Lower Makefield family takes first steps on ‘Kayden’s Law’

Posted: September 9, 2018

Children need an advocate to represent their interests in custody proceedings, and the judges overseeing those typically contentious court cases should be required to incorporate the recommendations of professionals in custody orders.

Kayden Mancuso and her father Jeffrey in 2016

Those were among the family court-related reforms that the Lower Makefield family of 7-year-old Kayden Mancuso, who was murdered by her father following an intense 18-month child custody fight, discussed in a private meeting Friday with Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and his senior staff in Harrisburg, the administration confirmed.

The Wolf administration said in a statement that his staff would continue to work with the family, advocates and the legislature on the ideas presented.

“We have the deepest sympathy for Kayden’s mom, stepfather, grandfather, aunts and uncles, and we want to do all that we can to make sure no family suffers the same tragedy they have suffered,” Deputy Press Secretary Sara Goulet wrote.

Kayden was killed last month by her father, Jeffrey Mancuso, 42, of Philadelphia, less than three months after a Bucks County judge issued a custody order that allowed him twice monthly unsupervised visits with her. Her death has attracted international attention and focused new public scrutiny on the family court system and child custody cases.

Kayden’s mother, Kathryn Sherlock, her stepfather, Brian, and other family members have called for the removal of Bucks County Judge Jeffery Trauger for failing to follow a court evaluator’s recommendation that Mancuso be given unsupervised visits with Kayden “contingent” on him entering mental health treatment. Trauger, who was re-elected last year, was appointed to the bench in 2016 after a legal career that focused on real estate, banking, civil and commercial law.

A court-ordered psychological evaluation diagnosed Mancuso with major depressive disorder, moderate anxious distress, narcissistic and antisocial personality traits, according to a copy of the report obtained by this news organization. The report stated that Mancuso was receiving medication management from his primary care doctor, he was encouraged to seek a psychiatrist, and would benefit from psychotherapy and parenting education. He also had previous assault convictions and Sherlock obtained a three-year protection from abuse order against him in December.

Reforms proposed in Kayden’s Law

The family of Kayden Mancuso has proposed the following as part of their Kayden’s Law reforms:

• Child advocacy, mandated mental evaluation and state psychological testing in family court. Court-appointed lawyer or “skilled” representative that would act as child advocate in custody proceedings. Adherence to expert testimony and require judges to incorporate expert testimony into their orders.
• Increased education for Domestic Relations Office and judges on mental illness
• Proven violent offenders be mandated to supervised visitation while receiving counseling. Domestic relations will provide follow up for proof of counseling or there would be a loss of privileges.
• Emergency Child Endangerment Act. The creation of a mechanism that allows for family to seek immediate protection in an abuse case. At present, a request to modify a custody order is filed and can take six to eight weeks before the case is on the court schedule.
• Immediate removal of Judge Jeffrey Trauger
• Constitutional change to the judge selection process (hire slow/fire fast). Proposes that a judge must have a yet-to-be-determined number of years experience in the field of law they preside over.
• Reduction of term. Increase frequency of judicial retention elections from 10 to five years.
• Greater accountability of judges

At a May 1 custody hearing, Sherlock’s attorney urged Trauger to order Mancuso into mental health treatment and that the mental health professional be advised as the reason for the treatment, according to a copy of the court transcript obtained by this news organization. She also requested sole legal custody, which the court evaluator recommended against.

Instead, Trauger only recommended that Mancuso seek mental health treatment and he reduced his visitation privileges to overnight stays every other weekend, but did not require supervision in his May 24 second amended order. It was during one of those overnight visits last month that Mancuso killed Kayden before taking his own life.

Family spokeswoman Jennifer Sherlock, the girl’s aunt, confirmed the family emphasized four bullet points they want to see enacted with Wolf and his staff. They are reforms dubbed the centerpiece of what they have proposed as “Kayden’s Law.”

• Mandate court-appointed attorneys or “skilled” representatives that would act as child advocates in custody proceedings.


• Require judges hearing custody cases to incorporate recommendations from expert testimony and court evaluations into final orders.


• Create an emergency mechanism to allow families to seek immediate protection in an abuse case, rather than wait six to eight weeks after a request to modify custody is filed until the case gets before a judge.


• Require judges have experience in the field of law for the type of court where they will be seated.

The Wolf administration promised to take a deeper look into the family’s objectives and collect more information, Sherlock said. She added the family will start to meet with local state lawmakers to get the political backing necessary to create a bill.

Child advocates on Friday called the reform ideas that the family is proposing commendable, but expressed reservations that some could be easily enacted. Before proposing changes there needs to be an examination of what is in place now and what is, and isn’t, working and why, they said.

“Any steps we take shouldn’t be driven by this case,” said Cathleen Palm, founder and executive director of the Center for Children’s Justice in Berks County. “As dramatic and unsettling as Kayden’s death is, we have to be careful that we not have it be a singular case that drives policy reform that is not thoughtful.”

