A few weeks ago we finally heard from the Attorney General's Office to schedule our hearing with the State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH). The conversation was brief and the contents of the conversation had been totally predicted. The call came from an attorney named Patricia Fernandez a person that we had met previously in San Antonio when she represented Childcare Licensing for closing my daycare when my wife, Marla, spoke to a parent about a sale at an HEB Plus grocery store.
Please keep in mind that after the traumatic experience that we experienced in San Antonio we went through a period where I suffered the horrible effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. One positive from this was that I thought about what they (Adrienne Driggers, her staff, the Attorney Generals Office) did to us daily. I would go through nights being unable to sleep just thinking about how crooked they were and the tactics that they used not to mention how they destroyed our family, and made our family suffer.
One of the things that I thought of was how the Attorney Generals office had a tendency to schedule SOAH hearings on Wednesdays as if that were the only day that SOAH operated. I figured that the reason that they did this was to make it harder for people like us to even attend much less any witnesses that would otherwise come to testify. So when Ms. Fernandez called to schedule the hearing she insisted on having the hearing on a Wednesday. We were adamant that we wanted the hearing to be held on either a Monday or a Friday. She tried so hard to force us to agree on a Wednesday that she made a pathetic attempt to lie to us by stating that she had to come to Corpus Christi on a Wednesday two weeks from the time she called and she would like to schedule it for that day so as not to have to make two trips. We refused. She, Marla, and I agreed on 4 dates for November all of which were either Mondays or Fridays.
This Friday, October 24th, we received a letter from the Attorney Generals office. They had apparently ignored the dates selected and scheduled a date on their own for January 7, 2015, a Wednesday.
This underhanded action made a huge statement. One, that we were absolutely correct in believing that they were intentionally trying to schedule hearings in the middle of the week to put us in a disadvantage. Another statement it made is by making it more difficult for our witnesses to attend the hearing, the Attorney Generals office was going to do what ever it took to protect Adrienne Driggers and allow her to continue to place children in danger and to continue to violate the rights afforded American citizens under the United States Constitution.
When I say "allow her to continue" to endanger the lives of children and to continue to violate the rights afforded American citizens under the United States Constitution is this. The Attorney Generals office was well aware of the abuses being committed by Adrienne Driggers office long before Adrienne Driggers closed our daycare in Corpus Christi.
Patricia Fernandez herself was aware that Ms. Driggers staff ordered one of Marla's staff in San Antonio to leave a child unattended at a diaper changing table, just as she was aware that Adrienne Driggers bi-passed the Texas Legislature in creating her own rule that Marla could not "appear to be more knowledgeable nor be a go-to person" to prevent Marla from being able to work in a daycare. The Attorney General's office is also well aware of how one of Ms. Driggers most important staff members, Geneva Hudel, ordered a daycare owner named Josie Sanchez into her dumpster to "fetch" some orange peels to prove that the children ate oranges that day. The thing about this is that Ms. Sanchez was contracted with a food sponsor with the USDA meaning that childcare licensing no longer had supervision of the food being provided by the daycare. Regardless, Ms. Hudel needed to only look at the receipt showing the purchase of the oranges, or ask the children or employees. Ms. Hudel ordered Ms. Sanchez into her dumpster simply to humiliate Ms. Sanchez in front of her staff. Ms. Sanchez had to endure much more including having licensing representatives park for hours outside of her house as well as one license representative ( I will name later) that attempted to break into her house. This harassment resulted in Ms. Sanchez calling State Senator Leticia Van De Putte's office for help. Ms. Van De Putte's office promptly called Adrienne Driggers and her superiors in Austin to stop harassing Ms. Sanchez and if they continued to harass her, Ms. Sanchez was to call the police on childcare licensing. The attorneys for the Attorney Generals office were aware of this and more yet did nothing to correct the behavior of Adrienne Driggers or her staff.
So I say this: If Adrienne Driggers did nothing wrong, then she nor the Attorney Generals office should have nothing to fear. If the Attorney Generals office is so certain that they are in the right then they should let us have what ever day we want for the hearing. After all, we are just two people that wanted to help children for the rest of our lives by operating a small mom and pop daycare. By forcing the hearing to be held on a Wednesday to prevent our witnesses from being able to attend, the Attorney Generals office is showing that they do not care to hear the truth about how Adrienne Driggers. They just want to crucify us, win the hearing, and endanger the lives of tens of thousands of children in Texas that attend daycare.
Please take the time to sign our petition demanding that my wife, Marla, be removed from the Texas Central Registry, for the State of Texas to overturn the revocation of her license, and for the investigation and removal of Adrienne Driggers from her position as the Southwest District Director of Childcare Licensing:
https://www.change.org/p/end-the-abuse-of-power-by-the-san-antonio-department-of-family-and-protective-services-undo-the-unwarranted-placing-of-marla-gonzales-on-the-dfps-central-registry
Sunday, October 26, 2014
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Collateral Damage - The End of Innocence
This post was originally written on 9/9/2014. Some information has been updated to reflect changes that have occurred since then.
I was just going over my 11-year old son's homework assignment. The assignment was over a poem titled "On Turning 10" by Billy Collins. This poem details the passing of a happy and magical world of make-believe as held by children into a sad world where "pretend" and "make-believe" no longer exists as a result of getting older. It brings me sadness and rage that my children's innocence, as well as that of all of the children that were in our care, were ripped away by Adrienne Driggers, the Southwest District Director of the Department of Family and Protective Services Childcare Licensing Division, and her staff. All of these children were simply collateral damage from Adrienne Driggers hatred towards us. They were held in contempt by the very people whose jobs in the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services was to protect them and ensure their well-being. Their little lives meant nothing to Adrienne Driggers and John Specia, Jr. the Commissioner of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.
