Day care that state shut down won't reopen
The Growing Place owner declines to appeal ruling

By Jessie Halladay
jhalladay@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal

A day care shut down by the state last week will not reopen after the owner voluntarily surrendered her license and declined to file an appeal.

Officials with the Cabinet for Health and Family Services' Office of the Inspector General shut down The Growing Place, at 2520 Wallace Ave., last week after a routine inspection turned up several regulatory violations.



Among them was the hiring of a Louisville man who is listed on the Kentucky Sex Offender registry. Joseph Gibson had worked as a cook at the day care for about six weeks. Gibson has been listed on the registry since 1997 for conviction of first-degree sexual assault against a 20-year-old.

Owner Loxi Foree has informed the state that she will not appeal the emergency suspension of her license and will voluntarily surrender it, said Janis Stewart, a spokeswoman for the cabinet.

Foree has not returned phone calls seeking comment.

State law prohibits her from applying for a new license for two years. The law doesn't prohibit anyone from hiring her at another day care.

When issuing the emergency suspension, two other violations were cited in the letter: Staff members hired without required background checks worked with children while unsupervised, and the center failed to properly report allegations of abuse and neglect of children in its care.

No specifics were provided about the allegations.

Stewart said the agency will complete the reports on deficiencies but won't take further action since the center has closed.

The day care had been licensed since March 2002. It had been cited for other regulatory violations several times since 2004 but never for claims of serious abuse, according to records released by the cabinet last week.
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