GOODYEAR, AZ -- Several Southwest Valley Regional YMCA child care employees were fired after a 1-year-old boy was left unattended in the Y’s child care center. The boy’s mother found her son soaked in what she believes was toilet water, according to a report by Phoenix TV station KPHO.
On Sept. 20, the mother dropped her two children off at the Y’s child care center while she attended a group exercise class. After the class, she went to pick up her children, but only her 5-year-old daughter was there. When she asked a Y employee where her son was, they said they had no idea where he was, she told KPHO. Her son then walked out of the child care bathroom soaked, as if he had been sitting in the toilet, she said.
In response to the incident, the Y fired the employees involved and installed a buzzer at the child care center’s bathroom door to let staff members know when a child is coming and going, Y officials told the TV station. Despite the changes, the mother plans to cancel her membership.
According to the Y’s Web site, the Y’s child care program is licensed by the Arizona Department of Economic Security and provides child care assistance to eligible families with children 12 years old or younger. Families are eligible if their income is at or below 165 percent of the federal poverty level.