Without evidence that a child has been abused or threatened, a parent’s past violent or criminal behavior doesn’t automatically prevent contact with children, according to family law attorneys. Where concerns are raised a parent has serious behavior or mental health problems, judges have the power to tie visitation to mandatory evaluation and treatment in a custody order.

Pennsylvania most recently underwent dramatic changes in its child custody laws in 2010, with new rules designed to hold Common Pleas Court judges more accountable for the reasoning behind custody awards and assuring the best interests of the child are in the forefront. Changes included requiring the court to address 16 custody factors and explain decisions in orders creating a case history for a future judge.

At least five of those 16 factors address violence and potential harm to a child, according to Frank Cervone, executive director of the Support Center for Child Advocates in Philadelphia.

Cervone supports court-assigned legal advocates for children in custody cases to make sure their needs, experiences and wishes are conveyed to the court.

But he is among the minority, he said. Many in the legal profession believe adding a third party to an already contentious and emotionally charged court case can be problematic.

“These cases have two stories, and the notion that there is a clear truth to be told from the child’s perspective that is going to change the decision between the two parties puts the kid in an awkward and somehow too powerful position,” Cervone said. “If I threw my weight behind one party of the case, that matters a lot to the court and it’s unclear whether it should, though there are certainly cases where it should.”

Cervone added that a pathway for emergency custody hearings already exists, and that parents can file for an emergency hearing, though the responsiveness, and what is considered an emergency, could depend on the court. Parents can also file for a protection from abuse order on behalf of a child facing imminent danger of harm.

But Cervone pointed out with Kayden’s case, an emergency custody hearing might not have had the effect the family wanted. If a parent appeals a custody order, the decision is stayed, which means the previous order goes into effect. In the Kayden’s case, the previous order gave her father longer unsupervised visitation.

While “theoretically attractive,” choosing judges based on whether their legal experience matches the court where they’d preside would be hard to administer and could lead to difficulty filling vacancies, Cervone said.

Parent visitation, however, is an issue the child welfare system and legal system should look to start reform efforts, Palm added.

It is common for children to remain in homes or have unsupervised visitation with alleged abusers when child welfare investigations take place, she said. In hostile home environments where parents are incapable of getting along, their anger toward each other can sometimes spill over into their children, Palm added.

“Policy makers don’t understand how often children remain connected to or exposed to a person who may be a direct harm to them.”

While the courts are reluctant to infringe on parents having access to their children, when there are yellow flags it is better to put more restrictions in place, Palm said. But, she added, at the same time the courts and the behavioral health systems need resources in place so parents with behavior, mental or drug issues can get the help they need and continue a relationship with their children.

“You don’t want to penalize every parent who has ever been angry, every parent that has a substance abuse issue, every parent that has mental illness,” Palm said. “That is the challenge in so much of what we do. We talk a good game. We’re going to be in the best interest of the child ... but we don’t do that.”

Hiding in plain sight: Pennsylvania turns a blind eye to unlicensed child care

Posted: July 14, 2018

Alivia Sawicki (l) and Jaimee Lee Gorman (r) 

Ed Copechal watched every morning as parents’ cars — at times, even local school buses — lined up outside Jaimee Gorman’s child care center on Fourth Avenue in Bristol Township.

“Everybody knew she was watching kids,” Copechal said.

Everybody, that is, but state regulators. They didn’t know about Gorman’s unlicensed and allegedly illegal business until after a 19-month-old girl she was babysitting died of suffocation on June 16, 2017. A state report says Gorman was watching nine children at the time, three times the limit for an unlicensed home day care.

The death of Alivia Sawicki in Gorman’s care inspired a three-month investigation by this news organization, which found evidence of dozens of unlicensed and possibly illegal child care providers in Bucks and Montgomery counties openly advertising online. Reporters obtained the information through publicly available sources state regulators acknowledge they don’t use, such as the U.S. Census, state business filings, municipal records and IRS data.

State officials acknowledged the Department of Human Services doesn’t actively search for illegal child cares and only investigates after someone complains. After receiving a list of 70 suspected unlicensed centers from this news organization, the state said it was investigating 19 businesses, and had issued one cease and desist order.

The state said other centers were “closed,” yet some told us they still were operating.

Informal and affordable

Nearly 2 million U.S. children under age 5 attend some type of home child care each week, according to the national nonprofit Child Care Aware of America.

Home settings are most popular with parents of infants and toddlers looking for a more informal, intimate and affordable child care experience. Home-based child care in Pennsylvania costs an average of $155 a week per child, versus $233 at a larger child care center, according to Child Care Aware.

But the smallest child care providers also are the ones most likely to fall outside minimum state health and safety standards, putting children at risk for harm and undermining state and federal efforts to improve child care quality, according to child care professionals and studies.

“It’s an underground thing people know about, but don’t do anything about,” said Minnesota attorney Tom Copeland, an expert in home child care businesses. “Are parents turning in illegal providers? I doubt it.”

