calling out the staff and parents who thought it necessary to report these severe violations. If that is not the definition of near sighted I have no idea what is.
It’s annoying to have to keep reminding people that they are ALLEGATIONS……..not proof, but any way, I refuse to get caught up in this he said she said crap anymore, cause we could be childish fools and go on forever about this…….so this is my last post, but still and always, I will stand my ground, I stand by Heart of the Family all the way …..you believe what you HEAR, you won’t CHANGE my mind, EVER!
to the people defending the daycares actions, i think even an accusation of child abuse should open your eyes and make you realize that even if these aren’t all true something had to be happening in that daycare. i understand how convinient a 24/7 daycare is but if you’re going to send your child back into that daycare if it ever opens again because “nothing ever happened to your child” what the hell are you waiting for.. for something bad to actually happen to YOUR child for you to open your eyes these are innocent kids that they are dealing with and even if your child was not a victim think about those little children that were affected.
Like some of you, I had my children going there. We never had any real problems with the daycare or administrative staff. We had some concerns, some were addressed and others not.
This centre has been closed for a reason. As it was mentioned the Ministry will not close the centre without due process and on rumours only. We’ve heard the rumours of incidents from other parents and while concerned, we were sure that they we just that, rumours.
My wife and I made the decision within seconds of receiving a call from HotF that our children were not going back and made alternate arrangements for their care in the short term while we start evaluating other centres for a more permanent solution. Our reasons are below.
Our children had bumps and bruises at various times and we dismissed them as “kids will be kids” but after reading the notice posted, we’re questioning that. Every other point made on the notice *could* be argued as false except the last one. Paragraph J states that “major occurrences were not filed with the ministry…” If the major ones are not being dealt with, we can reasonably deduce that the minor ones aren’t as well. This is clearly a violation of trust. How can any parent send their children back to a centre that refuses to report on occurrences to the Ministry as mandated by their license?
I have no doubt that the centre will re-open. I wish them luck and they are going to need it because I expect most current clients will be pulling their children out of there.
I am not a previous employee, I am a mother who pulled her children out. Judy Rose and A Child’s Secret Garden was rated number One in Cornwall. Nowhere on the list was HOTF So for all of you here’s a tidbit, All staff who either quiet or were fired and parents who pulled there kids out were threatened and / or served with a lawyers letter. If they would try to speak up and advocate for the children. They were severed, so try to be in there shoes. Statement above from FORMER EMPLOYEE is right on the ball. At the end of the day I can say that Judy Rose and A Child Secret Garden saved my children. For this i will not apologize . Some people has said where’s the prove, well its on the door of HOTF. If these allegation are false than why is the daycare closed. Tell me this? how does someone support other child care providers, when she does not have any education in this field. How is it just to pick garbage of the street you need a high school diploma? How can she run a daycare is my questioned? Please if anyone else wants to step forward and speak up, call the Ministry and CAS and let them know.Let your voices be heard and advocate for the children and not turn a blind eye as many have.
Please correct me if I am wrong but this is what I have gathered from the little info we have been given:
1) Allegations of physical harm and/or neglect of the children have originated from a former employee now working for “the competition” which is actively trying to get the business from HOTF. CAS only acted to investigate the allegations. No parents are driving the allegations.
2) Some incidents have happened at HOTF but no more incidents than have occured at other centres. The issue being addressed by the Ministry is administrative in nature relating to timing of the submission of the reports.
3) To become compliant again, HOTF only needs to answer to the allegations being driven by the former employee which may or may not be true and they need to implement some administrative procedures and documentation.
4) Parents of the children are happy with the care their children receive and are trusting that HOTF will survive the administrative hurdle and blatent attack from the competition
Regardless, they need to reopen. Whether it be with new staff and new rules, then fine. It needs to be reopened regardless, because far too many families have lost care. You cannot assume that all of these care providers are guilty of the accusations. Several of the staff are absolutely amazing and all around great with the kids. There will always be bad apples that need to be taken out of the mix. Sure, so filter through and figure it out more strictly and regularly. Clearly, assessments should be more frequent as it is pitiful that if these accusations run true, nothing has been done about them until now, seven months past the incident. Someone must have known and kept their mouth shut, until something SEVEN MONTHS LATER clicked in their head to do something about it.
