Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Smoke & mirrors?

 The Mississippi State Department of Health announced yesterday that parents can now  check the disciplinary history of any daycare center in Mississippi department's website.  However, it appears the bureaucrats's boasting is just that- boasting.  

The department issued this statement yesterday:


Today the Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) announces the launch of an online database of the more than 1,500 licensed child care facilities in the state, including licensing status, inspection reports, complaint investigations, and monetary penalties assigned during routine visits or inspections.

“For years you’ve been able to locate a licensed facility in your area through our website, but this new database will be a huge advancement for our state,” said Jim Craig, MSDH Director of Health Protection. “This is a project that has been years in the making, and we’re extremely proud to be able to finally offer this service to parents in Mississippi.”

The online search feature is the first from MSDH that allows parents to locate child care centers or youth camps with specific features such as ages served, after-school care, and special needs services. Performance information is also available, including inspections, investigations, monetary penalties, and whether the facility is part of the Mississippi Department of Human Services Child Care Certificate program.

In the past, information on complaints and inspections was available to the public only by making a written request for a specific facility. The online database will now make this information immediately available for all facilities.

The searchable database will be free to use and available 24 hours a day.

“Our goal is to give parents and caregivers complete information at their fingertips to make an informed decision on where to safely and appropriately place their child,” said Craig.

The database can be found here. 

Kingfish note: The search page is a nice tool, if it works.  However, JJ conducted several tests of the system and the results were found rather wanting.  JJ has a nice folder on the Little Footprints in Madison that is more than a few millimeters thick since there have been several complaints and investigations regarding that daycare center over the years.  The website states only "Documents prior to 07/01/2017 may be obtained via Public Records Request."   It states no investigations were found even though I am looking at several reports of investigations issued by the department.

The Clarion-Ledger reported last year that the state investigated several complaints filed against Kids Express 2 in Jackson.  No day care center with that name is listed in the database.  A sampling of child care centers yielded the same search result: no fines, investigations, or reports issued prior to July 1, 2017 are mentioned on the website.  In other words, the website is only good for department actions in the last five months.  Remember, it made this statement in the press release

In the past, information on complaints and inspections was available to the public only by making a written request for a specific facility. The online database will now make this information immediately available for all facilities.

Needless to say, the department's bragging is somewhat misleading.  A parent could unknowingly place her daycare center with a history of problems by relying on this "database."   Yet the bureaucrats are "proud" of this accomplishment. 

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

They should be required to scan their information and make it available to the public. If it hasn't been done over the last 6 months, there's no information on this website.

Anonymous said...

Since you called the daycare out that I had/have both of my boys in since they were born I'll say Little Footprints has been great to us. We have been happy with the teachers and staff. The facility is nice and both my boys have had some sort of curriculum instead of sitting in from of a TV being zombies.

Anonymous said...

Garbage in, Garbage out.

TELL THEM! If they have bad data, citizen complaints about it can sometimes be the only way they know about it.

I know that sounds stupid but I've found it to be the truth most of the time. These agencies tend to want to do what they are directed to do, overall, and letting them know about definite bad data will help them in the long run even if it embarrasses them a bit in the short.

(PS: While I think you can trust most agencies to try and do what they are mandated to do, you probably shouldn't trust the mouthpieces directly.)

Anonymous said...

I just FOIA’d my kids daycare.



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If you get tired come relax at the Fox News Tent. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both will entitle you to free drinks.Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required, just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '07 is for EVERYONE!!!

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