Colorado day care owner charged after allegedly hiding toddlers behind a false wall

[PatrickforO]

Source: CNN

(CNN)The owner of a Colorado day care that allegedly used a "false wall" to hide 26 toddlers in a basement has been arrested and charged, court documents show.

Carla M. Faith, 58, was arrested Monday and faces charges related to child abuse and attempting to influence a public servant, according to the documents. Her bond was set at $3,000.

The charges stem from November, when officers went to Play Mountain Place in Colorado Springs after complaints about overcrowding. There, they found 26 children younger than 3 with two adults behind the false wall.

The day care had a licensed capacity of six children, according to May 2019 data on the Colorado Department of Human Services website.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/25/us/colorado-day-care-false-wall-trnd/index.html

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OK, so let's talk about child day care and early childhood education.

First of all, not excusing Faith, there is a serious policy issue here. We must ask if it was ONLY her greed that caused her to over fill her daycare home? or was it pressure from market demand?

Consider these four facts:
A. There are not enough childcare centers. There are not enough licensed daycare homes.
B. Childcare workers are paid minimum wage, generally, and owners of child care licensed homes are capped so income is capped.
C. It costs literally an arm and a leg to put your kids in a childcare home and if you're middle class there's NO subsidy.
D. Colorado Springs is an urban area, and there are problems; there literally isn't any childcare in most rural areas. None.

So, while we recoil in horror at Trump and his disgusting antics, and hear the Republicans positively CROW about how GREAT the economy is, be mindful that because of the structure of our child care system and the fact that it doesn't seem to matter much to policy makers, the REALLY IMPORTANT people who provide this care for our pre-school age kids earn driddle squat and struggle to make ends meet every month.

Early childhood education (pre-school) again because of no subsidies, is stratospherically priced - only about 6% of kids even go because it is so expensive.

And we all know teachers in K-12 don't make nearly enough.

But, hey, sports stars earn kazillions of bucks and we have a brand new shiny space force!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. The problem is that they can't find enough people to do it

mainly because the pay is lousy but also because the homes can't meet the regulations. I just read an article about how the city of Duluth is trying to deal with the situation and all the obstacles they are facing:

Studies have shown that more than half of the country lives in a child-care desert — places where there is a yawning gap between the number of slots needed for children and the number of existing spaces at child-care centers. The result is years-long wait lists for infants and rising costs for parents.

In at least 28 states, parents pay more for child care than they do on their mortgages or for in-state college tuition. A January report from the nonprofit Council for a Strong America estimated the country is losing $57 billion in revenue, earnings and productivity each year as a result of the child-care crisis.

In northeastern Minnesota, where the unemployment rate is below the national average, the shortage is a byproduct of the prosperous economy. Employers, from the tech hub downtown to the taconite mines up north, say qualified workers are turning down jobs because they cannot find affordable child care....

The crisis was not prompted simply by a shortage of spots; it was deepened by the shortage of adults willing to do the arduous, tiring work for such a low wage. She noted that a person could make more money at a fast-food restaurant or as a teacher’s assistant.

The rest at http://www.startribune.com/duluth-wants-to-fix-its-child-care-crisis-it-s-harder-than-it-imagined/566471312/

[3Hotdogs]

11. Same issues apply to senior health care aides.

Shit pay, shit job.... we are paying 3k per month for 12 hour daycare....stroke and other issues.


One aide ghosted after one day. Another one worked 70 days straight because agency didn’t have a substitute.

These women bust their asses for $10 per hour. I’m

[oregonjen]

2. Thank you!

As a former preschool teacher, I completely agree! I got paid just a little above minimum wage, even with a college degree and worked my butt off for years in that world. If you’re teaching in preschool, there is lesson planning, evaluations, parent meetings, etc. It’s not solely “daycare.” Trying to get the little ones on the right track for kindergarten is not an easy thing. Everything that is provided for them is to help them socially maneuver in life, strengthen their fine and gross motor skills, etc. Preschool teachers who work in private schools don’t have any benefits really and there is no retirement fund. It sucks. Not to mention dealing with parents who don’t want to listen when a teacher spots red flags about their child. When you have success stories in your class, it’s so worthwhile, though. That’s why I stayed a preschool teacher for so long, but finally had to leave due to the toll the stress was taking.