I will state that there were several times in which I was allowed access to the building by a staff member, without actually buzzing in. Not once have I seen any poor treatment of a child there. They were always happy and helpful. Each day I was kept updated on my child’s experience. Each day my child went running in their excited for more time with her friends and the staff.
You cannot fully rely on anyone other than yourself, and even then, can you really promise yourself your child won’t at some point get hurt?
Also, there are far too many staff members walking around for a child to be missing for an extended period of time. I’d love to know how that is even possible, there are far too many people in and out of there. Give your heads a shake.
It’s one thing for accidents and injuries but to be dishonest and rip up log sheets? That’s where my concern is, what are they trying to cover up? Accidents and injuries due to negligence. Long history of improper care here. I will disclose my identity to the proper officials, not on some public arena for {MODERATED} accusations from the public. I am speaking out as an actual first class witness to some of these allegations I am just trying to say that maybe parents who are backing this daycare may be a little blind sighted right now as to the true nature that took place behind those walls. Picking a dirty child up with a sore bum so bad they whimper and cry when they are placed in their car seat?
At Former Employee, how does a lawyer’s note keep you from doing the right thing? When it comes to the safety of a child nothing should stop you from doing everything you can to protect them. What law wouldn’t back you up on that?
This is my two cents. I have not had kids there for about 3 yrs now. But when they where, they had, and I had none of the issues stated. I know some employees outside the center, and one of them has watched my kids outside of the center. I don’t think the entire staff of the center should be to blame for this. I think we should be looking at the people who didn’t report the incidents, to the parents or whomever else, who tried to cover it up. I think we should look at getting new management since it’s stated the current member(s) (ie executive director) are not even able to be within the center with children there. I saw bump up the “eyes” on the employees, bump up the security, and get new management. Screen all the employees, make sure they have proper training and have experience. Weed out the ones who should not be there if they are still there and keep the good ones who the kids love and who treat the kids right. And parents – keep in mind the size of this building. And it’s not always the employees leaving kids unattended what about when parents pick them up then start chatting to other parents or staff? Two seconds is all it takes for a speedy walking toddler. Then poof – gone. All I know if when my son was there as a toddler every door had secured gate and the doors stayed shut at all times unless a parent was picking up a kid and the only time I saw any kids in the halls where with parents. I am not saying parents are to blame or staff, I am saying we don’t ALL know EVERY single thing that happened minute by minute There is alot the Center has to do to re-open. They will not be able to do it unless the appropriate measures are taken and approved. I am glad someone is looking out for the kids… but at the same time families, both of employees and the ones now without childcare are being left with nothing right now. Do what needs to be done.
I have plenty to say & I’m not going to hide behind some pseudonym, either.
The first thing I’d like to do is address Judy Rose’s “statement”. When was this statement posted? HOTF was still operating as of 3:00 pm on Friday, May 31/13. It seems to me that Ms. Rose was privy to information from inside sources. Why else would she post on the day the news broke that her facility was installing new sinks? Jumping the gun much?? I also beg to disagree that this is “the first time in our community that we’ve had a negative impact in our field”. Are you for real? My child attended the daycare centre you were running some 20 years ago. He was 2 1/2 yrs old & not fully potty trained (as far as BM’s go). My child was shamed and I was threatened that if he wasn’t trained by a certain date, he would no longer be allowed to attend the daycare. Very scary for a young, newly divorced mom to hear.
