My mother's health had been deteriorating. Fortunately, it was easy for me to visit her as she lived in Corpus Christi, a mere 2 hour drive from San Antonio. After we moved to Oklahoma, the distance and the cost to drive to Corpus Christi made it almost impossible to see her. There wasn't a single day where we did not fear a call from one of my brothers telling us that she had passed away. They assured me that she was doing well. We realized that she was not doing well when we were finally able to visit Corpus Christi during a Spring Break. My brother's had lied to me as they felt that we had already suffered enough from Adrienne Driggers and Childcare Licensing. They didn't want us to worry. My mother had deteriorated quickly. She was completely immobile, could no longer sit nor eat on her own. She could hardly speak a word. Despite the fact that we lived in peace in Oklahoma, out of the reach of Adrienne Driggers and the Department of Family and Protective Services, we had to return to Corpus Christi. I had to be there for my Mother.
On our last day of Spring Break, we were fortunate to have found a place to rent in Corpus Christi for our new daycare. Despite Adrienne Driggers' attempt to prevent Marla from being a license holder and working at a daycare, once we discovered that Marla's two year sentence had expired, there was nothing that she could do to stop us. I would be able to team-up with Marla at her new daycare as Patricia Fernandez, an attorney for the State and no doubt in an attempt to keep their office from losing before the State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH), arranged for me to be allowed to be a Director. Ms. Fernandez' office would not have made this arrangement if they felt that Adrienne Driggers was correct in her decision to close the daycare. My being allowed to work as a Director was as great an admission of a State Agencies wrongdoing as you can get. Our attorney, against our orders, compromised our position and made an agreement with Ms. Fernandez and Ms. Driggers in a closed door meeting. Ms. Fernandez and our attorney did not allow us to be a part of this meeting.
We were brought in to meet with our attorney (who suspiciously turned on us after the closed door meeting), Ms. Fernandez, and Ms. Driggers to discuss what they had agreed to. Ms. Driggers began begging us to return and open a daycare in San Antonio promising that we would get better treatment. She stated that she would provide us with her direct number should one of her staff behave inappropriately and acted as if she was not involved in their behavior. When it came to her own survival she had no problem throwing her staff under the bus. She stated that if we ever needed an administrative review she would order that it be held by somebody from a different city. Having experienced the extent of San Antonio Childcare Licensing's unethical behavior, there was no way that we were going to return. Operating a daycare in San Antonio was too dangerous. We did not believe that Driggers or her staff could be trusted. The humiliation that Adrienne Driggers experienced in having to beg us to return to San Antonio and admit that her office acted unethically, we are certain, only increased her already intense hatred of us.
A few months later, when Marla submitted her application to Childcare Licensing in Corpus Christi, Marla was notified by one of Childcare Licensing's Representatives, Edward Flores, that Adrienne Driggers reneged on Ms. Fernandez offer. I promptly called and wrote to our attorney who promptly responded with the following email indicating that Ms. Fernandez ordered Adrienne Driggers to notify the Corpus Christi office that she was wrong in attempting to prevent me from being a director or person left in charge of Marla's daycare. She had been humiliated once again.
Email from Mark Braswell and Patricia Fernandez-Attorney Generals Office
Thing's were going great at our daycare in Corpus Christi. We had earned a great reputation for having a caring and very well trained staff. The Childcare Licensing Representatives that were assigned to us were tough but they were ethical. It was a far cry from San Antonio. Until November 7, 2013.
Many children did not attend on this day. So Marla and I decided to leave the daycare to get more equipment for the children. The State of Texas Minimum Standards state that a daycare Director is not required to be at the daycare for all hours of operation so long as someone is placed in charge of the daycare. We placed a caregiver whose initials are P.E. to be in charge of the daycare in our absence. Ms. E had both childcare and supervisory experience and had received 56 hours of training before she was allowed to work by herself with the children. The 56 hours are more than double the 24 hours of training required by the State of Texas. She had worked at our daycare for at least two months and had proven herself to be competent.
Shortly after we left the daycare to purchase equipment, Ms. E, went against specific instructions and combined her pre-k children with the toddlers to use the restroom. This is not a violation of the minimum standards but prohibited at Kiddie Care. The toddler group was being cared for by a caregiver with the initials EP who had properly followed instructions in securing her area prior to changing the diapers of the children in her care and prior to the arrival of Ms. E's pre-k children. We discovered later that Ms. E violated her training by ordering a child to return a toy that he had brought with him to the restroom back to the pre-k room. When the child did not return quick enough, Ms. E left her group with Ms. P to allow her to bring the child back to her group. Unfortunately, when Ms. E left the room she left the door open and unsecured. Ms. E believed that Ms. P would be able to supervise both of the groups while she was gone despite the fact that Ms. P was busy at the diaper changing table. During those few seconds that she removed herself from her children's line of sight, a child ran out of the now unsecured room, left the building, and ran towards the street in front of the daycare. Fortunately, nothing happened to the child. A passerby returned the child to the daycare where he was instructed to leave the child with Ms. E as she was the person in charge. The Corpus Christi Police Department arrived shortly after and had Ms. E call us to notify us of what had occurred.
We arrived within minutes after being called. We promptly notified Childcare Licensing as well as the child's parents. A Childcare Licensing Representative named Monica Martinez arrived at the daycare within two hours and questioned the staff as to what had occurred. After speaking with everyone she told us that it was very likely that Ms. E and possibly Ms. P would be placed on the DFPS Central Registry for Abuse and Neglect and that there was a small possibility that the daycare may be put on a corrective action though she felt that it may not as the daycare had only 13 write-ups. She provided us with a plan of action and left. Adrienne Driggers would later make an attempt to include Marla as being part of the incident even though Monica Martinez' Safety Plan clearly indicates that only Ms. E and Ms. P were involved.
Monica Martinez Safety Plan
Both Ms. P and Ms. E were gone from the daycare within days of the incident. Despite having our full support, Ms. P left the daycare on the urgings of her mother who wished to protect her from the stress and shame of not being able to work alone with the children. Strangely, PE blamed us for her situation! We were told that Ms. E driven by her anger at us, made a false report to the Corpus Christi Health Department and Childcare Licensing. Even though two inspectors came from the Health Department the daycare did not receive a single deficiency. We received a visit the next day from a Childcare Licensing Representative named Christina Cantu. Ms. Cantu made it feel like we were in San Antonio all over again.
