Incidents prompt state to shut NE Bend day care

Kids Works Daycare Center & Learning Center, a longtime day care operator in northeast Bend, has been suddenly shut down after the state issued an emergency suspension

Kid Works has been in operation for 20 years. Currently, the business employs eight people and has 45 children ages 6 weeks to 12 years old enrolled.

On Monday, a paper was posted on the door of the business that said: “Child Welfare does not find the center, to meet necessary requirements to allow children to attend the facility. Kid Works will be closed until further notice.”

The owner of Kid Works, Traci Cole, said Tuesday that two incidents sparked the emergency suspension.

First, a boy exposed himself to a child or children, and the day care handled the situation in-house. Some parents were unhappy with what Cole called “inadequate communication” between all parents involved, and notified the state.

Second, a parent said their child came home with potential injuries.

The day care staff apparently didn’t see the injuries and failed to file an injury report.

The Oregon Office of Child Care said they can neither confirm nor deny the details of the incidents.

But Richard Riggs, the legal administrator, told me the day care has had multiple issues with compliance and kids being at risk.

The day care’s owner said she will appeal the decision, and a hearing will be scheduled.

She also said she’ll be getting a lawyer to handle the matter.