BANGOR, Maine — The owner of a Bangor day care business that lost its license and closed last month neglected children in her care, a Maine Department of Health and Human Services investigation found.
Citing state statute, DHHS declined to release any additional details about the investigation or what was discovered at Almost Home Daycare, operated in a house at 15 Charles St. in Bangor by Tracy Rowe. The facility had been licensed since 1999.
“The [Department of Licensing and Regulatory Services] received a complaint of abuse and neglect of the children at Tracy Rowe’s day care,” DHHS spokesman John Martins wrote in an emailed response to a Freedom of Access request from the Bangor Daily News. “Once our investigation was completed, we found that Ms. Rowe did neglect the children in her day care.”
“This is the only information we are allowed to release in regards to the investigation,” Martins wrote in the Tuesday email. He did not indicate that any evidence of physical abuse of the children was found.
Inspection and assessment records of the day care from the past four years provided by DHHS show a few minor violations — hanging cords, sharp edges on siding outside, broken safety latches — but nothing that couldn’t be easily fixed or prevent certification.
Almost Home Daycare was approved to house 12 children between the ages of 8 months and 4 years. There were seven children and two staff members at the day care, one being Rowe, as of June, according to inspection records.
Those children were displaced suddenly on Oct. 17, when Rowe surrendered her license to the DLRS following an inspection that was sparked by a complaint alleging abuse and neglect at the day care.
No criminal complaints were filed with Bangor police against Rowe at the time. It could not immediately be determined Tuesday if a complaint had since been filed.
Rowe could appeal the DHHS decision. Attempts to reach Rowe Tuesday were unsuccessful.
One of the parents who took her child to the day care provided the Bangor Daily News with a letter she received earlier this month from DHHS. The letter, dated Nov. 10, said DHHS had completed its investigation.
“The information obtained during the course of this investigation did support the allegations and licensing rule violations have been identified,” the letter stated. “Your child(ren) has been named in the record as a victim of abuse/neglect.”
The letter contained no details about the nature of the violations.
The parent, Cassandra Bianchi, said Tuesday that she plans on having a lawyer seek further details from DHHS about what children at the day care experienced and what the investigation found. Bianchi has said she heard rumors about what was found during the investigation, but nothing that was confirmed by DHHS.
Earlier this year, the state’s child care licensing office used federal grant funding to hire 16 new investigators in an effort to comply with federal safety guidelines. It was expected that the hiring of 19 new employees — which included the 16 new positions and filling three vacancies — would bring the total number of investigators to 25. They are responsible for the oversight of 1,300 family child care providers, 750 child care facilities and about 90 nursery schools in Maine, according to DHHS.
BDN writer Chris Cousins contributed to this report.
Follow Nick McCrea on Twitter @nmccrea213.