Unlike what many of you may have heard about daycares like children being denied food as punishment, children being pinned to filing cabinets with service carts, children crying and begging their parents not to take them to daycare, the children in our daycares have always loved being with us. It was common for the children in our care to cry because they didn't want to leave! There was a licensing representative in San Antonio named Cathy Storey, a lady with many years of experience working for the Department of Family and Protective Services in Virginia, who was in awe of how we operated. In her words, our daycare "operated the way daycares should operate." She was disgusted that Adrienne Driggers had closed down Marla's daycare and flatly stated that it was not only stupid of Adrienne Driggers to do so but the worst thing that she could have done to the children of the community. Ms. Storey stressed how it was obvious that our staff was very well trained not only in the State of Texas Minimum Standards for Childcare Licensing but in their interactions with the children and parents. She was overjoyed at how happy the children were to be in our care. She stated that she sensed a genuine love of children. This is what our daycare, Kiddie Care, was all about.
In a scene that I can only imagine was reminiscent of Adolf Hitler's treatment of Jews of ripping them from their families and herding them into rail cars, when Adrienne Driggers closed my daycare, the children were crying horribly as they latched themselves onto our legs and refusing to let go. We will never forget the dozens of children crying as they were being ripped away from caregivers that genuinely cared about them. Just as the parents whose children were in our care will never forget the cries of their children when they were ripped from a daycare that they loved we will never forget the two children that were molested as a result of Adrienne Driggers closing Marla's daycare. They were the sweetest children you can imagine. They did nothing wrong to Adrienne Driggers but had their innocence taken from them as a result of her actions. She is aware of this but it did not stop her from later continuing to target us by closing down our daycare in Corpus Christi.
Our daycare was unique. When parents could not afford to pay we always came up with an arrangement for them to allow their children to continue to receive care. We understood that the daycare was the lifeline to their families. In the thick of "The Great Recession" we were what the depressed area of South East San Antonio needed. At the time that Adrienne Driggers closed my daycare in San Antonio, Kiddie Care and the Abundant Grace Lutheran Church were mere days from opening a food pantry for the poor. Christmas was a wonderful time for the children as our daycare, with tremendous help from the church, were able to provide many toys for the children. For those of you with knowledge of daycares, this commitment to children is unheard of. As you may have already read, Adrienne Driggers had closed my daycare because my wife, Marla, had violated Adrienne Driggers' stipulation on my license of "appearing to be more knowledgeable or appearing to be a go-to person", a rule nowhere to be found in the Texas Administrative Code, by talking to one of the parents about a sale at an HEB plus.
Our importance in Corpus Christi was growing at the time that Adrienne Driggers closed our daycare. We were able to feed over a dozen families for Thanksgiving and were on the verge of opening a food pantry and a kids closet for unfortunate families.
So as I read the poem, I thought of how Adrienne Driggers shaped our children and the children in our care. A generation of children have been taught by the Department of Family and Protective Services Childcare Licensing Division the vices of intolerance, racism, unfairness, and abuse of power. Childcare Licensing has as a result of Adrienne Driggers, with the approval of her superiors, become grouped in the minds of those that she has affected no different than the Hitler's Nazi party and the Ku Klux Klan.
When a child named Jordan Arredondo died at Bethune daycare in Corpus Christi, the parents of the children who were enrolled in our daycare, and apparently many of you who are reading this blog, rightfully asked with anger "why doesn't Adrienne Driggers close their daycare down when a child died in their care and nothing happened to any of the children at our daycare (Kiddie Care)?!" The words racism and double standard on the part of Adrienne Driggers and Childcare Licensing has been mentioned repeatedly. Even though the Department (DFPS Childcare Licensing) ruled that the daycare was negligent, Bethune daycare was allowed to continue to operate!
Adrienne Driggers, the person whose job it was to protect the children of the community, ripped our own children from everything that they loved: friends, their home, school. Our oldest at the time would pray to God for protection from Adrienne Driggers. Those prayers did not stop the nightmares. Our youngest feared for his life and when we were forced to move to Oklahoma, he would cry incessantly for us to return to our home in San Antonio. As a parent, you never forget those cries.
We have been hardened from Adrienne Driggers abuse of power and swear to put an end to her reign of terror. I promise you that in our hearing with the State Office of Administrative Hearings we will prove that she and several of her subordinates committed felonies. We will push for the Department of Justice to prosecute.
The innocence of our children has been lost for ever as a result of Adrienne Driggers rape of our family. Our five year old's entire life has been dominated by the effects of Adrienne Driggers hatred. Our 11 year old has already been hardened by Adrienne Driggers' cruelty and feels an incredible hatred for her and Childcare Licensing. Our oldest son has learned all about intolerance from Adrienne Driggers' and refers to her as a racist animal. She is the devil incarnate. It breaks our hearts that our children were introduced to such an incredible amount of hate and intolerance at such an incredibly young age. Unfortunately, she and the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services did the same to all of the children that were in our care.
I was just going over my 11-year old son's homework assignment. The assignment was over a poem titled "On Turning 10" by Billy Collins. This poem details the passing of a happy and magical world of make-believe as held by children into a sad world where "pretend" and "make-believe" no longer exists as a result of getting older. It brings me sadness and rage that my children's innocence, as well as that of all of the children that were in our care, were ripped away by Adrienne Driggers, the Southwest District Director of the Department of Family and Protective Services Childcare Licensing Division, and her staff. All of these children were simply collateral damage from Adrienne Driggers hatred towards us. They were held in contempt by the very people whose jobs in the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services was to protect them and ensure their well-being. Their little lives meant nothing to Adrienne Driggers and John Specia, Jr. the Commissioner of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.
