Day Care

When the contracts dried up and Kim Prince found herself without a TV writing gig, she immediately cut back on day care for her two children. Full-time care is something Prince and her husband can afford only with two full-time salaries. "It's an obvious example of the trickle-down effect of the economy," said Prince, 37, who eliminated two days of care a week at Happy Penguins Family Childcare in Northridge, saving her monthly household budget about $600.

A Burbank daycare owner and her employee pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges that an 11-month-old boy in their care died last year after allegedly suffocating from a car seat chest strap, officials said. Milena Nikodijevic, 51, owner of Twinkle Little Stars in Burbank, and her employee, Wendy Oropeza, 21, were charged with involuntary manslaughter and child abuse after the 11-month-old - identified by prosecutors only as Adam D. - died last year under their care, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney's office.

Re "Day Care: Sometimes the Signs Say No," April 16: I am a licensed day-care provider in the North Hollywood area. I have been providing care for babies for 21 years. It has been a joy, and enabled me to care for my own children, as my mother did. I find the Rees day-care situation disturbing, sickening and appalling. Parents should take heed and listen to their children, no matter how young and, if in doubt, ask or investigate. May I add that one bad apple does not spoil the whole cart.

After picking up her two young grandsons from day care Tuesday afternoon, an unstable Connecticut woman couldn't be reached by family members, triggering a statewide Amber Alert that was called off after all three were found dead that night, according to state police and family members. About two hours after Debra Denison, 47, picked up her grandsons - Ashton Perry was 6 months old and Alton Perry died on his second birthday - the boys' concerned mother called police, who launched a search and an alert, Connecticut State Police said in a statement.

State health officials are circulating a plan they say will help keep about 35,000 elderly and disabled Californians out of institutionalized care when Medi-Cal stops offering an adult day healthcare benefit in December. The plan released late Friday relies primarily on Medi-Cal managed care plans to find alternatives for beneficiaries, including additional hours of in-home supportive services, physical and occupational therapy, and social services. But care providers say the approach could fail because appropriate alternatives aren't always available and families would be forced to shuttle patients around town to obtain the services now offered at more than 300 adult day healthcare centers.

Re "Study Finds Day Care No Learning Bar" and "Orange County Parents Sing Praises of Day Care," April 4, and "Saying Mothers Shouldn't Work, Church Drops Care," April 5: I am a stay-at-home mom who feels very privileged to do so. This is my job, my career. I may not receive any monetary compensation for what I do, but it is one of the most important, demanding, frustrating and satisfying jobs there is. Unfortunately, in this day and age, those of us who choose to raise our children ourselves are made to feel that what we do is not worthwhile or significant.

For two years, Teresa Ledezma, a single parent, has tried to enroll her 4-year-old daughter in a preschool near her Pacoima home. Ledezma wants Cynthia to learn to interact with other children and get a head start on kindergarten. But the places that are within her financial reach--those funded in part by the state or by the private sector--have never had a place for Cynthia. "One place told me she was too old, another told me she was not old enough and the other was full," Ledezma said.

The Inglewood Unified School District and the Gardena YMCA are among 44 public and private agencies in the county that will participate in a state-funded program designed to reduce the number of latchkey children--children who are left unattended while their parents work. Money for the program, which will primarily benefit low-income families, was appropriated by the Legislature last year as part of Gov. George Deukmejian's workfare program.

It was certainly heartening to read in The Times and elsewhere about Lloyd Bentsen's visit to UCLA day-care center, and equally heartening to read that the Democratic Party is committed to supporting more day-care centers like the one at UCLA (Part I, July 30). However, as a single mother supporting herself through UCLA Law School who has been on the waiting list for UCLA day-care center for over a year and a half, I was offended and angry to read that while Bentsen "expressed sympathy" for Cynthia Farar, who could not afford to teach after getting a master's degree in education because of the high cost of day care, he thought it would be "very difficult" in some states to obtain the same "generous funding" that UCLA receives.

Since its inception in 1991, the largest and longest-running study of American child-care has generated plenty of controversial — and to many working parents, infuriating — conclusions about the effects on kids of early care outside the family. The latest findings of the federally funded Early Child Care Research Network are certain to be no exception. At age 15, according to a study being published Friday in the journal Child Development, those who spent long hours in day care as preschoolers are more impulsive and more prone to take risks than are teens whose toddler years were spent largely at home.

