Officials are now revealing the reason why a YMCA child care center in Eastern Pennsylvania was shut down by the state earlier this month.
On August 6 officials from the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services issued an emergency order to YMCA Berkshire Center in Wyomissing, which is part of the YMCA of Reading and Berks County.
On Tuesday DHS officials revealed the reason for the shutdown. They told NBC10 a 3-year-old boy wandered outside the Berkshire Center back on July 27.
“This child was left unattended for approximately 15 to 20 minutes,” said DHS official Tanya Vasquez. “The staff [[members]] who were charged with caring for this child did not realize that the child was not with their group.”
The boy was found safe in an unfenced yard outside the daycare in an area that Vasquez says has never been “measured or inspected as an outdoor place safe for children.”
“The severity of the violations did pose a serious imminent threat to the health and safety of the children,” Vasquez said.
Kim Johnson, the CEO of the Reading and Berks County YMCA told NBC10 two employees at the Berkshire Center were fired on the spot.
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“We did self-report it right from the start,” she said. “We called the Department of Human Services ourselves just to make them aware that it did happen. We weren’t hiding anything and we needed to resolve the matter.”
The YMCA of Reading and Berks County told NBC10 they’ve been running childcare centers for 40 years and this is the first time they’ve ever had one shutdown. They have 20 days to repeal the state’s ruling.