Unlike what many of you may have heard about daycares like children being denied food as punishment, children being pinned to filing cabinets with service carts, children crying and begging their parents not to take them to daycare, the children in our daycares have always loved being with us. It was common for the children in our care to cry because they didn't want to leave! There was a licensing representative in San Antonio named Cathy Storey, a lady with many years of experience working for the Department of Family and Protective Services in Virginia, who was in awe of how we operated. In her words, our daycare "operated the way daycares should operate." She was disgusted that Adrienne Driggers had closed down Marla's daycare and flatly stated that it was not only stupid of Adrienne Driggers to do so but the worst thing that she could have done to the children of the community. Ms. Storey stressed how it was obvious that our staff was very well trained not only in the State of Texas Minimum Standards for Childcare Licensing but in their interactions with the children and parents. She was overjoyed at how happy the children were to be in our care. She stated that she sensed a genuine love of children. This is what our daycare, Kiddie Care, was all about.
In a scene that I can only imagine was reminiscent of Adolf Hitler's treatment of Jews of ripping them from their families and herding them into rail cars, when Adrienne Driggers closed my daycare, the children were crying horribly as they latched themselves onto our legs and refusing to let go. We will never forget the dozens of children crying as they were being ripped away from caregivers that genuinely cared about them. Just as the parents whose children were in our care will never forget the cries of their children when they were ripped from a daycare that they loved we will never forget the two children that were molested as a result of Adrienne Driggers closing Marla's daycare. They were the sweetest children you can imagine. They did nothing wrong to Adrienne Driggers but had their innocence taken from them as a result of her actions. She is aware of this but it did not stop her from later continuing to target us by closing down our daycare in Corpus Christi.
Our daycare was unique. When parents could not afford to pay we always came up with an arrangement for them to allow their children to continue to receive care. We understood that the daycare was the lifeline to their families. In the thick of "The Great Recession" we were what the depressed area of South East San Antonio needed. At the time that Adrienne Driggers closed my daycare in San Antonio, Kiddie Care and the Abundant Grace Lutheran Church were mere days from opening a food pantry for the poor. Christmas was a wonderful time for the children as our daycare, with tremendous help from the church, were able to provide many toys for the children. For those of you with knowledge of daycares, this commitment to children is unheard of. As you may have already read, Adrienne Driggers had closed my daycare because my wife, Marla, had violated Adrienne Driggers' stipulation on my license of "appearing to be more knowledgeable or appearing to be a go-to person", a rule nowhere to be found in the Texas Administrative Code, by talking to one of the parents about a sale at an HEB plus.
Our importance in Corpus Christi was growing at the time that Adrienne Driggers closed our daycare. We were able to feed over a dozen families for Thanksgiving and were on the verge of opening a food pantry and a kids closet for unfortunate families.
So as I read the poem, I thought of how Adrienne Driggers shaped our children and the children in our care. A generation of children have been taught by the Department of Family and Protective Services Childcare Licensing Division the vices of intolerance, racism, unfairness, and abuse of power. Childcare Licensing has as a result of Adrienne Driggers, with the approval of her superiors, become grouped in the minds of those that she has affected no different than the Hitler's Nazi party and the Ku Klux Klan.
When a child named Jordan Arredondo died at Bethune daycare in Corpus Christi, the parents of the children who were enrolled in our daycare, and apparently many of you who are reading this blog, rightfully asked with anger "why doesn't Adrienne Driggers close their daycare down when a child died in their care and nothing happened to any of the children at our daycare (Kiddie Care)?!" The words racism and double standard on the part of Adrienne Driggers and Childcare Licensing has been mentioned repeatedly. Even though the Department (DFPS Childcare Licensing) ruled that the daycare was negligent, Bethune daycare was allowed to continue to operate!
Adrienne Driggers, the person whose job it was to protect the children of the community, ripped our own children from everything that they loved: friends, their home, school. Our oldest at the time would pray to God for protection from Adrienne Driggers. Those prayers did not stop the nightmares. Our youngest feared for his life and when we were forced to move to Oklahoma, he would cry incessantly for us to return to our home in San Antonio. As a parent, you never forget those cries.
We have been hardened from Adrienne Driggers abuse of power and swear to put an end to her reign of terror. I promise you that in our hearing with the State Office of Administrative Hearings we will prove that she and several of her subordinates committed felonies. We will push for the Department of Justice to prosecute.
The innocence of our children has been lost for ever as a result of Adrienne Driggers rape of our family. Our five year old's entire life has been dominated by the effects of Adrienne Driggers hatred. Our 11 year old has already been hardened by Adrienne Driggers' cruelty and feels an incredible hatred for her and Childcare Licensing. Our oldest son has learned all about intolerance from Adrienne Driggers' and refers to her as a racist animal. She is the devil incarnate. It breaks our hearts that our children were introduced to such an incredible amount of hate and intolerance at such an incredibly young age. Unfortunately, she and the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services did the same to all of the children that were in our care.
Saturday, June 28, 2014
A Day of Reckoning - The State of Texas Sunset Review
As a result of how the Department of Family and Protective Services(DFPS) Childcare Licensing Division is able to operate without any oversight and that the employees of Childcare Licensing band together to protect one another we have been forced to create this blog to appeal to the public and thereby giving us a fighting chance against them. Now we have been blessed with incredible timing with the State of Texas "Sunset Review" being held in Austin Texas right now! The State holds a Sunset Review every 12 years.