When Ms. Cantu arrived I thought that she was looking for a job. She was gruff and her clothes were untidy. The most troubling thing about Ms. Cantu was her effort to rewrite the Texas Administrative Code. She attempted to write-up the daycare for not having an extra person with the toddler teacher when she was changing a child. We notified her that the caregiver was well within the State required ratios as the toddler teacher had approximately half the children as required by the State of Texas Minimum Standards.
It is said that power corrupts. I disagree. I believe that power enhances a persons personality. If a person is corrupt of heart, then being placed in a position of power will only serve to make that person worse. Whether it's Adrienne Driggers or Christina Cantu, we have seen the most corrupt of heart in Childcare Licensing. Not only did Ms. Cantu attempt to write-up the daycare for operating in ratio, she also attempted to write-up the daycare for having too much milk in the refrigerator, too many toys and activities, and having too large of a service cart! Not only were her attempts to write us up for having too much milk and having too large of a service cart ridiculous, but they are not even the responsibility of Childcare Licensing. As for having too many toys and activities, the State of Texas Minimum Standards state that daycares must provide sufficient toys and activities to stimulate the children yet Ms. Cantu was attempting to write up the daycare for meeting this requirement!
While she was unable to write us up for having too much milk, toys and activities, or having too large of a service cart, she was able to write us up for the carpet which she absolutely detested. Ms. Cantu ordered us to remove the carpet and stated that she was going to write us up for "having the same carpet in the room that was in place in a previous visit of hers" when the building was occupied by a different daycare. She was very much aware that the carpet was shampooed professionally every three months and that the Corpus Christi Health Department did not consider the carpet to be a danger to children as we were given a perfect score just the day before her visit. She stated that she could care less about this information and that she was going to state on her report that the carpet had a stain and that she would continue to write us up for that until we removed the carpet.
We stated to her: "You are aware that if we remove the carpet and padding that the children would be forced to play and sleep on exposed concrete? If we do as you are ordering us, many children are going to get hurt." We called her supervisor, Sylvia Fuentes, to get clarification. We stated our concerns about the safety of the children if we obeyed Ms. Cantu's orders to remove the carpet and padding. We also stated that we would do as Ms. Cantu ordered but we wanted to hear those orders from somebody above her. We later received a bizarre letter from John Lennan, the head of childcare licensing in Corpus Christi, stating that they had investigated and resolved the matter. This bizarre letter stated that we had complained about Ms. Cantu's "illegal and unethical behavior" when the truth was that we had merely asked for clarification. Our guess is that Mr. Lennan was upset for our questioning Ms. Cantu's wishes and lashed out in an illogical way. While we did not state to Childcare Licensing that we believed Ms. Cantu's behavior to be illegal or unethical, we did think that her wanting us to remove the carpet and padding was foolish and incredibly dangerous. We were notified later that Mr. Lennan conspired with Adrienne Driggers to close the daycare and place Marla on the State of Texas Central Registry without justification.
In early December, we received a call from Monica Martinez, the Childcare Licensing Representative that was assigned the responsibility of investigating the incident that occurred on November 7. She requested that we send to her a copy of my (Hilario) First Aid/CPR card and a copy of my transportation training. I wrote to her that I did not mind sending them to her but they had absolutely nothing to do with the incident. In my letter, I politely asked her for the reasoning behind her request. She did not respond. I told Marla that Adrienne Driggers and Childcare Licensing was up to no good. I began my preparations.
On Friday, December 20th we received a letter from Adrienne Driggers office stating she had ordered Marla to be placed on the State of Texas Central Registry for Abuse and Neglect of children. The criteria for being placed on the Central Registry is very clear. A person would have needed to either abused or neglected a child. Since Marla was not at the daycare, she clearly did not fit the criteria. Adrienne Driggers, was clearly abusing her power to prevent Marla from working with children. Having learned Ms. Driggers tactics I knew that she was going to order for the daycare to be closed. After receiving the request from Monica Martinez, I believed that Childcare Licensing was planning on doing something underhanded and prepared a petition that I would place on change.org. The petition asked for the removal of Marla from the Central Registry, for the daycare not to be closed, and for an investigation into Adrienne Driggers office. At noon on January 2, 2014, Adrienne Driggers ordered the closing of Marla's daycare effective on that day by stating the daycare posed an immediate threat to the safety of children TWO MONTHS AFTER the incident that occurred on November 7. The State of Texas Administrative Code states that license holders must be given the opportunity to obtain a temporary restraining order to prevent the closing. The State of Texas Administrative Code also provides other remedies to prevent the closing of daycares and the subsequent traumatic experience of children having to relocate. Those remedies are in the form of corrective actions that allow daycare operators the opportunity to make modifications and/or adjustments to address problem areas.
Please take the time to read and sign the following petition from Change.org. We would greatly appreciate your sponsoring the petition. You can sponsor the petition directly on change.org. By signing and promoting the petition you will be helping us to save the lives of thousands of children in Texas by putting an end to Adrienne Driggers.
The link below is to an article from the Victoria Advocate. In this article, Adrienne Driggers is quoted giving the criteria for being placed in State of Texas Central Registry for Abuse and Neglect. Marla clearly does not fit the criteria. Please note that at the time of the article, Beary Beginnings - owned by Steven and Maribel Alkek, had 72 deficiencies. At the time of the incident on November 7, 2013, Marla's daycare had 13. Adrienne Driggers placed Bearly Beginnings on "corrective action" giving them time to make improvements and avoid the negative effects of uprooting the children in their care.
Article from Victoria Advocate-Bearly Beginning
We had immediately requested for Administrative Reviews to challenge the write-ups from Christina Cantu, Monica Martinez, and Adrienne Driggers placing Marla on the Central Registry and were ignored each time. The State of Texas Administrative Code states that Childcare Licensing has 10 days to schedule the administrative reviews upon receiving the request and must administer the administrative reviews within 30 days of being scheduled. Adrienne Driggers' Childcare Licensing office blatantly disregarded the Texas Administrative Code by denying Marla's right to due process in challenging the write-ups and used those same write-ups to close Marla's daycare. When this was brought to the attention of Adrienne Driggers' supervisors, Julie Richards the Childcare Licensing Program Services Coordinator, and Paul Morris, the Assistant Commissioner for Childcare Licensing, the Administrative Reviews were finally scheduled. Both Ms. Richards and Paul Morris were already aware of and had approved of Adrienne Driggers intentions of placing Marla on the DFPS Central Registry and the closing of her daycare. Despite knowing of Adrienne Driggers history of abusing her power he stated to us that he fully supported her. Any Administrative Reviews held at this point were already compromised.