ONE person made these allegations to CAS, so to say it’s unfortunate that HOTF had so many violations is just wrong & you come across as petty & vindictive. If I was running HOTF and was cleared of all charges, the first thing I’d do is take legal action against you. You can install as many sinks as you want. I wouldn’t allow my granddaughter to attend your facility if it was the last daycare center on the planet, and for those of you chastising those of us who have been critical of Judy Rose, saying she “has nothing to do with it”, all I can say is that I think you’re wrong. Hers is the first comment on the page & contains some pretty harsh allegations and very judgmental comments. The same kind of patronizing comments I was subjected to over 20 years ago.
My granddaughter started attending HOTF when she was about 18 months old. I personally enrolled her, and was very impressed by the professionalism & attentiveness displayed by the staff. Unfortunately, she developed a persistent ear infection that led to complications. We decided that it would be best to remove her from HOTF for one reason and one reason only – so that she could fully recuperate. We enrolled her again about a year ago, and she has thrived under the care of the staff members at HOTF! She couldn’t wait to see her friends and the “Mommies” (her name for her teachers) every day. If anything “bad” ever happened to her, she would have told us. She had no problem telling us if she’d hit a friend, following up with “That’s not nice…” If there was ever an issue, we we advised in a very timely manner (same day). One of our pet peeves was having to pick her up if she had even the slightest fever or loose stools. I say that tongue in cheek. In reality, I was quite impressed that the staff members were so attentive. I’ve showed up unannounced on several occasions and never witnessed anything out of the ordinary. As far as my own personal experience goes, I can shoot down many of these allegations. Inadequate food? Seriously?! Well if you call fresh fruit, oatmeal, and fresh juice as a morning snack “inadequate”, there’s something wrong with you. Inadequate supervision? I’ve never heard/seen anything to prove this to be true.
I was shocked when my DIL contacted me on Saturday morning to say that she had received a message stating that HOTF was closed. Shortly thereafter, I drove to the daycare & took photos of the documents posted on the window. My first reaction was anger, but once I calmed down and the-read the information a few more times, I became suspicious (and that was before I found out that a former employee was involved). The accusation are for the most part quite vague. These are allegations, people! Accusations that obviously need to be investigated not only by the CAS. Lord knows this organization is staffed by hunan beings who make mistakes just like the rest of us. Yes, they do a lot of good, but they’ve also been known to cause a lot of damage – sometimes irreparable damage. We’ve all heard our fair share of horror stories as far as CAS is concerned.
I know that as a parent and grandparent, I want details. I want PROOF! I don’t want to read crap like “On or about such & such date”. You mean to tell me that the accuser remembers all these tiny details, but doesn’t remember the exact date a serious offence took place??? I want to know how many employees witnessed the alleged abuse. Are the police involved? Have charges been laid? I read most of the comments on this page and although the information is right there in front of their faces, people are taking things out of context, and exaggerating to make the accusations look worse than they are.
“Anonymous-Jane” made comments that prove my point:
“…kids engaging in sexual behavior due to lack of supervision.”
The above isn’t what was stated on the notice. The following is what was stated verbatim:
“one or more occasions, children in the daycare have
engaged in sexualized behaviours”.
I hope you realize that this could mean one child pulled his or her pants down in front of another child & these things can happen so quickly, no matter how many staff members are present. How do I know this? Because 20 years ago, my son was attending a local daycare & one of his little female friends did exactly what I mentioned above. My then 4 year old son mentioned it to me that evening. I advised the administrator the next morning & although I felt they overreacted (my son & his little best friend weren’t allowed to play together anymore), it’s just an example of a typical 4 year old’s behaviour. If something more serious took place, then again I want to know, as do my son, DIL, and other close family members.
Until then, I will continue to support HOTF, and pray that these allegations are proven to be untrue.
I certainly didn’t intend to minimize any negative experiences other parents may have had at HOTF. All I can share is my own experience. I also don’t pay much attention to comments that are prefaced by “I heard… I was told”. Those aren’t facts. It’s called gossip.
