If you've ever worked in the food services industry, you are used to the occasional health inspection. If you've ever been in the military, you've had your gear inspected. Occasionally, things get swept under the rug to avoid any harsh penalties, or something is stashed away so that no one gets into trouble or loses their job.

But then again, running an unlicensed daycare does invite a certain amount of danger, especially if a Child Protective Services inspector finds finds twenty children in your closet.

For several months [Wamboi Bryan] provided care for many children. But in January, [Latreffa] Scott's two-year-old son wandered out a back gate. A neighbor found the boy in the front yard, brought him back and called CPS.

An investigator ordered Bryan to close her doors, but she didn't. During a follow-up inspection last week, investigators saw five children being picked up by their parents. But inside the home, they made a more surprising discovery.

"My inspector asked her if she was hiding children and the provider admitted to having them hidden," said Virginia Hancock with a day care licensing agency. "There were 23 children in a closet."

"They were all standing in basically this area, as far as the closet and the bathroom area," Bryan showed Eyewitness News cameras. "And I had a staff back here with them. At the moment, I panicked to the point of, 'Oh my God! I have all these kids here right now!' "

Parents are now faced with finding expensive daycare until Bryan can become a licensed daycare.

Twenty children in a closet, though, may not be considered "day care" as much as an oubliette.

Cairo

SUICIDEGIRL

Maryland, USA

FEB 09, 2005 06:02 PM

"Wamboi"?

Dicey

United Kingdom

February 2005

FEB 09, 2005 06:55 PM

hold on, hold on...I don't think I've understood this correctly...She had 20 kids in a closet? how could they fit?

waxangel

Baltimore, MD

May 2003

FEB 09, 2005 06:56 PM

Cairo said:
"Wamboi"?

Sounds Haitian or West African.

Jerry_Coke

United Kingdom

May 2004

FEB 09, 2005 07:01 PM

Dicey said:
hold on, hold on...I don't think I've understood this correctly...She had 20 kids in a closet? how could they fit?

Kids are stackable. It's keeping the door closed that causes problems...

sadisticmika

I'm lost

July 2004

FEB 09, 2005 07:06 PM

WHAM Boi.

BoxOfficePoison

New York, NY

June 2003

FEB 09, 2005 07:30 PM

I've seen some big closets in my time. 20 kids in one seems plausible, I suppose.

MondrianBlue

Grand Rapids, MI

December 2003

FEB 09, 2005 07:38 PM

that reminds me of one time when i was little i had to stay in the closet for a little while at my dads apartment, while he talked to his Community Mental Health Advisor, lol

dylanisdead

Minneapolis, MN

February 2004

FEB 09, 2005 07:51 PM

That's fucked up, I wonder what he planned on doing with them.

unravled

Vancouver, WA

August 2003

FEB 09, 2005 07:51 PM

disturbed_13 said:
that reminds me of one time when i was little i had to stay in the closet for a little while at my dads apartment, while he talked to his Community Mental Health Advisor, lol

When did you come out of the closet?

Cairo

SUICIDEGIRL

Maryland, USA

FEB 09, 2005 07:57 PM

waxangel said:

Cairo said:
"Wamboi"?

Sounds Haitian or West African.

I wonder how it's pronounced...I'd be surprised if it's actually pronounced the way it looks.

*edited cuz I'm missing brain cells

[Edited on Feb 09, 2005 by Cairo]

MondrianBlue

Grand Rapids, MI

December 2003

FEB 09, 2005 08:01 PM

unravled said:

disturbed_13 said:
that reminds me of one time when i was little i had to stay in the closet for a little while at my dads apartment, while he talked to his Community Mental Health Advisor, lol

When did you come out of the closet?

When the dude left of course.

Finch

SUICIDEGIRL

Thailand

FEB 09, 2005 08:01 PM

i thought this was gonna be about teh gay.

oh, well.

MistressMissy

Grand Rapids, MI

March 2003

FEB 09, 2005 08:05 PM

parents are forced to find expensive daycare until she gets a license...
it's so sad that people would put cost before the well being of their children.

unravled

Vancouver, WA

August 2003

FEB 09, 2005 08:18 PM

disturbed_13 said:

unravled said:

disturbed_13 said:
that reminds me of one time when i was little i had to stay in the closet for a little while at my dads apartment, while he talked to his Community Mental Health Advisor, lol

When did you come out of the closet?

When the dude left of course.

Most people come out when the dude gets there.

If you know what I mean.

And I think you do.

Huh?
Huh?
Yeah.

unravled

Vancouver, WA

August 2003

FEB 09, 2005 08:19 PM

MistressMissy said:
parents are forced to find expensive daycare until she gets a license...
it's so sad that people would put cost before the well being of their children.