If Paul Morris and Julie Richards are reading this blog and are upset that their names and actions have been exposed perhaps they will think twice before rubber stamping decisions as drastic as placing an innocent person on the DFPS Central Registry for Abuse and Neglect or closing their daycares without considering whether or not those actions are balanced and consistent across the State of Texas. By rubber stamping Adrienne Driggers decisions and "fully supporting" her they have aligned themselves with a person that poses an enormous and immediate threat to the safety and well-being of thousands of children.
Below is an email that we sent to Kimberly Evans-Handy, a DFPS Childcare Licensing Program Specialist who held an administrative review with Marla, myself, and our attorney, Armando Reyna, to decide if Marla should remain on the State of Texas DFPS Central Registry for abuse and neglect. Ms. Evans-Handy, with our attorney present, had the audacity to tell us that she didn't care to see or hear any evidence that we wanted to present. She stated that we could send her supporting documentation but she wasn't going to bother looking at it. In this email we state our case as to why Marla should not be on the State of Texas Central Registry and included the State of Texas Minimum Standard rules that applied. As could be expected, Ms. Evans-Handy ruled in Adrienne Driggers favor.
Email to Kimberly Evans-Handy
The following link was obtained from the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services website regarding Just Kids Christian Learning Center operated by Vivian Closna in San Antonio Texas. Two toddlers left the facilities and crossed one of San Antonio's busiest streets. Adrienne Driggers did not close the daycare, did not place the daycare on corrective action to give the daycare the opportunity to make adjustments to their operations, nor did she order the Director to be placed on the DFPS Central Registry. Just Kids Christian Learning Center had 65 total write-ups at the time of the incident which represents 5 TIMES the amount of Marla's daycare which had 13. San Antonio is the headquarters to Adrienne Driggers office.
Just Kids Learning Center
The following link was obtained from the Austin Statesman. It describes an incident that occurred at Tutor Time Child Care, operated by Kristin Ogala, where an 18 month old child left the facility and crossed a six lane Highway in Northwest Austin. Austin is the headquarters to Paul Morris and Julie Richards' Texas Department of Family and Protective Services Childcare Licensing Division. It is also the headquarters to the Greg Abbot's Attorney General's Office whose attorney's are using the State of Texas taxpayers money to support Adrienne Driggers decision to place Marla on the DFPS Central Registry and the revocation of Marla's license.
Tutor Time Child Care Learning Center
The following article was obtained from kristv.com in Corpus Christi Texas regarding the unfortunate death of a child named Jordan Arredondo at Mary Mcleod Bethune Day Care. Bethune Day Care, like Marla's Kiddie Care, had a small amount of write-ups at the time of the incident. No child was ever hurt at Marla's daycare when Adrienne Driggers ordered that it be closed due to "posing an immediate threat to children." It has been nearly 4 months since Jordan passed away. Bethune daycare is still operating, is not facing corrective action, and the director was not placed on the DFPS Central Registry.
Death of Jordan Arredondo at Mary Mcleod Bethune Day Care
http://www.kristv.com/news/child-passes-away-after-tv-fell-on-him/
Below is an article from kens5.com regarding several daycares in San Antonio. Please note the number of write-ups from each of the daycares and keep in mind that Marla's Kiddie Care had only 13 total write-ups at the time of the incident that Adrienne Driggers would use to close her daycare. All of the daycares mentioned in the article are still operating. The daycares mentioned: Step-2-Step had 99 write-ups, Little Friends Daycare Center had 129 write-ups, and Montessori Earth School had 235.
San Antonio Daycares
It is apparent that Adrienne Driggers and Childcare Licensing targeted Marla and her daycare. Neither the safety and well-being of the children or the fair and balanced application of the punishments provided by the Texas Administrative Code considered. The Department of Family and Protective Services Childcare Licensing Division is a rogue State Agency that is clearly out of control.
Please take the time to read and sign the following petition from Change.org. We would greatly appreciate your sponsoring the petition. You can sponsor the petition directly on change.org. By signing and promoting the petition you will be helping us to save the lives of thousands of children in Texas by putting an end to Adrienne Driggers.
*** We have the opportunity to make ourselves heard directly to the people with the power to force a change in the way DFPS operates. Please take the time to fill out a Public Input Form on this link: https://www.sunset.texas.gov/input-form. Time is limited as we have only until 6/30/2014 to submit these forms. Please demand that the Sunset Advisory Commission do something about the corruption in the Department of Family and Protective Services and reference this blog (http://darksideofchildcare.blogspot.com/). You have the power to rock a corrupt State Agency to it's core. With your assistance you can help us protect the lives of tens of thousands of children that attend daycare in Texas. ***
Showing posts with label Adrienne driggers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Adrienne driggers. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Monday, May 12, 2014
Horror from a corrupt State Agency
The feelings of astonishment, anger, and disgust are typical when we speak to people of the abuse of power, that we have endured at the hands of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) Childcare Licensing Division, specifically the office of Adrienne Driggers, the District Director for regions 8, 10, and 11 which encompass the entire area South of and including El Paso, San Antonio, and Victoria. If you are a daycare operator or are a parent of a child in a daycare, what you read on this blog directly affects you. If you care about children, fear/hate the abuse of power by a State agency or are against racism, we ask you to join us in this fight.
First I must tell you that I feel a great deal of guilt for not having worked with my wife Marla when she operated her daycare in San Antonio. I would later learn just how corrupt Childcare Licensing was. We certainly did not expect a State Agency (Childcare Licensing) with the responsibility of ensuring the safety of children to jeopardize the safety of children. Nor did we expect that same State Agency to victimize a person who devoted her entire life to care for children, but that is exactly what occurred when we moved to San Antonio. Marla was pregnant with our 2nd child when she was operating without me. It is a miracle that she did not have a miscarriage as Childcare Licensing put her through an incredible amount of stress. We would not be so fortunate later.
