Infant at N. Phila. child-care center dies at Temple hospital

A 10-month-old girl died Wednesday after she became unresponsive at a day-care center in the Franklinville section of North Philadelphia.

Police said the child's uncle arrived at Sisters Childcare Center at 3539 Germantown Ave. around 1 p.m. He found an employee there performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation on his niece, who was unresponsive, police said.

The uncle took the baby and rushed her to Temple University Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, police said.

The circumstances of the baby's death were unclear, police said, and were under investigation.

Sisters Childcare representatives could not be reached for comment. Someone at the facility hung up the phone twice in response to a reporter's calls Wednesday night.

In state inspections over the last two years, Sisters Childcare was found to be out of compliance with state regulations in more than two dozen instances.

A June 2014 inspection detailed problems with record-keeping, peeling paint in a room where toddlers spent time, and staff members without security clearances on file, according to state records. Records show that the facility had corrected those issues by December 2014.

During an inspection this July, according to state records, the day care's employees refused to let a state "certification representative" into the building.

That inspection again detailed issues with employees' security clearances. It also found that one teacher was caring for eight infants by herself and two staff members were watching 34 children on their own.
(State regulations require one staff member can supervise only up to four infants. For groups of toddlers, there must be one staff member for every five to six children, depending on their age.)

The inspection also found that some staff members did not know the names of the children they were caring for. One staff member was observed yelling at children.

Some of those violations had been corrected by October, according to state records. In other instances, including the staff-to-children ratios, the state had accepted the facility's plans to fall back into compliance.

The day care is currently operating under a provisional certificate of compliance from the state.

awhelan@philly.com
215-854-2961 @aubreyjwhelan