Child Center, Accused of Abuses, May Be Sold Soon

Children as young as 2 years old were slapped and shaken, made to walk naked outside if they soiled their clothes and force-fed to the point of vomiting by the director of a Reseda day-care center, the state Social Services Department is alleging.

The state is also charging that the center’s director stuffed toilet paper into one child’s mouth and tied a towel around his jaw to silence his crying and, on another occasion, left him outside without supervision for two hours as punishment for bawling.

The Social Services Department seeks to revoke The Authentic Montessori Casa’s operating license. Charging that these and many other violations of health, safety and fire regulations occurred at the center between February, 1986, and February, 1987, the state initiated the revocation process late last year.

Seeking to Sell

The center’s director and owner, Frederica F. Fernando, said last week that she is negotiating to sell the center rather than fight what she described as persecution by biased state authorities. She is the only person accused of child abuse in the complaint.

At the same time, Fernando is appealing the state’s accusations, which she characterized as “so many lies and false allegations it is just ridiculous.” Fernando, 44, said she wants to clear her name even though she plans to leave the day-care field. A hearing on the appeal has been tentatively set for June before an administrative law judge, said Social Services spokeswoman Kathleen Norris.

Fernando claims that the state’s complaint arose from “a disgruntled staff member” who made false allegations to obtain unemployment insurance benefits after being fired, and from a state inspector who “has a personal grudge with me.” Fernando said she requested that another, unbiased inspector be assigned to her case but the state continued to send the same inspector.

“We take such a strong responsibility toward children,” said Fernando, a 12-year veteran of the child-care field. “We help the children to be more responsible people.”

Closed for Remodeling

The center was closed for remodeling last summer--in part to meet state regulations--and has not reopened, Fernando said. Reopening, she said, would require state approval of the newly constructed space at a time when the state is attempting to revoke her license.

Before closing, the center had an enrollment of 20 children from ages 2 to 6, Fernando said. The monthly charge was $200 to $300, depending how long a child had been in the program.

The facility has been licensed as a center to serve a maximum of 56 children, ages 2 to 5 years old, since October, 1982, state records show. Its two-year license expires Oct. 24.

Telephone calls to the center last week were answered by a recorded message asking callers to leave their name and number “if you are interested in information about our school.” Fernando said the message was on behalf of the prospective new owner, who plans to reopen the facility as a day-care program.

Fernando said the buyer, whose name she would not disclose, had nothing to do with the previous management of the facility.

The one-story brown stucco building on Canby Avenue near Reseda’s congested commercial hub was locked and empty last week. Tufts of overgrown grass were breaking through the fenced-in dirt back yard. A weather-beaten wooden sign read: “The Authentic Montessori Casa: An Education for Life.”

‘Education for Life’

Fernando apparently took her slogan from a film about the Montessori method of early education made several years ago that was titled “An Education for Life.” Developed by Maria Montessori in 1907, the system is a personalized approach to early childhood education that takes advantage of a young child’s innate motivation to learn.

Fernando said she received training in the Montessori method in Canada and her center was accredited with the Association Montessori Internationale, based in the Netherlands.

The Authentic Montessori Casa is not a member, however, of the American Montessori Society, said national director Bretta Weiss. The New York-based group establishes standards for the 700 schools and day-care centers voluntarily affiliated with it in the United States.

The American society requires a Montessori-trained teacher and Montessori educational materials in every classroom, documentation that a facility meets all local licensing requirements, a review by a Montessori consultation team and adoption of a professional code of ethics.

But anyone can use the Montessori name, whether or not he or she is affiliated with either the international or American societies.

At Fernando’s Montessori school, the state’s accusation paints the picture of a place where children were frequently abused and their safety jeopardized, where staffers and staffing levels did not meet state requirements and facilities were inadequate and crowded.

The complaint by the state Social Services Department includes the following allegations against Fernando:

That she “slapped and hit” 14 children on several occasions and abused seven children by “shaking them by the shoulders until they fell down crying, grabbing them forcefully by the arms and pulling their ears.” Children’s names and ages were not included in the complaint.

That five children were forced “to remove their soiled clothes and walk naked to get their clean clothes, which were sometimes in a different building.”

That paper towels were stuffed in one child’s mouth and that a towel was wrapped around his jaw to stop him from crying. His “hands were also tied behind his back with a towel and he was made to walk around in this manner for at least 45 minutes,” the complaint alleged.

That, another time, Fernando placed toilet paper in the same child’s mouth to stop his crying, tied a towel around his mouth and “forced him to stand in the corner for five to 10 minutes.”

That children were permitted to play in and around a shed in the playground. “Many times the door of the shed would latch behind the children, leaving them trapped for periods of up to 45 minutes inside the shed, which contained such dangerous objects as tools, broken toys and formaldehyde.” Hazardous items were stored in an unlocked medicine chest accessible to children, and gardening tools were kept in an unlocked storage cabinet, the complaint says.

That, when a child fell out of a tree house at the center, bumping his head, cutting his chin and scraping his face, Fernando “slapped him and screamed at him, then held his face underneath the faucet to wash him off” and didn’t call his parents “until one to two hours after the accident.”

That Fernando force-fed several children, “some of whom would vomit afterwards,” then forced them to clean up the vomit. One child was forced “to pick his sandwich up off the ground and eat it after he had dropped it in the sand,” according to the complaint, and children were forced “to take food out of the trash and eat it.”

That at least three “children were left outside unsupervised until they stopped crying. Many times it was cold outside and the children were thrown out without a jacket.”

That three girls were forced “to remove their dresses and stand in their underwear as a form of discipline” for 30 to 60 minutes.

That children often were not supervised by a director, substitute director or fully qualified teacher, as required by state regulations, and that, at other times, one teacher was supervising more children than regulations permit. The center also failed to meet the minimal square footage requirement at one point when children were crammed into a modular unit, the complaint alleges.

That only one wash basin and toilet were available to 30 children in the modular unit; that, on one occasion, the temperature in the modular unit was below 68 degrees and the heaters were off, and that appropriate cushioning material was not installed under play equipment to absorb falls.

That, for two employees, Fernando failed to submit fingerprint cards and other documentation required for a criminal check to the Social Services Department within 20 days of employment and that she failed to submit the required health reports on employees.

That Fernando refused to allow a licensing worker investigating allegations of physical abuse to interview children last February, and that a locked, 6-foot chain-link fence prevented the official from inspecting the facility.

That the Los Angeles City Fire Prevention Bureau terminated the center’s fire permit March 30 because a modular unit in the back yard failed to meet minimum fire safety requirements and building code standards, and that Fernando continued to use the structure two more weeks.

The Social Services Department does not disclose the sources or basis of its information. But spokeswoman Norris said inspectors generally learn of violations through reports by the facility’s neighbors, parents of the children, past or present staff members, police or local child-protective services workers.

The department conducts annual unannounced visits to day-care facilities and makes further inspections to check out complaints. Follow-up visits also are conducted to ensure that violations have been corrected. The department, which regulates thousands of licensed community care providers in California, issued 22 actions to revoke licenses during November.

The Social Services Department, which does not have the authority to file criminal charges, informed the Los Angeles Police Department last year about possible child abuse at the facility, Norris said. It could not be determined whether the LAPD investigated the state’s allegations.