While operating her daycare in San Antonio, Marla had received five visits from a Childcare Licensing Representative named Elizabeth Venecia all within a week and a half of each other. Adrienne Driggers' office refused to provide Marla with the write-ups from those visits, despite the Texas Administrative Code stating that Childcare Licensing must provide the write-ups within 10 days of the inspection. Marla called Ms. Venecia repeatedly asking for them so that she could make corrections but was repeatedly ignored. Marla reported this to Yvette Gutierrez, Ms. Venecia's Supervisor and to Adrienne Driggers. With the presence of myself, Marla, and Yvette Gutierrez, Ms. Venecia admitted to not having provided the write-ups to Marla. Despite not abiding by the Texas Administrative Code, Childcare Licensing did not remove the write-ups. Adrienne Driggers used those same write-ups, which accounted for approximately 75% of Marla's total write-ups, against her in closing her daycare center, stating that Marla had too many repeat write-ups! One thing to consider is that even with the aforementioned write-ups, Marla's daycare still had fewer write-ups than nearly 200 daycare centers in San Antonio alone. It is very likely that there were several hundred if not several thousand daycare centers in the the State of Texas that had more write-ups than Marla's daycare, yet she was the one that was targeted by Adrienne Driggers.
Just prior to Adrienne Driggers closing Marla's daycare, Marla received a visit from a Childcare Licensing Representative named Jessica Nombrana, who repeatedly ordered one of Marla's new employees named Megan Kettler to leave a 2 year old child unattended at a diaper changing table to wipe the nose of another child in the room. Ms. Nombrana could have ordered another staff member (Lisa Cavazos) who was also in the room, but chose not to. Fortunately, Ms. Kettler did not leave the child unattended. Given the experiences that Marla had been having with Childcare Licensing in San Antonio, we incorporated within the staff training for Marla's staff to be vigilant of Childcare Licensing Representatives attempt to create situations that would not only endanger the safety of the children, but would result in the daycare receiving a violation. Had Ms. Kettler done as Ms. Nombrana had ordered, Adrienne Driggers would have been given a reason to close Marla's daycare.
Megan Kettler and Lisa Cavazos were so enraged and disgusted by Jessica Nombrana's actions that they called Adrienne Driggers directly to notify her of Ms. Nombrana actions, but were completely ignored. Not only did Adrienne Driggers not reprimand Jessica Nombrana but she had Ms. Nombrana give classes to potential daycare operators on how to follow the State of Texas Minimum Standards. She had been promoted!
When a person has had their license revoked or denied the District Director must provide written notification to the License Holder of their right to a hearing with the State Office of Administrative Hearings. The State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH pronounced: soh uh) is a Court that was created to allow individuals equal footing against State Agencies. Adrienne Driggers withheld this documentation from us.
The District Director must also provide written documentation to the License Holder, notifying them of the period in which they cannot be a License Holder following either a revocation or denial of their license. Adrienne Driggers also withheld this documentation from us. We discovered years later from a Childcare Licensing Representative from a different district that Adrienne Driggers had drawn up a letter stating that Marla could not be a License Holder for a period of 2 years. She stated that the information could be easily obtained by any Childcare Licensing Representative. Adrienne Driggers and some of her subordinates (i.e. Geneva Hudel and Sharon Bolter) stated that Marla could not be a License Holder for 5 years. We still have the email from her office to prove this. Their lie would later force us to move to Oklahoma.
There were horrible ramifications that resulted from the Adrienne Driggers closing the daycare. Not only did the closing result in the children traumatically being forced to relocate to other daycares, but for some, Adrienne Driggers decision was so much worse. To Marla and myself, the daycare meant more than caring for the children, it was a vehicle that we used to help the community. Businesses were suffering , labor hours were being cut and some Parents could not afford childcare. Marla would work with Parents who were having difficulty paying for their children's tuition. After the closing, one particular mother could not afford to take her children elsewhere and was forced to leave her children with a family friend. This family friend had a teenage son, that molested two of the children that had previously been safe at Marla's daycare. Adrienne Driggers had falsely alleged that Marla's daycare posed a threat to the safety and well-being of children and in the process, ended up forcing a situation on a parent that resulted in the molestation of her children.
I decided to open my own daycare after, Marla's daycare had been closed. The rules state that I could have easily taken over as the Director of Marla's daycare to prevent the children from being uprooted or negatively affected. I was perfectly qualified for operating a children's daycare as I had several years of experience, and I had a Bachelors Degree in Management from Texas A&M University. According to Adrienne Driggers, in order for me to open my daycare, Marla had to agree not to fight the closing of her daycare. We believed that Ms. Driggers was referring to an Administrative Review with a DFPS Childcare Licensing Program Specialist named Denise Hall in Austin. Ms. Hall's decision as to whether or not Marla's daycare should have been closed were pending. An Administrative Review is an informal hearing held within the same Childcare Licensing department as the childcare licensing representative whose write-ups you are challenging. Administrative Reviews are notorious for being complete shams, as it is a fellow co-worker of that license representative that decides whether or not the write-ups were justified. As aforementioned, Adrienne Driggers had withheld Marla's right to utilize SOAH, to challenge Adrienne Driggers' decision to close Marla's daycare.
Despite there being a time limit for how long a person could not be a license holder when they have had their license denied or revoked, Adrienne Driggers imposed a permanent stipulation on my license that Marla could not be the Director or be left in charge of the Daycare. She actually had this stipulation printed on my license certificate which was to be seen by any person visiting the daycare. In her interpretation of this stipulation, Adrienne Driggers stated that Marla "could not appear to be more knowledgeable than any of the staff or appear to be a "Go-to" person. If this interpretation sounds bizarre to you it's because it does not exist in the Texas Administrative Code. Adrienne Driggers bypassed the Texas Legislature and the Texas Administrative Code by creating this interpretation for the sole purpose of keeping Marla from being able to work at a daycare. Marla has been working in organized childcare since 1993. Marla started working in daycares when many of the staff were still in diapers. Her age alone gave her the appearance of being more knowledgeable. Not only were we required to post the license, with the stipulation written on it, in a location where it could easily have been seen, but Adrienne Driggers ordered us to notify all of the staff and parents regarding this stipulation. We were being set up for false allegations. Adrienne Driggers' interpretation of the stipulation and notifying all of the parents and staff prompted a District Director in another area to state that not only was her interpretation stupid it was also very dangerous to the safety of the children.