Yous all sickening me! Heart of the family is a wonderful daycare, my daughter has been going there since she was 6 months old and she is now 15months . Never once have i had an issue with them. HOTFis a caring daycare facillity . Theyre a home away from home for children. Kids are gonna get hurt . There gonna get bruises& yes there gonna experience things. At any daycare . My brother and sister also attend this daycare and neither of them have ever been ” abused” or “neglected ” and they have bbeen there for a couple years now . Chris is a wonderful educator she has kids of her own ? What makes you think she would hurt or put other kids in danger ? All the staff there is loving and caring people. The ministry is a bunch of bullshit . They just hurt not only thenkids but the staff and parent . How many parents are gonna be job less now cause of these false accusations ? What are people who go to school ( teenagers like me ) supposed to do now cause there out of the daycare. ? Id like to see acutal proof if this is true . If these allegations are true. I want to see these parents stand up if there kids got hurt. Because as far as im concerned this just seems like jealousy and anger . Which is not right at all. Be ashamed of yourselfs
Someone asked about the start up of the Heart daycare.
HARVEST CHRISTIAN CHURCH few years back purchased the property from the Catholic church. PASTOR ROY STEVENSON is the PASTOR of HCC .His WIFE CHRIS STEVENSON obtained through the city almost 200,000 DOLLARS to start up a daycare. The Building(SCHOOL) which CHRISTIAN HARVEST CHURCH purchased along with the church itself is RENTED to HEART DAYCARE. Thus the church is making money from the rental as well PASTORS WIFE CHRIS STEVENSON was receiving a very large paycheck as the the Director. She has no formal education other than previously baby sitting and of course working with children through their church. I do believe that due to the fact within their congregation there several specific parishioners who were able to use their career positions and experience to present (paint) the proposal necessary to convince the city council. Remember that many parishioners were gainfully employed there some on higher pay scales . All the way around the $$ money never filtered down to ensure the necessary number of Early Childhood Educators. However the STEVENSONS were able due to such an influx of CASH from Heart Daycares establishment to purchase a very beautiful home in one of the most expensive areas of RIVERDALE! SAD…money never reached the needed ECE but thats what happens when there is ONE HAND WASHING THE OTHER (Church HCC & Heart daycare) To add insult to injury the blatant disregard for rules and regulations , enabled them to continue operating until the roof blew off the place with dangerous misconduct. Children for profit…Follow the money$ CHRISTIAN HARVEST CHURCH (Pastor Roy Stevenson) HEART OF THE FAMILY DAY CARE (WIFE CHIS STEVENSON) All operating on the same parcel of land … there is so much more to this ..
You asked why not do the right thing? Have you ever seen christena Stephenson work her way out of a tight situation?? She scares the crap out of anyone she fears will take her down…this isn’t about closing heart…this is about getting that lady away from you and your kids…if you like and respect her its only because you have believed everything she has ever told you..i would like to see you talk to her about something that puts her beloved daycare at risk of being on the D list…you may change your mind about her them! Do you also think cas and the ministry would seriously do this if they had no proof? Parents were is your gut feeling? It’s not hotf that is rotten its pure management and the way they scare their past and present employees of not tell you all te truth…you asked where the parents were of the kids who got hurt…scary thought…they have no idea it’s their child…they were lied to and some not even told…why because christena didn’t feel that that was important information for the parents/public…good luck to all parents…and at concerned parent..good job trusting your gut..it was right!
@ LifeisGood – I’m not familiar with all the funding procedures or how much Chris’s salary was. If you have access to financial statements, please feel free to share them with us. I keep reading over and over again that Chris wasn’t qualified for the position she held. Maybe she wasn’t in terms of academics, but she certainly was a hell of a lot more professional than a few other executive directors of at least two Cornwall daycare centres. To insinuate that they got funding because of “pull” or influential parishioners is ridiculous. ANY organization needs to follow a set of strict guidelines in order to receive funding. If they received funding that they weren’t entitled to, then the city needs to assume part of the onus! A simple google search makes it quite clear that there was no need to pull strings in order to get funding because a child care facility such as HOTF was and still is very much needed in this city.
