Leah Smillie, Child Advicacy Center, (Courtesy)
GRAND ISLAND – The director of First Light Child Advocacy Center in Grand Island said there is a shortage of daycare providers and limited space in daycare facilities in Grand Island.
Leah Smillie is executive director of First Light Child Advocacy Center in Grand Island. She responded to questions regarding the April 22 death of a two-month-old Grand Island boy who sustained injuries while in child care, resulting in his death.
The child care provider, Bianca Y Rivera Lima, 27, of 319 E. 16th St. has been charged with felony child abuse resulting in death.
“It’s a tragedy. It should have never happened. Families need to really review the day cares they take their children to,” Smillie said. That review should occur even if the parents know the prospective day care provider.
She encouraged parents to trust their instincts.
It has not been said whether Rivera Lima was operating a licensed day care facility. Smillie commented that licensed facilities have rigorous background checks of workers at the facility and have to comply with a number of rules and regulations.
“Child care is very expensive. Families struggle finding child care that is affordable to them,” Smillie said.
Concerning a day care center, “if something doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t right. Trust your instincts,” she said.
First Light Child Advocacy Center is a non-profit organization that serves children who are victims of physical or sexual abuse, witnesses to violent crime, children who were placed in a drug endangered environment, or children recovering from a kidnapping. Children at the center are interviewed by forensically trained professionals. Services are provided at no cost. The center serves a 10-county area.
A staff member with Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services who deals with day care licensure has not returned a phone message left with her.
