Day-Care Operator Given 2-Year Probation

A day-care home operator has been put on probation on charges of having more children than allowed and then concealing it, officials of the state Department of Social Services said Thursday.

For the next two years, inspectors will regularly visit Jocelyn Juarez at her home in the 1000 block of Avenida Cinco de Mayo, department spokeswoman Liz Brady said.

Juarez was licensed in 1990 to take care of six children, with three of them being under age 2, records show. The six must include her three children, who are 1 to 9 years old, Brady said.

Problems first surfaced during an inspection in January, 1992. State documents show Juarez and her assistant were caring for 11 children, seven of them under 2.

“I’ve been taking care of kids since I was 13, and, by word of mouth, all these mothers were asking me to take their kids,” said Juarez, 32. “I couldn’t say no.”

Days after she was cited, she applied for a license to baby-sit 12 children in her home.

While waiting for an answer, Juarez was cited again several times during unannounced inspections. When inspectors visited on May 24, 1992, she signaled to a car driven by her husband carrying two of her children to drive on and not stop at the house, records showed.

Two months later, her request to operate a larger day-care center was denied because of the previous violations, according to records.

Juarez appealed.

Following negotiations, Juarez agreed to give up the appeal because of expenses for the administrative litigation and be put on probation for two years, she said. After that, Juarez plans to reapply to care for 12 children.

If she violates the terms on her license during her probation, the department of social services will cite Juarez and allow her the chance for a hearing before taking her license away, Brady said.