What Is Sunset?
Sunset is the regular assessment of the continuing need for a state agency to exist. While standard legislative oversight is concerned with agency compliance with legislative policies, Sunset asks a more basic question: Do the agency’s functions continue to be needed? The Sunset process works by setting a date on which an agency will be abolished unless legislation is passed to continue its functions. This creates a unique opportunity for the Legislature to look closely at each agency and make fundamental changes to an agency’s mission or operations if needed.
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.
Thursday, June 26, 2014
Attorneys for Hire
Finding attorneys that are experienced with the State
Office of Administrative Hearings(SOAH) and/or childcare licensing is difficult . Which is why I am providing this list for you. I
am not recommending for you to hire these attorneys, I am merely
providing this list to help you should you become a target of Child Care
Licensing . It would not be a bad idea to have one on
retainer. The cost of having an attorney on retainer varies. Some attorneys may ask for a retainer of $3,000 others may ask for $25,000. It could cost mom and pop establishments their entire life savings just to hire an attorney while Childcare Licensing has the taxpayers of Texas to pay for their attorney fees. I will add more attorneys to the list as I become aware of
them.
Be aware of several things regarding attorneys. Just like the public, it is very likely that the attorney that you hire may not be knowledgeable of the State of Texas Minimum Standards for Childcare Centers or believe you when you tell them that childcare licensing representatives do not act in good faith, falsify writeups , or that childcare licensing representatives and the District Director target individuals unfairly.
Insist that your attorney read this blog to help them understand. You will very likely have to teach them about the minimum standards as they are not specialized in this industry. Most attorneys will offer a discount to you as they will very likely understand that if you are needing to hire them that you are very likely facing extreme financial difficulties. Ask them about discounts and find out how they charge you. Be active in your defense. Provide as much assistance to your attorney as possible (e.g. questions to ask either of yourself or childcare licensing). Keep in mind that childcare licensing and the Attorney General's office do not play nice. Your best chance at beating them is by forcing them to answer for their behavior. Do not expect for your attorney or the presiding judge to be familiar with the daycares rules and regulations. Do expect for the State to mislead the court.
Below is a list of attorneys that may be able to help you:
Julie Ketterman
The ISIS Building
1004 Prairie Street, Suite 300
Houston, TX 77002
(866)685-0587
(713)909-3126
Website:
http://www.khalawyers.com/
Provides services statewide
Greg Cagle
1602B State St.
Houston, TX 77007
(800) 704-3929
Rain Minns
Website:
www.rainminnslaw.com
Rain Minns Law Firm
4412 Spicewood Springs Rd. Suite 500
Austin, Texas 78759
(512)372-3222 Phone
(512)861-2403 Fax
Email:
info@rainminnslaw.com
Reyna and Reyna, Attorneys at Law
809 S. Port Ave
Corpus Christi, TX 78405
(361)884-4357
Gale, Wilson & Sanchez:
Christopher John Gale
Mark Anthony Sanchez
115 E Travis St
San Antonio, TX 78205
(210)222-8899
Robert Puente
606 N McColl Rd
Mcallen, TX 78501
(956)618-9904
Martin Cantu
Website:
www.cantulegal.com
Office Hours by Appointment Only:
11550 IH-10 West, Ste. 180
San Antonio, Texas 78230
(210)549-6036 Phone
(210)338-8664 Fax
Email:
martin.cantu@cantulegal.com
Joe Flores
Website:
www.floreslawfirm.com
500 N. Water St., Ste. 515
Corpus Christi, TX 78478
(361)887-8670 Phone
(361)887-8651 Fax
email:
joe@floreslawfirm.com
Potts and Reilly, L.L.P.
Website:
www.pottsreilly.com
7017 John Carpenter Fwy. Suite 225
Dallas, TX 75247-5132
866-876-7825
Potts & Reilly, L.L.P., in Austin, Texas, represents clients throughout Texas, including the communities of Austin, Dallas, San Marcos, Georgetown, Round Rock, Marble Falls, Horseshoe Bay, Granite Shoals, Kingsland, Bastrop, El Paso, the Texas Hill Country,
Highland Lakes, and Central Texas.
Travis County • Williamson County • Burnet County
Llano County • Dallas County • Hays County
Deleon & Washburn, P.C.
Website:
www.dwlawtx.com
901 South Mopac Expressway
Barton Oaks Plaza V, Ste 230
Austin, TX 78746
(512) 478-5308 Phone
(512) 482-8628 Fax
Be aware of several things regarding attorneys. Just like the public, it is very likely that the attorney that you hire may not be knowledgeable of the State of Texas Minimum Standards for Childcare Centers or believe you when you tell them that childcare licensing representatives do not act in good faith, falsify writeups , or that childcare licensing representatives and the District Director target individuals unfairly.
Insist that your attorney read this blog to help them understand. You will very likely have to teach them about the minimum standards as they are not specialized in this industry. Most attorneys will offer a discount to you as they will very likely understand that if you are needing to hire them that you are very likely facing extreme financial difficulties. Ask them about discounts and find out how they charge you. Be active in your defense. Provide as much assistance to your attorney as possible (e.g. questions to ask either of yourself or childcare licensing). Keep in mind that childcare licensing and the Attorney General's office do not play nice. Your best chance at beating them is by forcing them to answer for their behavior. Do not expect for your attorney or the presiding judge to be familiar with the daycares rules and regulations. Do expect for the State to mislead the court.
