FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — A local mom says it took months to learn about an investigation into the mistreatment of her child at daycare. She wants to want other moms to hear her story.
Leanna Traywick, says the alleged mistreatment happened in January. But she didn’t hear about the investigation until July.
She spoke with us and said when she reached out to the Department of Human Services in July, they had a backlog of more than 400 cases. A DHS representative told us that investigating child mistreatment should only take about 45 days. But in Traywick’s case, it was more than six months.
Traywick told us she didn’t want to provide details of the incident, but she said she felt failed by the system.
“And there was a full investigation done and then it just kind of stopped there. Nobody made a phone call. My child was being sent somewhere for six months, but I didn’t have information to make my own choice,” said Traywick.
We reached out to Gavin Lesnick from the office of communications and community engagement chief for DHS.
In a statement he says, “Staff have been working diligently to address these cases, and the number has been reduced from 436 in January to only two overdue investigations as of today. This reflects supervisor-led efforts to organize and prioritize workflows, as well as concerted efforts by workers to prioritize child safety and family needs and leverage community partnerships to handle the volume of cases. We are grateful to all of the workers and supervisors who have gone above and beyond to ensure the safety of children,” said Lesnick.
Traywick hopes other families don’t have to go through situations such as her own.
“Do your research. Look at flags that there are flags for any kind of complaint that was ever filed, any kind of investigation that was done, how it was resolved,” said Traywick.
————————————————
