Day-care violations a shock

News that some 50 Utah child-care providers are operating in violation of state laws didn't just shock state licensing officials — it also surprised many of the purported violators.

Several have been operating for many years in Utah, having been granted exemptions to state laws that forbid the granting of licenses to anyone with criminal record themselves or employ or live with convicts. News that their licenses are now in jeopardy for long-ago crimes, or those believed to have been already taken care of, caught many off guard.

Health officials have released the names and locations of 48 providers given exemptions between 2002 and 2004, as identified by a legislative audit of the Bureau of Child Care Licensing issued last week. The list was released pursuant to a request filed under the Government Records Access Management Act.

Officials refused to specify the violations that required the exemptions.

Many license holders contacted by the Morning News offered explanations for their inclusion on the list, while others refused to comment. One woman, a license holder for 57 years, said she had no idea why her name would be included in the first place.

"I'm just furious. I've never had a problem," said 78-year-old Betty Nattress of Sunset. "They acted like I had had a felony or someone in my house had been in jail or was a sex offender, and it just burnt me up."

State law prohibits the bureau from awarding a license to anyone personally convicted of a felony, sexual crime or crime involving violence against a family member, or to anyone who employs or lives with someone with such a conviction. It also forbids the granting of licenses in misdemeanor cases, but allows exemptions to be granted upon the approval of the executive director of the health department.

Of the 48 exemptions granted during the study period, none came with the director's approval, according to the audit.

Dr. Marc Babitz, overseer of the audited bureau, said Thursday that none of the variances previously granted would be extended, and no more would be granted for anyone failing the state-required criminal background check.

"These child-care rules were made for the protection of children in child care. And, really, the vast majority of them are good rules and need to be enforced as written," said Babitz, director of the Division of Health Systems Improvement within the Utah Department of Health.