Below is a list of attorneys that may be able to help you:
Julie Ketterman
The ISIS Building
1004 Prairie Street, Suite 300
Houston, TX 77002
(866)685-0587
(713)909-3126
Website:
http://www.khalawyers.com/
Provides services statewide
Greg Cagle
1602B State St.
Houston, TX 77007
(800) 704-3929
Rain Minns
Website:
www.rainminnslaw.com
Rain Minns Law Firm
4412 Spicewood Springs Rd. Suite 500
Austin, Texas 78759
(512)372-3222 Phone
(512)861-2403 Fax
Email:
info@rainminnslaw.com
Reyna and Reyna, Attorneys at Law
809 S. Port Ave
Corpus Christi, TX 78405
(361)884-4357
Gale, Wilson & Sanchez:
Christopher John Gale
Mark Anthony Sanchez
115 E Travis St
San Antonio, TX 78205
(210)222-8899
Robert Puente
606 N McColl Rd
Mcallen, TX 78501
(956)618-9904
Martin Cantu
Website:
www.cantulegal.com
Office Hours by Appointment Only:
11550 IH-10 West, Ste. 180
San Antonio, Texas 78230
(210)549-6036 Phone
(210)338-8664 Fax
Email:
martin.cantu@cantulegal.com
Joe Flores
Website:
www.floreslawfirm.com
500 N. Water St., Ste. 515
Corpus Christi, TX 78478
(361)887-8670 Phone
(361)887-8651 Fax
email:
joe@floreslawfirm.com
Potts and Reilly, L.L.P.
Website:
www.pottsreilly.com
7017 John Carpenter Fwy. Suite 225
Dallas, TX 75247-5132
866-876-7825
Potts & Reilly, L.L.P., in Austin, Texas, represents clients throughout Texas, including the communities of Austin, Dallas, San Marcos, Georgetown, Round Rock, Marble Falls, Horseshoe Bay, Granite Shoals, Kingsland, Bastrop, El Paso, the Texas Hill Country,
Highland Lakes, and Central Texas.
Travis County • Williamson County • Burnet County
Llano County • Dallas County • Hays County
Website:
www.dwlawtx.com
901 South Mopac Expressway
Barton Oaks Plaza V, Ste 230
Austin, TX 78746
(512) 478-5308 Phone
(512) 482-8628 Fax
Leichter Law Firm PC
Website:
1602 E 7th St
Austin, TX 78702
(512)495-9995
Providing Services in:
Amarillo Arlington Austin Brownsville Corpus Christi Dallas El Paso Fort Worth Garland Houston Laredo Lubbock
San Antonio
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Ramifications
The ramifications for how Adrienne Driggers and Childcare Licensing operate and how we are fighting back are vast.
Adrienne Driggers' reckless management and the tendency of her subordinates to falsify write-ups of daycares make all of the information posted on the DFPS website unreliable for parents who are searching for daycare. Parents, politicians, judges, attorneys, all accept the information posted on the DFPS website to be true. As you have seen from reading this blog, that is the furthest thing from the truth. . Daycare operators do not have the ability to tell their side of the story and are forced to suffer the consequences when a childcare licensing representative and/or the Childcare Licensing District Director is prone to committing libel.
The Administrative Reviews in which daycare operators can challenge the write-ups are notorious for being complete shams as they are typically administered by a Childcare Licensing Representative within the same office as the Childcare Licensing Representative's whose write-ups are being challenged. This massive conflict of interest was established by the Texas Administrative Code!
Adrienne Driggers' tendency to promote those Childcare Licensing Representatives who are prone to falsifying write-ups has created a culture of corruption where the individuals with the most power are the most corrupt.
The ease with which Adrienne Driggers is able to place innocent people on the DFPS Central Registry and close their daycares screams out for the overwhelming need for better checks and balances. She acts as judge, jury, and executioner without any oversight or fear of repercussions. Given that Adrienne Driggers clearly has far too much power, there must be a committee of both citizens, lawmakers, and daycare operators to approve those drastic decisions and to help ensure a fair, balanced, and uniform application of the punishments afforded to Childcare Licensing under the Texas Administrative Code for all daycare operators. If a daycare with 13 write-ups is being closed for posing "an immediate threat to children" then the thousands of daycares in Texas that have more write-ups should be closed as well.
The case for being able to report misconduct of Childcare Licensing Representatives and District Directors must be reorganized. Currently, the Office of Consumer Affairs is given that responsibility. Unfortunately, the Office of Consumer Affairs is within the Department of Family and Protective Services. It is part of the same State Agency as the one we are reporting. In our request for the investigation of Adrienne Driggers and Childcare Licensing, we provided the rules and regulations to support why we were in the right. Despite this, the Office of Consumer Affairs did not bother to call us for an interview nor did they ask for support documentation which we have plenty of. Despite Adrienne Driggers blatantly violating the Texas Administrative Code, the Office of Consumer Affairs responded by stating that we needed to go through the Administrative Review process. They were absolutely useless.
The manner in which we are fighting back also has major ramifications. Rather than being fearful and defenseless against what on the surface appears to be a monolithic entity we have successfully exposed this giant's weakness to the most monolithic group of all, the citizens of the State of Texas. Here in Texas, we have a natural suspicion of corrupt governments. We will also fight for the safety and well-being of children. What Adrienne Driggers and Childcare Licensing have done is not only corrupt; their corruption has endangered the lives of the most vulnerable in our community and has resulted in at least the molestation of two children and the death of our unborn child.
