Daycare not allowed to accept new kids

Johnston, R.I. (WPRI) - A Johnston day care is not allowed to accept new children, while it remains on probation for leaving a 8-month-old child all alone for almost an hour.

It happened Monday at My Special Place Early Learning Center.  The baby's mother arrived to pick-up her infant son, and realized he was locked inside the empty daycare all by himself.

No criminal charges were filed, but the business was placed on probation by the DCYF indefinitely.

"Probation is a status in which the facility is allowed to maintain the children that they have, but they cannot bring in new children," explained Kevin Savage, the Administrator of Licensing and Regulation for DCYF.

On Wednesday, officials from DCYF visited the Borden Avenue daycare.  They tell us the agency is implementing a corrective action plan to make sure no children are left unattended ever again.

"There really is no excuse for what happened here," Savage tells Eyewitness News.

The corrective action plan could take ten days to complete.

DCYF tells us that My Special Place has not had any problems since it opened in 2003.  It's licensed for 75 children.

The infant who was left alone no longer attends the daycare.