NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – “A daycare center on Charlotte Avenue is facing allegations that it is withholding food from children and “humiliating” them.
Normally filled with dozens of young children, Bright Horizon’s Growing Together Learning Center is now empty.
Those who live nearby were surprised at how quiet it was.
“There are no cars in the parking lot, which is weird, but I just heard it’s closed,” Connor Struckmeyer said.
This comes after the Tennessee Department of Social Services found evidence of verbal and physical abuse of children ages one to three, including pinching, grabbing, ear pulling and toe bending. They said a three-year-old boy was subjected to corporal punishment.
It turned out that educators did not give the children food as punishment and did not let them sit there with dirty diapers.
It also found that “activities were staged for photos with parents, but the children were not actually able to participate in the activities. Meals that were reported to have been served and the children ate were either not served or the children were not given the opportunity to eat because they were deprived of food due to their behavior.”
They also discovered that forms designed to record all this had been forged.
DHS reported that senior management knew about this abuse but did not report it.
Bright Horizons responded to us with this statement:
Our primary responsibility is to provide a safe and secure environment for children. We have reported our concerns to the relevant authorities. We have taken immediate action, placing the affected staff on leave and contacting the affected families. Our focus is on supporting the families in our centers.
Since this is a daycare center that is used by HCA employees, they also sent us a statement.
Effective August 21, Bright Horizons’ independently operated daycare center near the HCA Healthcare main campus has been closed by the state until further notice. We are concerned about the issues identified by the state and appreciate their efforts to ensure that Bright Horizons’ issues are appropriately and promptly addressed.
The center provides services to some HCA Healthcare families through our benefits program. We have learned that Bright Horizons has notified the families served by the center and is working to temporarily place the children in other daycare centers in the area. This situation is challenging for our colleagues and we are working to find ways to best serve them.
“It’s a real shame for the children and somehow disgusting,” said Struckmeyer.
Bright Horizons owns dozens of daycare centers across the country. Both the Department of Human Services and the Department of Child Care confirmed they have ongoing investigations. A portion of the complaint can be found here.
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