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First Posted: 7/31/2014 PITTSTON &#8212; The state Department of Public Welfare has filed documents to revoke the Greater Pittston YMCA&#8217;s day care license after a 6-year-old girl was left unattended in a van following a petting zoo field trip last month.
YMCA officials, meanwhile, say they are working to resolve the situation and maintain the program.
DPW informed the YMCA of its decision in a letter mailed July 24.
It states that the decision to revoke the certificate was based on the YMCA&#8217;s &#8220;failure to comply with the department&#8217;s regulations, failure to comply with acceptable plans to correct noncompliance items, and gross incompetence, negligence or misconduct in operating the facility.&#8221;
Documents state that the YMCA has 30 days to appeal from the mailing date of the letter, and the YMCA can continue to operate the facility pending the outcome of the appeal. If the appeal is received in a timely manner, a hearing will be held and a final decision made.
YMCA response
The YMCA released the following in a statement on Thursday: &#8220;We submitted our corrective plan of action to DPW on July 24th. We are implementing our corrective action plan by scheduling additional training on staff professional development and supervision of children through Community Services for Children, the NEPA Keystone Stars Technical Assistance division. We have also conducted additional staff training on child safety protocol and pool safety. Finally, we have been in constant communication with our local DPW office to provide us with assistance in reviewing all policies and procedures to be sure that we are in total compliance with all regulatory mandates.&#8221;
&#8220;I wish to reiterate that the Greater Pittston YMCA takes its commitment to the safety and well-being of all of our children quite seriously and we are doing everything that we can to resolve this situation so that we can continue to have a successful child care program,&#8221; Executive Director Mary Ann Dziak said in the statement.
There are 24 children in the YMCA&#8217;s pre-school program and 50 children in its summer camp program, Dziak said Thursday.
Because the YMCA plans to continue to operate the facility under the appeal, it must first submit plans to correct the current violations and return them to the North Central-Scranton Office of Child Development and Early Living within 15 days.
According to Department of Public Welfare press secretary Kate Gillis, as of Thursday morning the DPW had not received an appeal.
As previously reported, the little girl was among a group of children taking part in a summer program for youths from kindergarten through seventh grade.
The children and two YMCA staff members went on the field trip to a local petting zoo on July 7. On their return, the two staffers did not see the child sleeping in the back of the van, with each thinking the other person was responsible for the girl.
When she finally woke up, the girl was able to unlock the doors and stood outside the van for about 15 minutes, until she was spotted by another YMCA staff member. The child was left unattended for about 45 minutes in total.
The staffer who was supposed to be supervising the girl was fired the following day.
State investigation
As a result of investigation into the matter, the YMCA was found to have five violations relating to suitability of persons in the facility, relating to aide qualifications and responsibilities, relating to supervision of children and relating to transportation.
During that same investigation, the DPW conducted an unannounced inspection of the YMCA. It found two violations relating to adult health assessment and relating to content of adult records.
Prior to the most recent incident, the YMCA was cited for improper supervision of children in May 2013, after one staffer took seven preschool-aged children for a walk away from the facility. During that walk, one child ran into a busy street. The staffer left the other children unsecured to gain control of the child attempting to run into the street.
In June and September 2013, the facility submitted acceptable plans to correct the violations cited which were accepted. However, according to documents, the YMCA failed to comply with those acceptable plans, as verified by the most recent inspection.&#8203;

State wants to revoke child care license at Greater Pittston YMCA