Report: Closure Of Daycares By DHS A Slow Process

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- A newspaper reports that the Oklahoma Department of Human Services' process for closing troubled daycares has been prolonged in the past,<br/><br/>'The Oklahoman' reports

Sunday, June 17th 2007, 3:08 pm

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- A newspaper reports that the Oklahoma Department of Human Services' process for closing troubled daycares has been prolonged in the past,

'The Oklahoman' reports in a copyright story that despite children being injured, molested, abused, left unsupervised in dangerous areas or dying, DHS took months to revoke the licenses of day cares where such things had taken places.

In other cases, some day cares continued to operate even after DHS workers or authorities had found drugs or guns.

The newspaper based its report on a review of hundreds of records of day care closures.

In 2006, DHS issued three emergency closure orders, and DHS Director Howard Hendrick says the agency probably exercised too much caution in the past when considering those orders.

He says changes in the process are being considered, spurred in part by an internal review he ordered following the death of a 2-year-old Joshua Minton at a Tulsa day care last month.