Health Dept. Creates Unit to Probe Illegal Day Care Centers After Baby Dies
(DNAINFO) Amy Zimmer, Murray Weiss and Danielle Tcholakian — The Department of Health has created a unit to investigate child safety issues after a 3-month-old boy died at an unlicensed day care, the agency told to ABC 7 Eyewitness News.
Karl Towndrow died last week at SoHo Child Care, an unlicensed day care center run by Maryellen Strautmanis out of her loft at 69 Greene St. for 14 years. The Department of Health received a complaint about the center in November 2014, but an investigator failed to find the center and closed the case.
“There are concerns about how rigorous the inspection process is, and what kind of oversight the Department of Health has over its own personnel,” a law enforcement source said.
“What this tragedy signals is that you can operate off the radar without any authority going to come in and find you, even after a specific allegation is made.”