[Llero]

3. That's torture

Give them many, many years in jail.

[DENVERPOPS]

4. I would list different causes

than sports stars earning gazillions of dollars.......

Tax cuts for the Uber Rich, tax cuts for the corporations, corporate welfare, etc etc etc make the Jocks salaries look minuscule if they even register at all in a comparison.

[JonLP24]

13. I agree

Plus billionaire sports team owners are making a lot of money off their talent.

[marble falls]

5. If a job is worth having someone else to do full time ...

its worth paying that someone a living wage.

[mopinko]

6. here's the thing. if you are a follower of evolutionary psychology

and a science nerd in general, how we raise our offspring, decide how many to have, and what resources we have to care for them means everything about how a society is organized.

if it isnt child centered, it will be a harsh, cruel society. children are programmed to pick this up, and programmed w a whole fall back set of behaviors, and even physical development, to prepare them to function in a hard world.

if, otoh, it IS child centered, their development rises. they can develop their "higher functions", like the humanities, and the society can be peaceful and prosperous.

i believe the adult to child ratio is a key indicator. treat children like cattle, and you get a lot of bullshit.

[bucolic_frolic]

7. Speakeasy Business Plan

gee ... almost sounds like something she intended to do from the outset

[dalton99a]

8. Meanwhile childcare for children from two to six is free in France

paid for by the French government

[RVN VET71]

12. Plus visiting nurses to assist the new mother for several months after giving birth.

The French system is running into money-trouble, but it can and will be handled. In America, even Democrats (some, not all, of course) insist we -- the wealthiest nation in history -- could not afford a system like the French, so we opt for no system at all.

Remember, Mittens Romney publicly described the 2 societies of Makers (i.e., good, wealthy people) and Takers (everybody else). Other conservatives have called the poor "useless eaters" -- but, of course, one must always note that most of us are poor by the financial standards these monsters set up, but we may be "useful" as long as we hunker down, do our jobs, and don't try to extract a fair wage for a days pay.

And I'll never forget Little Bush's proud comment to the woman who told him she had to work 3 jobs to keep her family clothed, fed, and housed: "Now, that's uniquely American!" And he said it smiling proudly and without a smidgen of a trace of irony in his voice.

[PatrickforO]

14. THAT'S what I'm talking about!!! n/t

[progressoid]

9. Colorado Springs. 4th most conservative city in the US.

https://www.cpr.org/2014/08/07/study-ranks-conservative-us-cities-colorado-springs-no-4-aurora-no-10/

[erronis]

17. And I immediately thought that this daycare center was connected to a conservative church

and the name Carla Faith....

When I took my kids (back in the 70s) to a nearby daycare center (ABC something) I didn't realize that it was run by some fundies. My kids (7-10yo) came home in tears telling me that they needed to give all their love to Jesus.

Parents need to be careful, but there are very limited options in the USofA.

[WestLosAngelesGal]

10. No way could 2 people properly care for that many toddlers.

She knew she was breaking the law, and that's why she tried to hide it.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

15. What a sweetheart

[cstanleytech]

16. I'm a bit confused be honest. How can they say child care is too expensive for people to afford

and yet that the people who are doing the work or being paid very low?

[PatrickforO]

18. Well, this is a quandary that often plagues

young couples.

A man and a woman decide to begin a family. Up until then, both have enjoyed good careers. She is an implementation manager with a credit card processing company and he is a dispatcher. She makes around $56 and he around $75. So, together, they make $131,000 and change every year.

Not bad, right?

But now there's a pregnancy and the baby is born. When parental leave is finished, and both return to work, they are now paying around $15,350 per year for infant care. If they can find it. That's $1,279.16 per month. It is still 'do-able' depending on the cost the couple is bearing for housing and transportation, and any revolving debt they might have.