Through the use of social media, we now have a means to level the playing field against a State Agency that until now has controlled all of the information available to citizens regardless of whether or not that information was truthful. We now have the ability to expose Childcare Licensing Representatives for misconduct in a very public manner. I believe that Adrienne Driggers and her staff have been so reckless in their disregard of our Constitutional rights because they do not have any oversight. Through the use of social media, not only are we making Adrienne Driggers and her staff accountable for their actions we also have the ability to pressure our elected officials to protect us from her and any other corrupt State Agency.
The methods that we have used can be applied by any person against the largest of organizations. The greatest benefit in our war with DFPS Childcare Licensing are the tens of thousands of children in daycare. With each day that this blog and our petition are circulating, the possibility of Adrienne Driggers termination increases. The failure of her superiors to terminate her employment will only serve to further undermine the need for the Department of Family and Protective Services Childcare Licensing Division.
Adrienne Driggers' reckless management and the tendency of her subordinates to falsify write-ups of daycares make all of the information posted on the DFPS website unreliable for parents who are searching for daycare. Parents, politicians, judges, attorneys, all accept the information posted on the DFPS website to be true. As you have seen from reading this blog, that is the furthest thing from the truth. . Daycare operators do not have the ability to tell their side of the story and are forced to suffer the consequences when a childcare licensing representative and/or the Childcare Licensing District Director is prone to committing libel.
The Administrative Reviews in which daycare operators can challenge the write-ups are notorious for being complete shams as they are typically administered by a Childcare Licensing Representative within the same office as the Childcare Licensing Representative's whose write-ups are being challenged. This massive conflict of interest was established by the Texas Administrative Code!
Adrienne Driggers' tendency to promote those Childcare Licensing Representatives who are prone to falsifying write-ups has created a culture of corruption where the individuals with the most power are the most corrupt.
The ease with which Adrienne Driggers is able to place innocent people on the DFPS Central Registry and close their daycares screams out for the overwhelming need for better checks and balances. She acts as judge, jury, and executioner without any oversight or fear of repercussions. Given that Adrienne Driggers clearly has far too much power, there must be a committee of both citizens, lawmakers, and daycare operators to approve those drastic decisions and to help ensure a fair, balanced, and uniform application of the punishments afforded to Childcare Licensing under the Texas Administrative Code for all daycare operators. If a daycare with 13 write-ups is being closed for posing "an immediate threat to children" then the thousands of daycares in Texas that have more write-ups should be closed as well.
The case for being able to report misconduct of Childcare Licensing Representatives and District Directors must be reorganized. Currently, the Office of Consumer Affairs is given that responsibility. Unfortunately, the Office of Consumer Affairs is within the Department of Family and Protective Services. It is part of the same State Agency as the one we are reporting. In our request for the investigation of Adrienne Driggers and Childcare Licensing, we provided the rules and regulations to support why we were in the right. Despite this, the Office of Consumer Affairs did not bother to call us for an interview nor did they ask for support documentation which we have plenty of. Despite Adrienne Driggers blatantly violating the Texas Administrative Code, the Office of Consumer Affairs responded by stating that we needed to go through the Administrative Review process. They were absolutely useless.
The manner in which we are fighting back also has major ramifications. Rather than being fearful and defenseless against what on the surface appears to be a monolithic entity we have successfully exposed this giant's weakness to the most monolithic group of all, the citizens of the State of Texas. Here in Texas, we have a natural suspicion of corrupt governments. We will also fight for the safety and well-being of children. What Adrienne Driggers and Childcare Licensing have done is not only corrupt; their corruption has endangered the lives of the most vulnerable in our community and has resulted in at least the molestation of two children and the death of our unborn child.
Through the use of social media, we now have a means to level the playing field against a State Agency that until now has controlled all of the information available to citizens regardless of whether or not that information was truthful. We now have the ability to expose Childcare Licensing Representatives for misconduct in a very public manner. I believe that Adrienne Driggers and her staff have been so reckless in their disregard of our Constitutional rights because they do not have any oversight. Through the use of social media, not only are we making Adrienne Driggers and her staff accountable for their actions we also have the ability to pressure our elected officials to protect us from her and any other corrupt State Agency.
The methods that we have used can be applied by any person against the largest of organizations. The greatest benefit in our war with DFPS Childcare Licensing are the tens of thousands of children in daycare. With each day that this blog and our petition are circulating, the possibility of Adrienne Driggers termination increases. The failure of her superiors to terminate her employment will only serve to further undermine the need for the Department of Family and Protective Services Childcare Licensing Division.
Training your Staff
In the first six months that my wife Marla operated her daycare in San Antonio, she experienced some very bizarre behavior from childcare licensing, beyond Adrienne Driggers' office refusing to provide Marla with write-ups from their visits. At the time we chalked it up to childcare licensing representatives not understanding the State of Texas Minimum Standards. There is a lot of truth to this. There were many times when our staff knew the regulations better than the representatives that would come to inspect our daycare. After all of our experiences with childcare licensing, I would have to say that the bizarre behavior was a result of the combination of both malicious intent and lack of knowledge on the part of childcare licensing representatives.
Training at Kiddie Care, our daycare, was intense. While the State requires all new employees with less than six months of experience to undergo Pre-service training. We required all of our staff, regardless of how much experience they had, to undergo pre-service training which included: studying all of the required pre-service training topics as mandated by the State of Texas Minimum Standards for Childcare Centers and preparing our staff for the day to day operations included real life situations and the best ways to handle them. This part of the training is not only not required by the State of Texas but it is not even addressed by the State of Texas.
Though it was not mandated by the State of Texas, all of our staff were required to take tests to prove their level of understanding of the State of Texas Minimum Standards for Childcare Centers and best methods of handling situations. If the potential employee did not pass the test they were not hired.
