Loophole in State Daycare Law causes Concern
A Mobile daycare operator is facing manslaughter charges and a lawsuit after a 5 year old was left in a hot van to die and then dumped on the side of the road.
Montgomery Attorney Joe Hubbard says it is very similar to a local case with Sunnyside Daycare where he was the prosecuting attorney. In 2015, a lawsuit was filed after 86 children got sick because of staph toxins in the food and many ended up in the hospital.
This was also run as a church or non profit daycare.
Hubbard says that came after an incident in 2009 when a child was left in a hot van. DHR pulled their license.
And Sunnyside opened back up as a “church” run daycare even though there was never an actual church affiliated with it.
“When you truly understand that story, it gives you an idea just how dangerous this church exemption is in the daycare laws. Make no mistake, Sunnyside was not a church. This daycare down in Mobile was not a church. There are no pastors. There is no congregation. There are no services. So essentially what you have is a loophole in the law that you can drive a truck through,” said Hubbard.
That case was ultimately settled for one million dollar dollars with 62 children as the beneficiaries of the settlement.
The Alabama Legislature tried to pass a bipartisan bill HB277 this past year that would require the state to license all daycares in the state. But that bill failed.