A man charged this week with molesting three children at his Boyle Heights day-care center had been investigated twice before - but never arrested - in connection with similar allegations several years ago, according to police officials and state records. The California Department of Social Services, which licenses day-care centers, was also aware of a previous allegation, but allowed Cano & Ramos Family Child Care to continue to operate after agency investigators concluded the accusation was not corroborated, records show.

Re "French unveil 75% supertax," Sept. 29 The article forgets to mention what the French get in return for their high tax rates. All French citizens have access to nearly free medical care, and in emergencies, doctors make house calls. The French get paid maternity leave for 16 weeks and free medical leave to take care of a sick relative. Nurses visit homes for free, private day care is heavily subsidized and parents receive a subsidy for every child born. Single parents get an additional allowance.

Three Delaware day-care workers are accused of urging two 3-year-old toddlers to fight each other while the adults egged them on -- and videotaped it, police said. "No pinching, only punching," one of the adults allegedly coaches the children. It's the story that is setting the Internet on fire Tuesday, along with "toddler fight club" headlines. The employees of Hands of Our Future day-care were arrested Monday after police viewed "the cellphone video of an incident that occurred in March of 2012 where the three female employees watched and encouraged two 3-year-olds to fight each other while at the day-care," according  to a Dover Police Department statement posted online.

Child care centers might not be providing kids enough opportunities to be physically active, finds a study that explored some of the obstacles. The study, released this week in the journal Pediatrics , reports that about three-fourths of children in the U.S. age 3 to 5 are in child care, and 56% of them are in centers: nursery schools, preschools and day care centers. Previous studies suggest they may be sedentary the majority of the time. For this study researchers analyzed information gathered from nine focus groups that included 49 child care teachers and providers in Cincinnati.

State health officials are circulating a plan they say will help keep about 35,000 elderly and disabled Californians out of institutionalized care when Medi-Cal stops offering an adult day healthcare benefit in December. The plan released late Friday relies primarily on Medi-Cal managed care plans to find alternatives for beneficiaries, including additional hours of in-home supportive services, physical and occupational therapy, and social services. But care providers say the approach could fail because appropriate alternatives aren't always available and families would be forced to shuttle patients around town to obtain the services now offered at more than 300 adult day healthcare centers.

The families of eight mentally disabled adults on Tuesday sued an El Monte day care center and government agencies for allegedly failing to properly investigate their complaints about verbal, physical and sexual abuse at the facility. The families said they had complained to managers at the center, formerly known as Healthy Start, and government authorities that their adult children were delivered home late ? sometimes with bruises, scratches and skin rashes ? and that they had turned sullen, fearful and withdrawn.

It's been 20 years since Michael Keaton wore gloves and goggles to change a diaper in "Mr. Mom." Sixteen years since Tom Selleck, Ted Danson and Steve Guttenberg struggled with bottle feeding in "Three Men and a Baby." Thirteen years since a gang of 5-year-olds tied up "Kindergarten Cop" Arnold Schwarzenegger. Now comes Eddie Murphy in "Daddy Day Care," Hollywood's latest resurrection of the fish-out-of-water subgenre -- a man who takes care of kids.

A former employee of an adult day-care center in El Monte pleaded no contest Thursday to sexually assaulting three severely disabled women with the mental capacity of children. The plea came in exchange for an agreement with prosecutors that he be sentenced to no more than eight years in prison. Juan Fernando Flores, 43, faced up to 27 years had he been convicted of all the charges, which included multiple assaults and the transmission of a sexual disease. The victims all have mental disabilities, including Down's syndrome, and range in age from 24 to 54. Flores, who worked as a cook and driver at the government-subsidized facility, then known as Healthy Start, was arrested last May. After the arrest, he confessed to assaulting the three women, said El Monte police Det. Ralph Batres.

Child-care advocates who had sued to stop the state from ending a day-care program that serves nearly 60,000 low-income parents announced a settlement Wednesday to keep the program afloat through the end of the year. Under the agreement, the state will continue to provide child-care services through Dec. 31. At the same time, parents who use the service will be notified of their right to be screened for eligibility for other state-subsidized child-care programs. The program serves former welfare recipients who are now working but not earning enough to afford day care.