The end of my naïve belief that Childcare Licensing acted in good faith began when Jessica Nombrana ordered one of Marla's employees to leave a child unattended at a diaper changing table. The full realization of the depravity of Adrienne Drigger's Childcare Licensing office came from a visit by a Childcare Licensing Representative named Veronica Lopez. In this visit Ms. Lopez falsified write-ups and stole some of Marla's timesheets to prevent me from being able to prove that Marla was hardly at the daycare. She wrote me up for having Marla run the daycare, even though Marla was only at the daycare in the last 15 minutes of Ms. Lopez 7 1/2 hour visit. I mention the 7 1/2 hours because the average visit for Childcare Licensing Representatives is 1 1/2 hours. She was waiting for Marla to arrive in order to write-up the daycare for having Marla in charge. Marla left the daycare shortly after arriving to pick up children from school. In the administrative review held with a Childcare Licensing Supervisor named Sharon Bolter, I was able to prove without a doubt that the write-ups that I had received from Ms. Lopez were unjustified by making the case to Ms. Bolter that Marla being at the daycare was not a violation of the Minimum Standards as she was not on the Texas DFPS Central Registry for abuse and neglect. I reported the theft of the timesheets to her and to Adrienne Driggers but the write-ups remained. According to the State of Texas Administrative Code, when a person has their license denied or revoked that person can not be a license holder for a period of 5 years. Unless that person is placed on the State of Texas Central Registry for abuse and neglect no state authority can stop a person from working at a children's daycare. Unless they are willing to violate your Constitutional rights.
I began receiving so many "inspections" from licensing without justification that I was forced to report their harassment to State House of Representative Ruth McClendon. Despite having repeated visitations from licensing, my daycare still had very few write-ups. This was a testament to the excellent training that my staff had received. Childcare Licensing's intentions were very clear, given the cross behavior of their representatives.
One of the worst representatives from Adrienne Driggers' Childcare Licensing office was Geneva Hudel, she personified Adrienne Driggers' approach to managing childcare. To meet Adrienne Driggers' ridiculous definition of what constituted a violation of the stipulation on my license of Marla not being allowed to be in charge; Geneva Hudel wrote me up after Marla spoke with a parent regarding a sale at an HEB Plus. The parent was so enraged that Ms. Hudel would falsify that writeup using her and Marla's conversation that she wrote a letter directly to Adrienne Driggers, of which I have a copy, identifying what was truly stated in her conversation with Ms. Hudel. In the letter, the parent also stated how she was enraged that Geneva Hudel attempted to frighten her by stating that she worked with Child Protective Services and was investigating a serious matter at the daycare. The parent was ignored by Ms. Driggers. As previously mentioned, Marla and I had agreed to limit the number of hours that Marla worked at the daycare to a minimum-typically 3 1/2 hours a day to allow for her to pickup children from school. There was simply not enough time for her to have been able to be in charge. We still have the timesheets to prove this.
Letter from Randi Pipkin regarding conversations with Marla Gonzales
In addition to Ms. Hudel falsifying information that had been provided to her by parents Ms. Hudel altered the wording of a memo given to the staff, of which I still have, stating what Marla could and could not do at the daycare. This memo came as a result of our fear that the daycare would be exposed to false accusations regarding Marla being in charge. Following the visit from Veronica Lopez, I asked Sharon Bolter, a childcare licensing supervisor, what I could do to protect myself. She suggested that I write a letter to the staff explaining Marla's rights and limitations and stated exactly what the letter should contain. Geneva Hudel in writing up the daycare for Marla being in charge changed the wording of that letter to give the appearance that Marla was being left in charge of the daycare. I have both the memo and Ms. Hudel's altered version of the memo for comparison. Her deceit is obvious.
This deserves repeating: Adrienne Driggers closed my daycare because my wife spoke to a parent about a sale at an HEB Plus.
Not only did we lose our sole source of income but Adrienne Driggers also succeeded in causing the death of our unborn child. Marla was 2 1/2 months pregnant when Adrienne Driggers closed my daycare. The incredible amount of stress, not to mention the humiliation, that the closing created added to Marla not having a choice but
to help me carry heavy equipment in clearing out the daycare resulted in her having a miscarriage. The euphoria that we had that we might finally have our little girl now changed to one of great sorrow. Adrienne Driggers' and her subordinates had murdered our child.
The time following the closing of the daycare was incredibly difficult. We had to endure the feeling of shock knowing that nothing warranted the closing of the daycare. My family suffered immensely. Obviously we had to deal with the death of our unborn child, the end of our sole source of income, and the end of our lifetime goal of working with children. There was so much more. My wife and I clearly suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. We could not sleep and were constantly in fear that the Department of Family and Protective Services would take our children. Our oldest child, Marco, who was seven years old at the time would hide every time anybody would knock on the door, fearful that Adrienne Driggers was coming to take him and his little brother away. We were living like Jews hiding from Nazi's determined to destroy us. Marco would pray every night that God would protect us from Adrienne Driggers. The fear was real. Our family had been raped by Adrienne Driggers and her staff and there was nobody that we could turn to. As a father it was my duty to protect my family and I could do nothing to stop her. There are no words that can describe or gauge the extent of our pain. This is why I am including this video of the murder of Kelly Thomas a homeless man in Fullerton, California. If you can imagine the hopelessness of his father to see and hear his son getting beaten to death while begging and praying for his father to save him yet being completely unable to do so than you will understand how I felt to see my family getting raped by Adrienne Driggers. Warning: This video is very graphic.
I tried desperately to find work in San Antonio but was unsuccessful. I applied for close to three hundred different jobs but didn't have any luck. Right when we were on the verge of becoming homeless, I obtained a job in Ardmore Oklahoma.
Moving to Ardmore was traumatic for our children. Our oldest child was forced to leave his friends and everything he knew. Our younger child cried for hours every day wanting for us to return to our home in San Antonio. He was too young to understand that our home in San Antonio had become our prison. Our escaping the reach of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services by moving the welcoming arms of Oklahoma was very much like the Jews that escaped Nazi Germany . We had survived but were forced to live in a land that was foreign to us.
It was when we lived in Oklahoma that we discovered through the Corpus Christi Childcare Licensing office that Adrienne Driggers had lied to us about the amount of time in which Marla could not be a license holder. She had told us that Marla could not be a license holder for 5 years when the actual period was 2 years. We also learned that the two year period had expired mere weeks after she closed my daycare.
