Troubled Malvern day-care center closes, revealing problems that plague the system

Tuesday afternoon, Maurice Rouse walked around his daughter’s day-care classroom at Arbor Learning Academy and took down drawings and art projects that decorated the walls.

His daughter wouldn’t be coming back to the Malvern child-care center, he said.

And she wouldn’t be the only one.

He and his wife, Erica, were among a small gathering of parents getting refund checks. The day before, the school had contacted parents a few hours after morning drop-off, telling them to pick up their kids early.

The Chester County day care center now remains closed indefinitely as the state Department of Human Services investigates complaints by parents, who also filed reports to local police alleging drug use by staff. In interviews last week, parents and former staff shared concerns about the safety of the children.

An official with DHS would not address any specific allegations about the five-year-old facility, one of a small cluster of businesses on Ravine Road in the Chester County borough.

“We can’t talk about the current investigation,” said Shante’ Brown, director for the Bureau of Certification with DHS’s Office of Child Development and Early Learning.

When needed, she said, the department will close an early learning facility immediately.

“We will not support agencies that are not ensuring the health and safety of children,” she said.

Meanwhile, the East Whiteland Township Police Department is investigating allegations of drug use, Detective Sgt. Patricia Doyle confirmed. She said the inquiry was ongoing, and “at this point there’s no substantiated claims.”

Abrupt and unexplained closures have plagued the center in the last year, more than half a dozen parents say, frustrating those who need child care in order to work.

One former staffer, Nicole Siuta, said she has been reporting the facility for alleged drug activity, child abuse, and endangerment since January 2021, when she resigned after 15 months.

She said she called ChildLine, the state reporting hotline for child safety, over a year ago to discuss similar allegations.

“I named specific names. I did everything and nothing came through,” she said.

State records show that Arbor has struggled repeatedly in recent years with money, staffing issues, and state inspections.

Over the last two years, according to DHS inspection records, Arbor was cited for 45 separate violations, including employing staffers who were missing background checks required for work in child-care settings. In 2021, court records show, the state imposed a lien on Arbor’s parent company, Premier Education LLC, for more than $8,800 of unpaid unemployment compensation.

During a December 2020 inspection, DHS cited Arbor over one staffer who failed to obtain a National Sex Offender Registry clearance, and another who failed to obtain a required FBI clearance. Both staffers had worked at Arbor for about three months by the time the state inspector noticed the missing paperwork.

Last fall, state regulators switched Arbor to a provisional license. During a follow-up inspection about a month later, Arbor was hit with 18 more violations — once again, for having employees working with missing clearances.

One employee, identified in inspection records as “Staff 2,″ failed to obtain child abuse or criminal background checks more than a year after being hired. An inspector wrote that the same staffer was unable to identify one of five children she had been assigned to care for by name. Arbor told the state that the employee had been terminated.

Other staff were found to be missing medical clearances — including tuberculosis screenings — or certifications for required fire safety or CPR training.

A final state visit, in May 2022, found three more staffers who were not authorized to work in child-care positions due to missing clearances.

While Arbor’s temporary license appears to have expired in March of this year, according to DHS records, Arbor was allowed to continue operating.

Brown explained that, due to delays in license renewals caused by COVID-19, day care centers are allowed to continue operating even past the expiration of their provisional license, unless the department revokes the license.

Citations for 45 violations in such a short time is not normal, said Diane Barber, executive director of the Pennsylvania Child Care Association, a statewide nonprofit dedicated to educating and assisting child-care providers.

Understanding the context is important, however, noted Barber, who has 30 years in the field.

“We’ve just never experienced the disruptions that we’ve experienced in this field in the last 2½ years,” she said.

Child-care professionals, she said, are dealing with high turnover, staff shortages, and changing rules as the pandemic continues.

Several parents said in interviews last week that they were confused as to who owns Arbor.

An archived version of Arbor’s website from December 2021 has a welcome page that states “Arbor Learning Academy is a privately owned and operated child care center. The owner and Director, Lauren Lilley, has a degree in Early Childhood Education.”

Lilley did not respond to requests for comment.

Parents were told last week that the facility is actually owned by a woman named Jean Sun.

Sun said by phone that she did not want to comment before the police conclude their investigation.

“We have no idea who she is, what her background is, she couldn’t provide a certificate of ownership, but she is distributing refund checks to the families,” said Anne Carlan, another Arbor parent.

Child care has been difficult to find, several parents said, and for many, Arbor was a safe haven for their children.

Nicki Luz, a mother of two who writes banking software, said she is grateful she has flexibility to work from home, but it’s still been difficult to deal with random closures at Arbor — and now news of the allegations, which have spread on social media.

“My children have spent more time on their iPads than I care to admit as a result of these closings because parents just have to work,” she said.

She said she will not be taking her kids back to the day-care center, even if it were to open again.

“My heart is going out to all those families who don’t work from home and don’t have the opportunity to find child care,” she said. She was able to find a preschool for her twins, who are 4, in the fall.

Many of the parents have created a Facebook group to discuss the allegations.

While DHS would not discuss the investigation, a spokesperson by email wrote:

”If anyone has concerns about child safety, call ChildLine at 1-800-932-0313. Concerns or complaints about licensed child care providers can be submitted online.”

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