A West Knoxville child care facility that was ordered to close immediately last week after repeated violations will remain closed after a Tennessee judge upheld its suspension.
Helping Hands Child Care is located at 6900 Office Park Circle off Middlebrook Pike. It serves children from 6 weeks to 12 years of age, according to the state's website.
At a court hearing Monday, a judge upheld the suspension of the facility's license.
Sky Arnold, spokesperson for the Tennessee Department of Human Services (DHS), Helping Hands Child Care has had a series of repeated and escalating violations of child care licensing rules.
"The pattern of violations demonstrates a continuing inability to maintain compliance with licensing rules and an escalating level of risk for children in their care," said Arnold in a statement to 10News.
He said in the most recent violation, a parent complained to DHS and investigators found that two preschool-aged children were found in the parking lot unsupervised while their class was on the playground.
DHS delivered an Order of Summary Suspension to Helping Hands Child Care on May 15, which requires them to cease operations immediately.
According to information on the state DHS website, Helping Hands Child Care has a 0-star quality rating. The Star Quality rating is a voluntary program that recognizes child care agencies who exceed minimum licensing standards. Three stars are the most an agency can earn.
DHS provided 10News with a break down of the three star ratings and what it takes to qualify for each one.
The state's website lists violations at the daycare back to 2013. Many of them deal with paperwork issues with employees or sign-in logs, but some deal directly with the safety of the children.
On March 3, 2015, an inspection found that a 13-month-old child was left in a classroom unsupervised. On that visit, the inspector also noticed that infants and toddlers were inappropriately in a group with older children and that there were too many children for the number of adult supervisors present.
On Nov. 10, 2015, the inspector observed an 11-month-old placed on its stomach to sleep in a crib, which is not recommended.
On May 25, 2017, after a complaint, an investigation found that the caregiver in the classroom for 3-5-year-olds did not properly supervise the children during mealtime. They also observed the children did not have clean sheets during nap time, and again noted inappropriate adult to child ratios. There was one adult supervising 20 three to five-year-olds when the state requires that ratio to be one adult for thirteen in that age group. There was also an infant asleep in a crib with a blanket, and soft bedding is not allowed for children of that age.
On November 1, 2017, DHS investigated a complaint and found that a 31- month-old child was left alone outside after the class went back inside. The parents were not notified on the same day
On November 12, 2017, on a follow up to an earlier complaint, the inspection noted that DCS was not notified of the child being left outside. They also documented that there was no procedure in place for keeping track of the kids as they moved from playground to classroom.
On June 20, 2018, a monitoring visit after a complaint found that two infants, who were 7 and 12 months old, were sleeping in swings in a classroom. Swings are not approved sleeping equipment by the state. They also found an 11-month-old sleeping in a crib with two soft blankets.
On Dec 20, 2018, a 16-month-old was found in a crib with a blanket. The inspector also observed a caregiver step away from a baby eating applesauce in a high chair twice. They also noted that the sleeping mats for the children were not thick enough.
On February 7, 2019, a notice of probation was served on the center. An inspector again noted an inappropriate adult to child ratio and that there was no system in place to track where children were when moved from classroom to classroom.
On February 11, 2019, a 6-month-old was placed in a crib with a pacifier and a bib. They noted again that the center did not have an adequate system in place to track where the children were.