The nightmare is not over. My mother, who lived in Corpus Christi, was dying so we returned to Corpus Christi. Our hope was that Adrienne Driggers had learned to control her personal animosity towards us after having been overridden by the State Attorney Generals Office by arranging for me to be able to act as a Director in a childcare center. Adrienne Driggers attempted to renege on the Attorney Generals arrangement but was promptly forced to comply by Patricia Fernandez, an attorney with the Attorney Generals office. Perhaps it was the humiliation of literally begging us to return to San Antonio in her attempt to avoid her department losing before SOAH, or the humiliation of being corrected by the Attorney Generals office to her subordinates in Corpus Christi, or perhaps it was simply underestimating our resolve to fight her and a corrupt State agency. Whatever the reason, Adrienne Driggers unfettered hatred would strike again. This time, were prepared.
First I must tell you that I feel a great deal of guilt for not having worked with my wife Marla when she operated her daycare in San Antonio. I would later learn just how corrupt Childcare Licensing was. We certainly did not expect a State Agency (Childcare Licensing) with the responsibility of ensuring the safety of children to jeopardize the safety of children. Nor did we expect that same State Agency to victimize a person who devoted her entire life to care for children, but that is exactly what occurred when we moved to San Antonio. Marla was pregnant with our 2nd child when she was operating without me. It is a miracle that she did not have a miscarriage as Childcare Licensing put her through an incredible amount of stress. We would not be so fortunate later.
While operating her daycare in San Antonio, Marla had received five visits from a Childcare Licensing Representative named Elizabeth Venecia all within a week and a half of each other. Adrienne Driggers' office refused to provide Marla with the write-ups from those visits, despite the Texas Administrative Code stating that Childcare Licensing must provide the write-ups within 10 days of the inspection. Marla called Ms. Venecia repeatedly asking for them so that she could make corrections but was repeatedly ignored. Marla reported this to Yvette Gutierrez, Ms. Venecia's Supervisor and to Adrienne Driggers. With the presence of myself, Marla, and Yvette Gutierrez, Ms. Venecia admitted to not having provided the write-ups to Marla. Despite not abiding by the Texas Administrative Code, Childcare Licensing did not remove the write-ups. Adrienne Driggers used those same write-ups, which accounted for approximately 75% of Marla's total write-ups, against her in closing her daycare center, stating that Marla had too many repeat write-ups! One thing to consider is that even with the aforementioned write-ups, Marla's daycare still had fewer write-ups than nearly 200 daycare centers in San Antonio alone. It is very likely that there were several hundred if not several thousand daycare centers in the the State of Texas that had more write-ups than Marla's daycare, yet she was the one that was targeted by Adrienne Driggers.
Just prior to Adrienne Driggers closing Marla's daycare, Marla received a visit from a Childcare Licensing Representative named Jessica Nombrana, who repeatedly ordered one of Marla's new employees named Megan Kettler to leave a 2 year old child unattended at a diaper changing table to wipe the nose of another child in the room. Ms. Nombrana could have ordered another staff member (Lisa Cavazos) who was also in the room, but chose not to. Fortunately, Ms. Kettler did not leave the child unattended. Given the experiences that Marla had been having with Childcare Licensing in San Antonio, we incorporated within the staff training for Marla's staff to be vigilant of Childcare Licensing Representatives attempt to create situations that would not only endanger the safety of the children, but would result in the daycare receiving a violation. Had Ms. Kettler done as Ms. Nombrana had ordered, Adrienne Driggers would have been given a reason to close Marla's daycare.
Megan Kettler and Lisa Cavazos were so enraged and disgusted by Jessica Nombrana's actions that they called Adrienne Driggers directly to notify her of Ms. Nombrana actions, but were completely ignored. Not only did Adrienne Driggers not reprimand Jessica Nombrana but she had Ms. Nombrana give classes to potential daycare operators on how to follow the State of Texas Minimum Standards. She had been promoted!
When a person has had their license revoked or denied the District Director must provide written notification to the License Holder of their right to a hearing with the State Office of Administrative Hearings. The State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH pronounced: soh uh) is a Court that was created to allow individuals equal footing against State Agencies. Adrienne Driggers withheld this documentation from us.
The District Director must also provide written documentation to the License Holder, notifying them of the period in which they cannot be a License Holder following either a revocation or denial of their license. Adrienne Driggers also withheld this documentation from us. We discovered years later from a Childcare Licensing Representative from a different district that Adrienne Driggers had drawn up a letter stating that Marla could not be a License Holder for a period of 2 years. She stated that the information could be easily obtained by any Childcare Licensing Representative. Adrienne Driggers and some of her subordinates (i.e. Geneva Hudel and Sharon Bolter) stated that Marla could not be a License Holder for 5 years. We still have the email from her office to prove this. Their lie would later force us to move to Oklahoma.
There were horrible ramifications that resulted from the Adrienne Driggers closing the daycare. Not only did the closing result in the children traumatically being forced to relocate to other daycares, but for some, Adrienne Driggers decision was so much worse. To Marla and myself, the daycare meant more than caring for the children, it was a vehicle that we used to help the community. Businesses were suffering , labor hours were being cut and some Parents could not afford childcare. Marla would work with Parents who were having difficulty paying for their children's tuition. After the closing, one particular mother could not afford to take her children elsewhere and was forced to leave her children with a family friend. This family friend had a teenage son, that molested two of the children that had previously been safe at Marla's daycare. Adrienne Driggers had falsely alleged that Marla's daycare posed a threat to the safety and well-being of children and in the process, ended up forcing a situation on a parent that resulted in the molestation of her children.
I decided to open my own daycare after, Marla's daycare had been closed. The rules state that I could have easily taken over as the Director of Marla's daycare to prevent the children from being uprooted or negatively affected. I was perfectly qualified for operating a children's daycare as I had several years of experience, and I had a Bachelors Degree in Management from Texas A&M University. According to Adrienne Driggers, in order for me to open my daycare, Marla had to agree not to fight the closing of her daycare. We believed that Ms. Driggers was referring to an Administrative Review with a DFPS Childcare Licensing Program Specialist named Denise Hall in Austin. Ms. Hall's decision as to whether or not Marla's daycare should have been closed were pending. An Administrative Review is an informal hearing held within the same Childcare Licensing department as the childcare licensing representative whose write-ups you are challenging. Administrative Reviews are notorious for being complete shams, as it is a fellow co-worker of that license representative that decides whether or not the write-ups were justified. As aforementioned, Adrienne Driggers had withheld Marla's right to utilize SOAH, to challenge Adrienne Driggers' decision to close Marla's daycare.