After completing the tests our staff were partnered with an employee, with the oversight of the director, to reinforce the material that they had studied in preparation for the job.
At a bare minimum, our staff obtained at least 40 hours of training by the time they were able to work with a group (The State of Texas requires 24 hours of training). The training, however, did not end there as our staff were observed closely and corrected of any deviation from the training that they had received.
Given the behavior of childcare licensing, we felt it necessary to incorporate within our training the preparation of our staff of the tactics used by childcare licensing representatives in attempting to cause injury to the daycare and the children in our care.
Staff were trained to respond in a courteous manner whenever a childcare licensing representative demanded or ordered them to do something that would be in violation of the State of Texas Minimum Standards. In their training our staff were given real life examples of what to expect from childcare licensing representatives. Role-playing was a useful tool that we used to prepare our staff for childcare licensing.
The greatest example of how this preparation protected the children in our care was when one of Adrienne Driggers' childcare licensing investigators named Jessica Nombrana attempted repeatedly to order one of Marla's employees, Megan Kettler, to leave a child unattended at a diaper changing table. Ms. Kettler had just completed her classroom training and was paired with another staff member named Lisa Cavazos. Because Ms. Kettler had been prepared for childcare licensing representatives use of unethical methods to obtain write-ups for the daycare, she politely refused Ms. Nombrana's orders despite Ms. Nombrana's aggressiveness. Both Ms. Kettler and Ms. Cavazos called Adrienne Driggers directly to complain of Ms. Nombrana's actions but were ignored. Not only was Ms. Nombrana not reprimanded but she was actually promoted to holding classes for prospective daycare operators on how to follow the State of Texas Minimum Standards!
Another example came from a childcare licensing representative named Elizabeth Venecia who attempted to pull a staff member out of the infant room leaving the room out of ratio. The staff member that she was attempting to pull out of the room politely refused by notifying Ms. Venecia that she could not leave the room as it would leave the room out of ratio. Ms. Venecia acquiesced.
One of the most difficult things for childcare operators is when a childcare licensing representative creates and enforces their own rules. For instance, in Corpus Christi, we had a Childcare Licensing Representative named Christina Cantu that wanted us to rip out the carpet and padding because it was the same carpet that was there when she had visited the location when it was operated by a different daycare. I told her that the Corpus Christi Health Department had visited the daycare the day before her visit and were perfectly fine with the carpet. In fact, we received a perfect score by the Health Department. I told Ms. Cantu that removing the carpet and padding would create serious injuries to the children as they would be forced to play and nap on exposed concrete. She wrote up the daycare for us having the carpet but did it in such a way that it does not reflect her true reasoning. We do have witnesses that overheard her. Because I called her supervisor, Sylvia Fuentes, to state our concerns about the safety of the children if we removed the carpet, we received a letter from the Corpus Christi Director stating that they had investigated the matter and made corrections. We succeeded in protecting the children.
Training your staff is paramount to ensuring the safety of the children in your care even if it means protecting them from childcare licensing. Unfortunately, it cannot save you or your daycare if the childcare licensing representative is dead-set on finding fault in your daycare or from childcare licensing representatives falsifying write-ups. I strongly recommend that you also install hidden cameras that also capture sound because if you report the Childcare Licensing Representative for misconduct, that representative will simply deny the misconduct and that representative will have the full support from their co-workers and superiors. Childcare Licensing will uphold the write-up unless you have video to prove your case and are willing to go public with it.
We have had our fair share of crooked Childcare Licensing Representatives. We had one in San Antonio named Geneva Hudel that ripped a baseboard off the wall then wrote us up for having a loose baseboard. Ms. Hudel also used a conversation that a parent and Marla had regarding a sale at an HEB Plus to write us up for a violation that does not exist in the Texas Administrative Code but was created by Adrienne Driggers, Ms. Hudel's Supervisor and District Director for West and South Texas. In Corpus Christi we had a Childcare Licensing Representative named Monica Martinez that wrote us up for not having trained the staff despite the testimony from the staff and documentation indicating otherwise.
Training at Kiddie Care, our daycare, was intense. While the State requires all new employees with less than six months of experience to undergo Pre-service training. We required all of our staff, regardless of how much experience they had, to undergo pre-service training which included: studying all of the required pre-service training topics as mandated by the State of Texas Minimum Standards for Childcare Centers and preparing our staff for the day to day operations included real life situations and the best ways to handle them. This part of the training is not only not required by the State of Texas but it is not even addressed by the State of Texas.
Though it was not mandated by the State of Texas, all of our staff were required to take tests to prove their level of understanding of the State of Texas Minimum Standards for Childcare Centers and best methods of handling situations. If the potential employee did not pass the test they were not hired.
After completing the tests our staff were partnered with an employee, with the oversight of the director, to reinforce the material that they had studied in preparation for the job.
At a bare minimum, our staff obtained at least 40 hours of training by the time they were able to work with a group (The State of Texas requires 24 hours of training). The training, however, did not end there as our staff were observed closely and corrected of any deviation from the training that they had received.
Given the behavior of childcare licensing, we felt it necessary to incorporate within our training the preparation of our staff of the tactics used by childcare licensing representatives in attempting to cause injury to the daycare and the children in our care.
Staff were trained to respond in a courteous manner whenever a childcare licensing representative demanded or ordered them to do something that would be in violation of the State of Texas Minimum Standards. In their training our staff were given real life examples of what to expect from childcare licensing representatives. Role-playing was a useful tool that we used to prepare our staff for childcare licensing.