So, the infant gets to be 2 years old and childcare goes down to only $12,390 a year. BUT, she is again pregnant and a new child is born.

At this point, with two children, a three-year old and an infant, the couple is now paying a whopping $27,740 per year for childcare. That is $2,300 per month, more than the average mortgage payment.

In the meantime, there is the fear on the part of both parents that the childcare being provided is just barely adequate because the people who are child care workers get paid minimum, which as of January 1, 2020 will be $12/hr.

So, to your question - why do they make so little?

Self-Help.org says that the costs to start a childcare center if you’re taking over an existing facility can run at least $55,000 in renovation costs. They also reveals that supplies and equipment can costs over $60 per child. According to Self-Help.org, educational supplies and equipment can total over $4,700. Other expenses include marketing costs, furniture and administrative expenses; Self-Help averaged the total costs for a start-up childcare center to be $95,485.

OK, so now you have a childcare center. You've put in the capital to start it. But how much does it cost to run?

Well, according to https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/worklife/reference-materials/child-care-resources-handbook/, you must have one adult to three infants or toddlers.

Now let's work that out.

There are two kids, an infant and a two-year old.

Assuming you're full with those two employees, your revenue looks like: (3 X $15,350) + (3 X 12,390) = $83,220 annual revenue.

Now the costs. First you need two people to be with those two groups of three kids each. You only pay $12/hr, but they are employees, so you have to take out Social Security and Medicare, and you as the employer pay around 9.5% on top of the employee gross. That looks like (2 X {12*2080}) + ({12 X 2080 X 2}*0.095) = $54,662.40

OK, so far so good. But you also have to cover worker's compensation and pay FUTA (Unemployment Insurance tax). So, FUTA costs at minimum 6%. That's ($54,662 X .06) = $2,995.20. And the worker's comp rate is based on the injury risk of the worker's ONET code expressed as a dollar amount per $100 in wages. For a childcare worker in Colorado, this might be $0.95 per $100 in payroll, so for our two employees, that looks like ($49,920/100) X $0.95 = $474.24. So for FUTA and worker's comp, you pay $3,469.44.

So let's tote it up so far:

You have (3 X {12*2080}) + ({12 X 2080 X 2}*0.095) = $83,220 in sales.

You have labor costs of $54,662.40 + $3,469.44 = $58,131.84.

This leaves you $25,088.16, but what about supplies? They look like this:
Diapers and wipes for the three infants: $6,948 for the year.
Formula for the infants: $5,400 for the year.
Food for three toddlers @ $3/day for 261 days = $2,340
(This assumes the toddlers don't need diapers - if they do, you'd add that in)

So, your supplies total $14,688.

So far, operation looks like:
$83,220 - $58,131.84 - $14,688 = $10,400.16.

But how much is rent? The federal government says you have to have 48.5 square feet per kid in the classroom. So, for six kids, you have to have at least 1,000 square feet because you have two little rooms for the kids, at least one bathroom, a decent sized storage closet and maybe a small office for you. In Colorado Springs in 2019, you could get a net-net-net lease at $6.82 per square foot per year. So, your rent would be $6,820.

And what about liability insurance. Gotta have it at a low, low rate of $33/mo or $396

Now your gross margin looks like this:
$83,220 - $58,131.84 - $14,688 - $6,820 - $396 = $3,184.

So you pay taxes at maybe 15%, but you're self-employed, so you have to add another 19% for your own FICA and Medicare deductions.

Bottom line, you're not going to be able to do this at a $12/hr minimum wage unless you bump the price per kid, but you can only go as high as the market will bear.

THIS IS WHY WE NEED GOVERNMENT SUBSIDIES FOR THESE CENTERS. CHILD CARE IS A PUBLIC GOOD, AND SO SHOULD BE FUNDED PUBLICLY LIKE THE K-12 SYSTEM.

[dalton99a]

19. +1. Great analysis