To the parents who are defending them: Why do you insist that the Ministry is wrong? Shouldn’t they take every precaution necessary to ensure your children are safe!?! Shouldn’t you be happy/relieved/thankful that the ministry would take these kind of allegations seriously to ensure YOUR children are safe!?
I am embarrassed to admit that I am a former employee of this establishment- I worked there for the first six months they were open and have to say that it has been a mess since day 1! I believe that these allegations are true 110%- I also believe that there is more that just hasn’t been proven. I have witnessed some myself. I personally have reported them to the Ministry on several occasions… nothing was done. This leads me to believe that this is not the work of a single “disgruntled” employee.
On a positive note, I think that place has the potential to be an amazing establishment and I do hope that they reopen under the supervision/leadership of a qualified & competent Director. I hope everyone finds a safe childcare environment in the meantime!
I am a former client who had two children attend HOTF for two years. We moved our children there after having a terrible experience with a home daycare. Our oldest went from hating daycare to enjoying it after starting at HOTF. I experienced that feeling of doubt with the home daycare and chose to ignore it. I never had that feeling with the staff at HOTF. In fact, I recommended the daycare over and over again. There were some incredible staff there, some of whom I know left because they were “pushed out” or unhappy. I didn’t understand exactly what was going on at the time. I still believe that my children received excellent care while they were there. The ED even went out of her way to help us out when we were going through a hard time.
I am not making excuses for anyone at the centre. I don’t know the entire truth and probably never will. I just felt the need to tell everyone our experience. The whole situation makes me sad. As a parent I would never purposefully put my children in a harmful environment. My trust in daycares has been greatly affected. I hope the truth comes out one way or the other. There are both current and former employees who did an outstanding job at HOTF and who obviously loved caring for children. I sincerely hope that they find work in a well-operated daycare again because those are the type of people that Cornwall parents need to care for their children.
To Lori!
You said in your comments that you do not listen to hearsay. So are you saying the the Ministry, CAS and the Cornwall police who all have independent ongoing investigations do? Do you believe that these three organization would proceed to make such a statement based on hearsay?
You say you do not want to minimize this but you are. Those things that have occurred which seem to be of no consequence to you all happened because of lack supervision which is the whole purpose of people putting they kids in daycare for CONSTANT supervision.
The biggest problem is not the staff they were mostly untrained and try to the best of their abilities. The fault rest solely with Executive Director Chris Stevenson who instead of dealing with these issues head on tried to side step them by not informing the parents, by ripping up written incident reports.
Seek out former staff who were graduated ECE. None of them could work with Chris because they all tried to get that daycare up to code. And when they tried they were treated like trouble makers and were forced out of there. That is why the majority of their staff is not Qualified ECE no one who is and is logical not would risk their licence.
And Judy Rose needs to be defended.
1. SHE NEVER WORKED FOR HOTF. Actually Chris attempted to steal the blueprints to Judy’s daycare and model herself after it. There was almost legal action taken because of it, but Chris returned the files.
2. Judy had nothing do to with this shut down and in no way tried to improve her daycare by discrediting HOTF. She has been voted the number one day care in town countless times and has been at capacity (as in cannot take on even 1 more child let alone 300 lol).
People need to stop listening to the lies of these self righteous Stevensons who have acted above the letter of the law for far too long. And perhaps except that CAS and the Ministry hold higher standards for child welfare then even some of the parents who support the HOTF.
Well said J. Stuart!
I think one of the Pastor’s sons is a police officer in Cornwall…its amazing what connections and money can buy you…The fact that the church owned this building and the daycare’s executive director was the pastor’s wife…just seems like a $$ factory for them.
I looked into sending my child to this daycare based on a recommendation from a friend who had a family member working there.
After visiting this place, never in my life would I send my child there. Unclean, way too many children to be properly supervised, unprofessional staff.
And frankly I didn’t want to send my child to some place where they were going to somehow, someway throw their religious crap into our lives.
No thank you.
