Health Department shuts down LIC daycare for ‘serious violations’

By David Brand

A Long Island City daycare was forced to close Tuesday after an internal audit and investigations by the Department of Health revealed “multiple serious violations” at the site.

The Learning Experience of Long Island City sent a letter to parents advising them of the sudden shutdown on Tuesday night and encouraging them “to secure childcare elsewhere for the foreseeable future.”

Inspections at the Court Square daycare revealed “that some employee documents appeared to have been either altered or fabricated, most likely by one or more former employees,” read the letter, signed by company Vice President Jennifer Murray. “We immediately engaged professional forensic audit investigators to assist in the discovery process as we continue to review files.”

Murray blamed the closure on the bureaucratic review process by the city and state.

“While we have diligently worked to reproduce accurate and authentic files of the staff we were notified by the NYC Dept of health that until the files are reviewed by the state, we are simply prohibited from operating a full center when some staff members do not have complete files,” she said. 

The Health Department said its inspectors “found multiple serious violations” during audits on Feb. 14 and Feb. 18, “including problems related to staff background clearances and lack of qualifications,” which compelled them to close the program.

“We are working with this program to make sure that these violations are corrected and that they provide a safe and healthy environment for the children in their care,” a Health Department spokesperson said in a statement.

Staff members who answered the phone at the The Learning Experience of Long Island City on Wednesday afternoon and agreed to share requests about this story with administrators. The Learning Experience did not immediately respond with more information about the closure.