Yeah, why pay for someone else to do it when you could just lock them in a closet at home for free?

witchhunter

Jackson, TN

February 2003

FEB 09, 2005 08:58 PM

One would hope that her previous violations would prevent her from getting a license.

Dansquatch

Valrico, FL

September 2004

FEB 09, 2005 11:05 PM

Okay so she hid the kids from an expection? Her motivation sounds as though she was protecting her job. My mom does unlicensed daycare for a living. Has for over 20 years. And you know what? She's fucking great at it. She's beter for a lot of these kids than their parents are. If she was licensed she couldn't do business the same way or make as much money. So I can see where this lady was coming from. It is however, fucked up she hid them in a closet. Was she just hiding them there that one time because she knew the inspection was coming?

Thistle

SUICIDEGIRL

California, USA

FEB 09, 2005 11:30 PM

Dansquatch said:
Okay so she hid the kids from an expection? Her motivation sounds as though she was protecting her job. My mom does unlicensed daycare for a living. Has for over 20 years. And you know what? She's fucking great at it. She's beter for a lot of these kids than their parents are. If she was licensed she couldn't do business the same way or make as much money. So I can see where this lady was coming from. It is however, fucked up she hid them in a closet. Was she just hiding them there that one time because she knew the inspection was coming?

Yes, and she admitted that that was pretty stupid.

Cairo, you made me laugh for about fifteen minutes...

Cairo

SUICIDEGIRL

Maryland, USA

FEB 09, 2005 11:45 PM

The licensing system is there for a reason. It's to ensure the quality of care and, above all, the SAFETY of the children in the daycare. I'm going to assume (and let me know if I'm wrong) that your mother makes more money as an unlicensed provider because she has more children enrolled than she would be permitted if she were licensed...and can you not see the danger in having too many kids per provider? What about a fire plan? Does your mom have one of those drawn up and ready in case something should go wrong? How about a regularly inspected fire extinguisher, or release forms for giving meds to the kids, or getting the names and information of all people who live in the house with the daycare and have daily access to the children...the list goes on and on. These things are for their SAFETY.

Of course, I don't know your mom, and I don't know your mom's practices, but if she's willing to compromise the safety of the kids in her care for money (or for ANYTHING ELSE for that matter), that's just not cool. She might rock when it comes to relating with kids (and that's great, because not everyone can do that), but if one of them ends up hurt or dead in an accident that could have been prevented with proper regulation, that helps absolutely no one.

And I'm speaking as a person who's shared her home with a licensed daycare for the past eight years. Both of my parents run daycare, and I've spent a fair amount of time volunteering. I've been through some classes already, and am going to be a daycare mom myself someday. So I do know what I'm talking about.

/rant

*edited to add: I hope you don't take this as an attack on you or your mom, because I certainly don't mean it that way. It just bothers me when people lose sight of the fact that certain regulations are in place for certain reasons...for certain good reasons. I sincerely hope that no one ever gets hurt in your mom's place, not only for the sake of the kids involved, but for hers as well.

[Edited on Feb 10, 2005 by Cairo]

loper_just_loper

Broken Arrow, OK

January 2005

FEB 10, 2005 05:18 AM

Atleast she didn't HANG the children in the closet.

llouys

Brazil

August 2003

FEB 10, 2005 05:25 AM

waxangel said:

Cairo said:
"Wamboi"?

Sounds Haitian or West African.

I believe it's a Kiswahili name. (Kenya and thereabouts.)

I found the title of this post... really bizarre.

[Edited on Feb 10, 2005 by louys]

Lego

United Kingdom

June 2003

FEB 10, 2005 05:38 AM

Dicey said:
hold on, hold on...I don't think I've understood this correctly...She had 20 kids in a closet? how could they fit?

In America closets tend to be less a cupboard and more an entire dressing room- "20 kids in a closet" in America is called "state school" in England.

[Edited on Feb 10, 2005 by Lego]

Drago

Philadelphia, PA

January 2004

FEB 10, 2005 05:57 AM

Twenty children in a closet, though, may not be considered "day care" as much as an oubliette.

Merriam-Webster Online said:
Main Entry: ou�bli�ette
Pronunciation: "�-blE-'et
Function: noun
Etymology: French, from Middle French, from oublier to forget, from (assumed) Vulgar Latin oblitare, frequentative of Latin oblivisci to forget
: a dungeon with an opening only at the top

I learn something new everyday on SG!

Stiles

New York, NY

November 2002

FEB 10, 2005 08:09 AM

disturbed_13 said:

unravled said:

disturbed_13 said:
that reminds me of one time when i was little i had to stay in the closet for a little while at my dads apartment, while he talked to his Community Mental Health Advisor, lol

When did you come out of the closet?

When the dude left of course.

You missed the funny.

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