Despite there being a time limit for how long a person could not be a license holder when they have had their license denied or revoked, Adrienne Driggers imposed a permanent stipulation on my license that Marla could not be the Director or be left in charge of the Daycare. She actually had this stipulation printed on my license certificate which was to be seen by any person visiting the daycare. In her interpretation of this stipulation, Adrienne Driggers stated that Marla "could not appear to be more knowledgeable than any of the staff or appear to be a "Go-to" person. If this interpretation sounds bizarre to you it's because it does not exist in the Texas Administrative Code. Adrienne Driggers bypassed the Texas Legislature and the Texas Administrative Code by creating this interpretation for the sole purpose of keeping Marla from being able to work at a daycare. Marla has been working in organized childcare since 1993. Marla started working in daycares when many of the staff were still in diapers. Her age alone gave her the appearance of being more knowledgeable. Not only were we required to post the license, with the stipulation written on it, in a location where it could easily have been seen, but Adrienne Driggers ordered us to notify all of the staff and parents regarding this stipulation. We were being set up for false allegations. Adrienne Driggers' interpretation of the stipulation and notifying all of the parents and staff prompted a District Director in another area to state that not only was her interpretation stupid it was also very dangerous to the safety of the children.
The end of my naïve belief that Childcare Licensing acted in good faith began when Jessica Nombrana ordered one of Marla's employees to leave a child unattended at a diaper changing table. The full realization of the depravity of Adrienne Drigger's Childcare Licensing office came from a visit by a Childcare Licensing Representative named Veronica Lopez. In this visit Ms. Lopez falsified write-ups and stole some of Marla's timesheets to prevent me from being able to prove that Marla was hardly at the daycare. She wrote me up for having Marla run the daycare, even though Marla was only at the daycare in the last 15 minutes of Ms. Lopez 7 1/2 hour visit. I mention the 7 1/2 hours because the average visit for Childcare Licensing Representatives is 1 1/2 hours. She was waiting for Marla to arrive in order to write-up the daycare for having Marla in charge. Marla left the daycare shortly after arriving to pick up children from school. In the administrative review held with a Childcare Licensing Supervisor named Sharon Bolter, I was able to prove without a doubt that the write-ups that I had received from Ms. Lopez were unjustified by making the case to Ms. Bolter that Marla being at the daycare was not a violation of the Minimum Standards as she was not on the Texas DFPS Central Registry for abuse and neglect. I reported the theft of the timesheets to her and to Adrienne Driggers but the write-ups remained. According to the State of Texas Administrative Code, when a person has their license denied or revoked that person can not be a license holder for a period of 5 years. Unless that person is placed on the State of Texas Central Registry for abuse and neglect no state authority can stop a person from working at a children's daycare. Unless they are willing to violate your Constitutional rights.
I began receiving so many "inspections" from licensing without justification that I was forced to report their harassment to State House of Representative Ruth McClendon. Despite having repeated visitations from licensing, my daycare still had very few write-ups. This was a testament to the excellent training that my staff had received. Childcare Licensing's intentions were very clear, given the cross behavior of their representatives.
One of the worst representatives from Adrienne Driggers' Childcare Licensing office was Geneva Hudel, she personified Adrienne Driggers' approach to managing childcare. To meet Adrienne Driggers' ridiculous definition of what constituted a violation of the stipulation on my license of Marla not being allowed to be in charge; Geneva Hudel wrote me up after Marla spoke with a parent regarding a sale at an HEB Plus. The parent was so enraged that Ms. Hudel would falsify that writeup using her and Marla's conversation that she wrote a letter directly to Adrienne Driggers, of which I have a copy, identifying what was truly stated in her conversation with Ms. Hudel. In the letter, the parent also stated how she was enraged that Geneva Hudel attempted to frighten her by stating that she worked with Child Protective Services and was investigating a serious matter at the daycare. The parent was ignored by Ms. Driggers. As previously mentioned, Marla and I had agreed to limit the number of hours that Marla worked at the daycare to a minimum-typically 3 1/2 hours a day to allow for her to pickup children from school. There was simply not enough time for her to have been able to be in charge. We still have the timesheets to prove this.
In her visit, Geneva Hudel had told me that Marla
simply talking to a parent was a violation of a permanent stipulation
that Adrienne Driggers put on my license. She became enraged when I told
her that not allowing Marla to speak with parents would be a violation of her Civil Rights as her interpretation of the stipulation would effectively bar her from working at the daycare. I also informed Ms. Hudel that her interpretation would be a
violation of the State of Texas Minimum Standards as caregivers are required to
communicate with parents to ensure the well-being of the children. I told her that under no circumstances would I have Marla run and hide any time a parent had a question for her regarding the care of their children.
Letter from Randi Pipkin regarding conversations with Marla Gonzales
In addition to Ms. Hudel falsifying information that had been provided to her by parents Ms. Hudel altered the wording of a memo given to the staff, of which I still have, stating what Marla could and could not do at the daycare. This memo came as a result of our fear that the daycare would be exposed to false accusations regarding Marla being in charge. Following the visit from Veronica Lopez, I asked Sharon Bolter, a childcare licensing supervisor, what I could do to protect myself. She suggested that I write a letter to the staff explaining Marla's rights and limitations and stated exactly what the letter should contain. Geneva Hudel in writing up the daycare for Marla being in charge changed the wording of that letter to give the appearance that Marla was being left in charge of the daycare. I have both the memo and Ms. Hudel's altered version of the memo for comparison. Her deceit is obvious.
In this investigation Geneva Hudel allowed a child to run out of my daycare. Ms. Hudel foolishly allowed a hyperactive child to exit the building before
her. As soon as he stepped out of the building he ran towards Rigsby
Ave. Our daycare was approximately 75 yards away from Interstate 410,
one of the busiest intersections in San Antonio!
