Iowa City childcare center closing abruptly following inspection

A four-year-old Iowa City childcare center and preschool is abruptly closing its doors next week, one year after the state restricted its license to “provisional” based on a large number of citations.

Creative World Child Development Center, 2717 Northgate Drive in Iowa City, is voluntarily closing on July 12, said Chad Dahm, Iowa Department of Human Services child care administrator. The center, which first was licensed in 2009 and most recently was caring for about 50 children ages 0 to 5, has been working with the state for years before getting to the point of closure, Dahm said.

“She decided to close her doors for a year, and that was the decision we have reached with her,” Dahm said of the center's director, identified as Traci Anderson in the 2012 inspection report. “I think the decision was left to her, but it was part of an ongoing relationship with us.”

The center could remain closed longer than one year, according to Dahm, but it must be closed for at least that long. Anderson did not immediately return a call from The Gazette on Tuesday morning.

An Iowa City police watch commander said its department is not working any investigations involving Creative World Child Development Center.

Iowa Child Care Resource and Referral is working with parents of children enrolled at the center to help them find alternative childcare.

The closure comes shortly after the state's most recent unannounced licensing visit, Dahm said. A copy of the 2013 report isn't yet available, but Dahm said it is “remarkably similar” to the 2012 report, in which inspectors point out nearly 40 violations and recommend the center be given an provisional license rather than a full license.

Among the violations cited in that report, center employees were caught violating sanitation and hygiene requirements by playing with hair before serving food, not washing a child's hands before lunch and failing to wash infant hands after diaper changes.

“This is especially concerning because the center has several cases of hand, foot and mouth, and this can be transferred to others through the stool for weeks after infection,” according to the report.

Chairs, toys and cubbies in the center also were found to be “extremely dirty,” inspectors reported, and staff members were caught leaving the infant room, throwing off balance the required infant-staff ratio.

Also in the infant room, inspectors noted that fitted crib sheets were being used that did not fit the mattresses.

“This created possible air pockets for the children to breathe in too much carbon monoxide,” according to the report.

One infant also was placed in a crib with its railings down, according to the report.

The center did not complete the national criminal history checks on its employees, and some staff members did not complete the necessary training, inspectors reported.

“Based upon this review and the number of citations, it is recommended that a provisional license be issued,” according to the report. “The director gave me a verbal commitment that the noted rule violations would be promptly corrected.”

Dahm said childcare license revocations in Iowa are rare – there have been none in the past year. He said Creative World Child Development Center's closure doesn't count as a revocation, because the director made the decision to close voluntarily.

All centers facing further sanctions are given the ability to make that decision, he said.

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