(WXYZ) — A home daycare in Canton is closed after federal investigators found evidence of child neglect. The owner of the daycare also had her license suspended.
The FBI said this is a high-risk investigation. State officials say they had to shut the daycare down and said it was a critical emergency action to protect the health and welfare of the children at the family child care home.
The woman under investigation is Vagula Aroulselvam. Her license was suspended for unspecified reasons, but we're told the FBI conducted a search warrant at Mithu Home Daycare on Thornhill Court last week.
LARA said they found violations, and that it is a high-risk special investigation, which means one or more of the following conditions had to be met.
- Child abuse or child neglect is the suspected cause of a child’s death.
- The child is a victim of suspected sexual abuse or sexual exploitation.
- Child abuse or child neglect resulting in severe physical injury to the
child.
Child advocates don't want parents and caretakers to be afraid when leaving a kid at daycare. Instead, be proactive.
"Establish an open line of communication with your child so they are comfortable coming and talking to you," Melanie Richards, the director of kids at TALK Children's Advocacy Center, said. "So open-ended questions like tell me more, what else can you tell me about that. What happened?"
Richards said it's important to pay close attention to changes in behaviors, especially in kids who aren't able to verbally communicate.
"Reluctant to go. Perhaps being really upset or saying that they don't like this person. Explore it," she said.
Before parents take their kids to a new daycare, she said to do your research. There's a place on the state website where you can search licenses and get details.
For Mithu Home Daycare, under inspection reports, we found a violation back in 2020 stating, "The licensee did not report that an Adult Household Member (AHM) was arrested."
We did reach out to Aroulselvam, and she said she won't be commenting at this time.
