Plymouth day care probed

Staff accused of ignoring abuse

Korie Wilkins

Detroit Free Press

Oct. 12--A Plymouth day care facility is under state investigation following allegations that staffers failed to report signs of abuse on 2-year-old Allison Newman, whose foster mom is charged in her death.

Maureen Sorbet, spokeswoman for the Michigan Department of Human Services, confirmed Wednesday that Childtime Learning Center is under investigation.

She would not comment further.

The source of the allegations was unclear.

According to Amy Popp, spokeswoman for the center, Allison, who died Sept. 22, had been at Childtime about nine months.

She said staff members were devastated after Allison died and that an internal investigation showed management was unaware of any suspicion about abuse.

"We've never had a violation for failure to report," Popp said.

Allison's foster mother, 40-year-old Carol Poole of Canton, was charged earlier this month with felony murder, first-degree child abuse and involuntary manslaughter.

Poole told police the girl accidentally hit her head; an autopsy showed that Allison had a traumatic head injury.

According to Maria Miller, a spokeswoman for the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office, Poole -- who is in custody -- will be back in court Nov. 13 for a preliminary examination.

Childtime operates day care centers nationwide.

Diane Borushko, regional director for Childtime, said she was told a state investigator came to the Plymouth facility after receiving a complaint that staffers had noticed signs of abuse on Allison but failed to report them to authorities.

Borushko denied the allegations and said that upon hiring, employees are trained on how to spot and report possible abuse. "We do, as a corporation, follow very strict licensing guidelines," she said.

But according to Michigan records, the Plymouth center, at 45678 Helm St., has had problems.

In January, the center was investigated after a staff member was accused of picking up a 3-year-old girl by the arm, causing an injury.

The staff member allegedly had been angry with the child for not cleaning up as directed, the records show.

The employee was disciplined.

And in November 2005, the center was investigated after an unannounced inspection found too many children in a room supervised by too few employees.

The facility took corrective measures, according to the records.

The facility is licensed by the state through Nov. 7.

Contact KORIE WILKINS at 248-315-5186 or kwilkins@freepress.com.