@JStuart – Please re-read my post. I am absolutely NOT minimizing negative experiences others say they have had. I was merely sharing what my own experience has been & although I’m saddened that some children may have been injured due to alleged lack of supervision, I’m very grateful that my granddaughter was not one of those children. Never did I mention hearsay. Stop twisting my words around. I said that I didn’t pay much attention to the COMMENTS that are prefaced with “I heard or so & so told me”. Nowhere did I see anything about a police report. You’re making it sound like I’m uncaring when, in fact, I’m the exact opposite. I want the facts. I want to know every little minuscule bit of information from the authorities involved as opposed to Team Judy & Team Chris. Do you get where I’m coming from?
As for Judy… If you feel the need to defend her, go right ahead. Nobody’s stopping you. I still stand by my comments though & they are based on personal experiences I’ve had with the woman. Sorry, but when you release a statement within hours of the news of HOTF closing telling the public that you’re installing more sinks to accommodate more kids, sure you’re trying to benefit from the situation. Gimme a break.
Folks I just wish to clarify that it was CFN that contacted Ms Rose. Not Ms Rose that contact us. It also wasn’t within hours. We spoke with her on Saturday, the day after HOF was shut down by the Ministry. We wanted a comment from someone about the industry in Cornwall which was gracious enough to offer.
I’d also like to you where people are getting all this additional information. The document posted on the door says “An allegation was made…” Not ten. One. If Chris is guilty of what people are saying she’s guilty of, then I’m going to be very angry because not only are excellent staff out of work, parents weren’t given ANY notice (some, like our family) weren’t told at all. Now families are scrambling to find childcare & put children are going to be so confused and no doubt saddened by the fact that they can no longer see or play with their friends. I just hope that we are provided with more detailed information because we have a right to it!
Thanks for clarifying, Admin. It’s a very sad & frustrating situation.
This is hilarious. Mean people running others out of business. CAS running all haughty with their jackboots on. It’s easier to hire a babysitter than deal with the bullshit.
{MODERATED} its incredible how {MODERATED} can cause such an issue for such a great place. I personally have both of my children in HOTF and have had so since day 1, I have gotten to personally know almost their entire staff, from their ECE’s to their director. Never once have I had an issue, not with the staff nor the management. So before every one goes listening to the garbage of some accusations by employees who were probably never suited to work in an environment like heart, have a look around you and see the over 190 children’s families that rallied together to show their support in a 48 hour period to wait at the doors, when heart can open again in, with the staff unchanged, as it doesn’t need to be , and to the ones who started this mess, what goes around comes around, and karma can be a realllllll bitch ladies
Wow Lori – considering your so high on your horse about hearsay maybe you should knock it off on your negativity towards Judy.
After all, your comments are based on your own dealings with the individual…kinda like the people who filed the reports with CAS or the Ministry – they were based on THEIR experiences with this disgusting daycare centre.
-Lori. You directly singled me out in these comments and this is why I chose a pseudonym. For people like yourself who choose not to believe that bad thins were happening. I AM a parent who had a child in this daycare and I am stating factually that my child was directly and negatively impacted. How is that hearsay. I have as much right to freedom of speech as you have right to proclaim they are a great day care centre. Think before you tear someone down who has a child who was directly and negatively affected by improper supervision. You do not know my circumstances so do not assume. Be thankful your experience was a positive one and hold your tongue before directly attacking my words on this forum and on Facebook. I didn’t directly attack you for standing behind this facility. That is your personal choice, I am just stating that there is some truth behind these allegations as I have been privvy to some. It is not made by ‘one’ person. This is a group of negatively affected people in our community. What if this child in the closet with the cleaner was your grandchild? You would not be aware as parents were not informed. I’m sorry you have no problem overlooking this possibility. There is no doubt that these incidents probably happened due to too many children and too little staff and a director treating a child care facility as business instead of a care centre. I’m sorry, I did trust and believe all the staff were amazing but secrecy and misinforming parents about care their children are receiving is unacceptable. I am sure it was a long time coming and a new centre will be available soon and will most likely be better managed and up to code.