EXCERPT FROM: MyCentralJersey.com
By Suzanne C. Russell
PERTH AMBOY — The mother of a 17-month-old baby boy who died while being supervised at a day-care facility in the city last month wants all baby-sitting and child-care centers in Perth Amboy to be regulated.
"My son paid the price for that," said the woman, who did not give her full name when she spoke Wednesday before the City Council.
"I think it should be mandatory that they be regulated. You're dealing with someone's life. There should be stricter regulations," said the woman during a council discussion about the rules and regulations covering child care, which was prompted by the boy's death.
The mother said the city needs to control what people are able to do if they care for children.
"I keep hearing about the (lack of) regulations of the place I put my son. With no one overseeing every day care how do you know what people are doing?" she said. "How do you know if these people have five or less children?"
Council members are considering imposing local regulations on child-care facilities.
"We should look into an ordinance for day-care centers," said Mayor Wilda Diaz.
Council President Peter Jimenez agrees.
"Children are so vulnerable," he said.
Councilman Robert Sottilaro suggested an ordinance could encourage parents to check with code enforcement to see if a child-care facility is regulated before placing their child.
"It's one safety valve," he said.
Councilman Kenneth Balut, a retired police officer, had called for a discussion about city child-care facilities because he wanted to know if they are checked for fire alarms and carbon-monoxide detectors, and whether they are hooked up to the 911 system.
Ed Scala, city code-enforcement director, explained child-care centers with six children or more are required to be licensed by the state. The city has 27 licensed day-care facilities, mostly run by schools and the YMCA.
Before the license is issued, the city has some jurisdiction, such as making sure the business complies with zoning and issuing a certificate of occupancy from the city's Department of Code Enforcement. The businesses also undergo an annual fire-prevention inspection.
Scala said the city has little to no jurisdiction over in-house child-care facilities.
"As long as a tenant or owner lives in the unit, if there are five or less (children) there is little or no jurisdiction we have as to how they operate," Scala said.
He said there is a voluntary registration and 57 of these types of facilities are voluntarily registered in the community. He said those listed are going to be shared with the city's police and fire departments.
"None of the responding agencies was aware a child-care center was there," Scala said referring to Maggie's Little School, 787 Parker St. where police received a 911 call about an unresponsive child on Monday, May 17.
Police tried to revive the 17-month-old toddler before he was rushed to Raritan Bay Medical Center in Perth Amboy. The boy, a resident of Carteret, was pronounced dead at 11:22 a.m at the hospital.
The Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office is awaiting the results of additional tests to determine what caused the boy's death. The child's name has not been released.
"Some don't volunteer to register," Scala said.