Boy left in van prompts day care rule change - the North Shore News
James Weldon
jweldon@nsnews.com

A North Vancouver day-care centre has changed its procedures after a staff member accidentally left an eight-year-old boy unattended in the back of a van for half an hour.

The incident took place Sept. 25 after a driver for Top Drawer Daycare picked up the boy and a number of other kids from the day care's main location to drop them off at school.

While the other children piled out of the vehicle to attend class at Queensbury elementary the boy, who attends a different school, stayed behind. Thinking the van was empty, the driver took it home and parked it outside her apartment building.

The boy remained in the back for about 30 minutes, until he finally let himself out and asked a stranger for help. A passerby made a call to the day care and ultimately got in touch with the driver, who came outside to find him, and drove him back to Top Drawer.

The incident was reported to Vancouver Coastal Health, the authority that licences the Lower Mainland's day cares, by Top Drawer and the boy's mother.

The health authority investigated, and recommended the day care change its procedures to ensure it did not happen again.

The boy's family had hoped the driver in question would be dismissed, but the health authority is satisfied with the day care's response, said Viviana Zanocco, a spokeswoman for VCH. The day care has introduced more stringent head-count procedures, and the authority is confident the facility is safe, she said.

The confusion arose from the fact the boy climbed into the van in error, not realizing he was not to be taken to school that day due to a professional development day. The driver was not scheduled to make a drop off there, and so assumed when the other students climbed out there was no one left in the vehicle.

Top Drawer, which was very apologetic, has overhauled its procedures for tracking kids, checking its van and dealing with pro-d days generally, said Jennifer Joyce, the day care's owner.

"We've changed the whole thing," she said. "We have it so tight, nothing will slip through the net."

published on 10/22/2006