Park Forest Daycare Shuts Down Without Warning
PARK FOREST, Ill. (CBS) -- A south suburban daycare center abruptly closed Monday, leaving parents and children in the lurch.
The unexpected shutdown occurred at the Children's House child care facility on Orchard Drive in Park Forest, CBS 2's Roseanne Tellez reports.
Frustrated parents who showed up with their kids still had more questions than answers.
Nicole Cobbins was planning to drop off her two boys.
"This is just very unprofessional," she says. "Those that don't have a backup plan, they're pretty much just screwed."
Employees also were locked out with no explanation. Only a few got a chance to get their belongings when friends of the owner showed up briefly.
The director of the facility tells Tellez she, too, was taken by surprise and had just signed up several new families.
"I have parents who are asking me about their money," Anita Raspberry Strong said. "I give them the address of the corporate office and telephone number to the corporate office, and they are in turn coming back and telling me they are getting no answers."
The Department of Children and Family Services, which licenses the daycare, says it has launched an investigation into the closing. About 100 families are affected, the agency says.
A man who answered the phone at the home of daycare owner Phyliss Ward said Ward would have no comment at this time.
She has announced plans to close two locations in Markham on Thursday. A fourth location is in Bronzeville; employees say they don't know anything.
The company's website home page did not reflect the closing Monday afternoon.