The greatest example of how this preparation protected the children in our care was when one of Adrienne Driggers' childcare licensing investigators named Jessica Nombrana attempted repeatedly to order one of Marla's employees, Megan Kettler, to leave a child unattended at a diaper changing table. Ms. Kettler had just completed her classroom training and was paired with another staff member named Lisa Cavazos. Because Ms. Kettler had been prepared for childcare licensing representatives use of unethical methods to obtain write-ups for the daycare, she politely refused Ms. Nombrana's orders despite Ms. Nombrana's aggressiveness. Both Ms. Kettler and Ms. Cavazos called Adrienne Driggers directly to complain of Ms. Nombrana's actions but were ignored. Not only was Ms. Nombrana not reprimanded but she was actually promoted to holding classes for prospective daycare operators on how to follow the State of Texas Minimum Standards!
Another example came from a childcare licensing representative named Elizabeth Venecia who attempted to pull a staff member out of the infant room leaving the room out of ratio. The staff member that she was attempting to pull out of the room politely refused by notifying Ms. Venecia that she could not leave the room as it would leave the room out of ratio. Ms. Venecia acquiesced.
One of the most difficult things for childcare operators is when a childcare licensing representative creates and enforces their own rules. For instance, in Corpus Christi, we had a Childcare Licensing Representative named Christina Cantu that wanted us to rip out the carpet and padding because it was the same carpet that was there when she had visited the location when it was operated by a different daycare. I told her that the Corpus Christi Health Department had visited the daycare the day before her visit and were perfectly fine with the carpet. In fact, we received a perfect score by the Health Department. I told Ms. Cantu that removing the carpet and padding would create serious injuries to the children as they would be forced to play and nap on exposed concrete. She wrote up the daycare for us having the carpet but did it in such a way that it does not reflect her true reasoning. We do have witnesses that overheard her. Because I called her supervisor, Sylvia Fuentes, to state our concerns about the safety of the children if we removed the carpet, we received a letter from the Corpus Christi Director stating that they had investigated the matter and made corrections. We succeeded in protecting the children.
Training your staff is paramount to ensuring the safety of the children in your care even if it means protecting them from childcare licensing. Unfortunately, it cannot save you or your daycare if the childcare licensing representative is dead-set on finding fault in your daycare or from childcare licensing representatives falsifying write-ups. I strongly recommend that you also install hidden cameras that also capture sound because if you report the Childcare Licensing Representative for misconduct, that representative will simply deny the misconduct and that representative will have the full support from their co-workers and superiors. Childcare Licensing will uphold the write-up unless you have video to prove your case and are willing to go public with it.
We have had our fair share of crooked Childcare Licensing Representatives. We had one in San Antonio named Geneva Hudel that ripped a baseboard off the wall then wrote us up for having a loose baseboard. Ms. Hudel also used a conversation that a parent and Marla had regarding a sale at an HEB Plus to write us up for a violation that does not exist in the Texas Administrative Code but was created by Adrienne Driggers, Ms. Hudel's Supervisor and District Director for West and South Texas. In Corpus Christi we had a Childcare Licensing Representative named Monica Martinez that wrote us up for not having trained the staff despite the testimony from the staff and documentation indicating otherwise.
Here is a video of a Childcare Licensing Representative attempting to falsify a write-up. Tactics like the one seen in this video are commonly used by Childcare Licensing Representatives.
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. Tuesday, June 24, 2014
A Call for Action
The actions of Adrienne Driggers, the Southwest Direct Director of Childcare Licensing, are widespread. Her actions and that of her staff affect not only Daycare Operators but the lives of thousands of children and their families. This blog exposes the unethical behavior of Childcare Licensing but we need your help to spread the word of the existence of this blog to the community.
Please take the time to call any or all of the following and demand that they report the existence of this blog. You don't have to limit yourself by calling just one number or calling only the television stations or newspapers based on your place of residence. Without your help in spreading the word of the existence of this blog we will fail and countless children will suffer as evil will prevail. I will be adding contact information for the media from additional cities as the corruption highlighted in this blog affects every city in Texas.
In Corpus Christi, please call:
KRIS TV at (361)884-6666
KIII TV at (361)986-8300
KZTV TV at (361)886-6173
Corpus Christi Caller Times at (361)884-2011
In San Antonio, please call:
KENS 5 TV at (210)366-2002
WOAI TV at (210)226-4444
KABB TV at (210)442-6397
KSAT TV at (210)351-1269
San Antonio Express at (210)250-3000
In Austin, please call:
KXAN TV at (512)703-5255
KVUE TV at (512)459-9442
KTBC TV at (512)477-8643
Austin Statesman at (512)445-4000
Please take the time to call any or all of the following and demand that they report the existence of this blog. You don't have to limit yourself by calling just one number or calling only the television stations or newspapers based on your place of residence. Without your help in spreading the word of the existence of this blog we will fail and countless children will suffer as evil will prevail. I will be adding contact information for the media from additional cities as the corruption highlighted in this blog affects every city in Texas.
In Corpus Christi, please call:
KRIS TV at (361)884-6666
KIII TV at (361)986-8300
KZTV TV at (361)886-6173
Corpus Christi Caller Times at (361)884-2011
In San Antonio, please call:
KENS 5 TV at (210)366-2002
WOAI TV at (210)226-4444
KABB TV at (210)442-6397
KSAT TV at (210)351-1269
San Antonio Express at (210)250-3000
In Austin, please call:
KXAN TV at (512)703-5255
KVUE TV at (512)459-9442
KTBC TV at (512)477-8643
Austin Statesman at (512)445-4000
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