Childcare abuse shock for parents

Posted by careen on February 9, 2009

EXCLUSIVE: CHILDREN have been abused, battered and abandoned in childcare centers across Victoria. Some were subjected to illegal punishments.

One carer picked babies up by one arm and dropped them on the ground to discipline them.
And 25 children, as young as 17 months, roamed free from centers.

The Government refuses to identify the centers, claiming it would be a breach of confidence and inhibit its capacity to collect such information in future.

Only four centres were prosecuted in the same period — all for allowing children to wander off.One carer said many incidents went unreported, despite mandatory reporting laws.

“Some parents are never even told of incidents involving their children,” the carer said.The documents show unreported incidents, including force feeding babies, were uncovered during other investigations.

A worker accused of smacking three children, pushing one off a swing, pinching another and pulling a child’s hair, was allowed to continue to work under supervision because the claims could not be proved.

The worker who dropped babies on the ground and force fed them was sacked. Claims the same worker hit a baby with a laminated sheet could not be substantiated.

A CHILD spent a night in hospital after being given 15 times the required amount of medication. CHILDREN at one center were left unattended in fenced-off areas.

Childcare worker Bronwen Jefferson said parents had a right to expect their children to be properly cared for. “You want to think when you drop your child off that they will be safe.”But the ratio of childcare workers to children in Victoria is not adequate . . . you’d have to be superhuman to carry out that all day diligently.”

Centres should have one qualified carer for every five infants up to two years old, and one carer for every 15 youngsters aged three to five.

“I hear from our members repeatedly that it’s just too hard to look after that many children and they’re completely burnt out,” union boss Jess Walsh said.”It’s not just a matter of ratios, it’s the other tasks, such as cleaning, that staff are required to do.”

The Government promised to review staff levels before current childcare regulations expired in May.
But just four days before Christmas, centres were told the rules would remain in place another year to allow for “further consultation”.

Opposition children and early development spokeswoman Wendy Lovell said the Government has had eight years to review the rules.

Children and Early Development Minister Maxine Morand said Victoria had Australia’s most robust on-the-spot inspections regime.Ms Morand said staffing exemptions were vital to keep some centres open.”We will work hard to make sure Victoria gets its fair share of the fully funded 8000 new early childhood TAFE places promised by the new Rudd Government,” she said.

A Department source said there was a reluctance to prosecute centers because the bad publicity would place further strain on already over-stretched services.”If the public heard what happened at some centers there would be a stampede to get kids out,” the source said.

One of the four centers prosecuted was the ABC center at Hoppers Crossing, where an autistic toddler with a fascination for cars was almost run over in busy Werribee Park Plaza car park after wandering unnoticed from care.