Nancy Cambria, communications manager at Health Equity Works in the Brown School
News Monday of a death of an infant in an illegal, unlicensed day care in Maplewood brings home the point that tragedies will continue in Missouri because of lax regulations and a failure to suitably invest in early childhood systems.
Reporting indicates the infant was left unattended. The police said playpens had crates and heavy shelving placed across the tops to prevent other children from climbing out. Some playpens were in closets. The caregiver had more than the legal limit of children. She smelled of alcohol.
This is not an isolated tragedy. In 2017, an infant died in an illegal home day care in Wentzville with at least 17 children inside it.
Read the full piece in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.