On a later visit, Geneva Hudel with another Childcare License Representative named Pam Hayes would "follow up" on Ms. Hudel's previous visit and attempt to write-up the daycare for ratios that
were being proposed by the Texas Legislature. Because there were kids absent from daycare that
day they were not successful as the decreased attendance in that particular room put the number of children in care below the proposed ratio. Ms. Hudel and Ms. Hayes
also attempted to write-up the daycare for not having run FBI
fingerprinting for parent volunteers. I reminded them that volunteers were not required by the State of Texas Minimum Standards to be fingerprinted. They grudgingly acquiesced. What happened next typified the lengths at which Adrienne Driggers' office would deny someone of their right to operate a children's daycare. Geneva
Hudel, with Pam Hayes present, ripped a baseboard from the wall then
wrote up the daycare for having a loose baseboard! Their intent for this inspection was blatantly obvious. They were determined to close the daycare.
The scariest thing about Ms. Hudel was how comfortable she was in falsifying write-ups, violating our Constitutional rights and risking her own employment. So reckless was she that she left a paper trail of her misconduct at every turn. She had no fear whatsoever of any ramifications for what she was doing. This made me wonder if she was given the green light to do these things by Adrienne Driggers, the District Director, herself. Given that Ms. Hudel was promptly promoted by Adrienne Driggers after this, tells me that the answer was a very likely "yes".
Adrienne Driggers would use Marla's speaking to a parent regarding the sell at the HEB-Plus to close my daycare despite there being
nearly 200 daycare centers in the San Antonio District alone that had
more write-ups than my daycare. I still have that list. Daycare centers operate under statewide uniform guidelines with uniform punishments. Given that there were nearly 200 daycare centers in San Antonio alone indicates that there could very well have been several thousand daycare centers in Texas that had more write-ups. Strangely enough, only two
out of the 200 license holders that had more write-ups than my
daycare had Spanish surnames. Those two individuals operated
governmental Head Start Programs. This deserves repeating: Adrienne Driggers closed my daycare because my wife spoke to a parent about a sale at an HEB Plus.
We would discover later that Adrienne Driggers closed
my daycare mere weeks before Marla's two years of being unable
to be a license holder expired. Of course, we didn't know it at the time as
Adrienne Driggers had withheld that information from us. As mentioned earlier, we still have the email from her office where she specifically stated that Marla could not be a license holder for 5 years. Adrienne Driggers clearly felt that Marla did not deserve to work with children and she would do anything in her power, legal or otherwise, to ensure that happened.
The time following the closing of the daycare was incredibly difficult. We had to endure the feeling of shock knowing that nothing warranted the closing of the daycare. My family suffered immensely. Obviously we had to deal with the death of our unborn child, the end of our sole source of income, and the end of our lifetime goal of working with children. There was so much more. My wife and I clearly suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. We could not sleep and were constantly in fear that the Department of Family and Protective Services would take our children. Our oldest child, Marco, who was seven years old at the time would hide every time anybody would knock on the door, fearful that Adrienne Driggers was coming to take him and his little brother away. We were living like Jews hiding from Nazi's determined to destroy us. Marco would pray every night that God would protect us from Adrienne Driggers. The fear was real. Our family had been raped by Adrienne Driggers and her staff and there was nobody that we could turn to. As a father it was my duty to protect my family and I could do nothing to stop her. There are no words that can describe or gauge the extent of our pain. This is why I am including this video of the murder of Kelly Thomas a homeless man in Fullerton, California. If you can imagine the hopelessness of his father to see and hear his son getting beaten to death while begging and praying for his father to save him yet being completely unable to do so than you will understand how I felt to see my family getting raped by Adrienne Driggers. Warning: This video is very graphic.
Moving to Ardmore was traumatic for our children. Our oldest child was forced to leave his friends and everything he knew. Our younger child cried for hours every day wanting for us to return to our home in San Antonio. He was too young to understand that our home in San Antonio had become our prison. Our escaping the reach of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services by moving the welcoming arms of Oklahoma was very much like the Jews that escaped Nazi Germany . We had survived but were forced to live in a land that was foreign to us.
It was when we lived in Oklahoma that we discovered through the Corpus Christi Childcare Licensing office that Adrienne Driggers had lied to us about the amount of time in which Marla could not be a license holder. She had told us that Marla could not be a license holder for 5 years when the actual period was 2 years. We also learned that the two year period had expired mere weeks after she closed my daycare.
The nightmare is not over. My mother, who lived in Corpus Christi, was dying so we returned to Corpus Christi. Our hope was that Adrienne Driggers had learned to control her personal animosity towards us after having been overridden by the State Attorney Generals Office by arranging for me to be able to act as a Director in a childcare center. Adrienne Driggers attempted to renege on the Attorney Generals arrangement but was promptly forced to comply by Patricia Fernandez, an attorney with the Attorney Generals office. Perhaps it was the humiliation of literally begging us to return to San Antonio in her attempt to avoid her department losing before SOAH, or the humiliation of being corrected by the Attorney Generals office to her subordinates in Corpus Christi, or perhaps it was simply underestimating our resolve to fight her and a corrupt State agency. Whatever the reason, Adrienne Driggers unfettered hatred would strike again. This time, were prepared.
Please take the time to read and sign the following petition from Change.org. We would greatly appreciate your sponsoring the petition. You can sponsor the petition directly on change.org. By signing and promoting the petition you will be helping us to save the lives of thousands of children in Texas by putting an end to Adrienne Driggers.
Change.org petition
*** We have the opportunity to make ourselves heard directly to the people with the power to force a change in the way DFPS operates. Please take the time to fill out a Public Input Form on this link: https://www.sunset.texas.gov/input-form. Time is limited as we have only until 6/30/2014 to submit these forms. Please demand that the Sunset Advisory Commission do something about the corruption in the Department of Family and Protective Services and reference this blog (http://darksideofchildcare.blogspot.com/). You have the power to rock a corrupt State Agency to it's core. With your assistance you can help us protect the lives of tens of thousands of children that attend daycare in Texas. ***
*** We have the opportunity to make ourselves heard directly to the people with the power to force a change in the way DFPS operates. Please take the time to fill out a Public Input Form on this link: https://www.sunset.texas.gov/input-form. Time is limited as we have only until 6/30/2014 to submit these forms. Please demand that the Sunset Advisory Commission do something about the corruption in the Department of Family and Protective Services and reference this blog (http://darksideofchildcare.blogspot.com/). You have the power to rock a corrupt State Agency to it's core. With your assistance you can help us protect the lives of tens of thousands of children that attend daycare in Texas. ***
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