Infants and toddlers are healthier and safer in child cares where quality standards are in place, according to child care experts and studies.

“That is the safety net. No one should be operating a program unless they are meeting all the licensing rules and regulations,” said Richard Fiene, a retired Penn State University behavioral science professor who has studied unlicensed child care in Pennsylvania. “No one should be operating below that floor of quality.”

The licensing process

In Pennsylvania, a home-based child care provider can watch an unlimited number of family members, as well as three children who are not family, without needing a license. The only caveat is they cannot care for more than two infants and three toddlers under age 3 at the same time. Licensed home child-care providers can watch up to six children who are not related to them.

Barbara Kristiansen

Pennsylvania’s licensing requirements are extensive. Home child care operators must complete a two-part orientation within 12 months before opening a business; if an applicant fails to open within a year, the process restarts.

Providers must be a high school graduate or equivalent. FBI and state police criminal background checks and child abuse clearances are required for anyone over 18 living in the home; staff must be certified in CPR and first aid, and are required to complete annual child development training and more.

Applicants may also be required to obtain variances or other special approvals from local municipalities. A local use and occupancy permit is required for a state child care license.

Earlier this year, Barbara Kristiansen started $150,000 in renovations at her Warrington home to turn it into a home day care. In March, she received a permit to renovate the basement into a child care center for up to six children, as well as a use and occupancy permit for the business, according to township zoning records.

Months later, a sign planted on the front lawn says the business is accepting enrollments for summer and fall. A website and Facebook page promote the day care as “small by design.”

But the child-friendly basement classroom and jungle gym in the backyard were empty as of early July. Kristiansen said she’s still waiting for the state to issue her a child care license, a process she started in February.

“I was amazed at the process to get to be a small, little home center. I’m not saying that’s bad. That’s good,” she said. “If you’re a novice at this, you’re not going to know the seriousness. You may think you’re just babysitting or playing with kids, but, you know, watching someone else’s most important possession is a really big responsibility. You want to find out all the information you can. This is a business.”

But not everyone sees it that way, Kristiansen added.

“I know, personally, at least 10 people running unlicensed day cares, and that’s within a 10-mile radius,” she said.

Parents unaware

Since home day cares are considered less formal settings, many parents and even providers don’t ask about licensing or don’t think it’s needed, Copeland said.

Kelly Taylor learned about licensing when she was interviewing a home child care provider she eventually hired.

“To be honest, she (the provider) was the one who mentioned it,” said Taylor, whose now 7- and 8-year-old children spend summers with Donna Archer, who runs a state-licensed child care out of her Bristol Township home.

First-time mom Jenny Salvatico, also of Bristol Township, was surprised to learn the amount of training and paperwork required to license home child cares. Her 1-year-old son also is in Archer’s care.

Donna Archer

“I just thought people did this because it’s an extra way to make money as a side gig, or to stay home with their kids,” Salvatico said.

Kathy Watson, R-144, of Warrington, and chair of the House Children and Youth Committee, believes resistance she has seen to more third-party oversight of home child cares is rooted in cultural views that government should not regulate anything that happens in private homes.

“They take the money, but they don’t see themselves as a business because historically that wasn’t considered a business,” Watson said. “Culturally, we need to educate people across the state that this is a kind of business that is worthy of regulation because it’s not producing widgets, these are children.”

Death of a child

The death of a child while in the care of people other than family appears to be a relatively rare event, but it happens more frequently in an unlicensed setting, or in a private home, according to state records.

An analysis of state reports show at least 14 children in Pennsylvania have died in the care of unlicensed child care providers since 2008, compared to 11 at licensed providers. Twenty deaths occurred in homes over that time span, records show.

A national study released in 2005 found that children watched in private homes were 16 times more likely to die than children at child care centers, and had a higher risk for drowning, suffocation and shaken-baby syndrome.

In a study released in April, Washington state pediatrician and SIDS researcher Rachel Moon concluded that unsafe sleeping situations were “particularly acute” with unlicensed home child care providers who lacked training and were unaware of new research on safe sleeping.

At least seven Pennsylvania infant deaths in child care settings have been ruled as SIDS-related since 2008, and state-mandated death reviews for those cases mentioned the infant was placed in an unsafe sleeping position or environment.

Two-month-old Dylan Johnson was among them.

The Butler County coroner ruled Dylan died of Sudden Unexplained Infant Death after he was found unresponsive in a playpen, where he was placed unsupervised for a nap for at least 30 minutes. The manner of death was left undetermined, according to a state-mandated review of the circumstances surrounding his 2015 death.

But what was clear was Dylan was one of 12 children in the care of an unidentified woman described in the report as a “babysitter.” Among them were eight infants and toddlers, three more than state regulations allow for one adult.

The death review failed to suggest the woman was operating a suspected illegal child care. Instead, it said the babysitter “did not consider herself a day care, she just helped people by babysitting,” and she “rarely” had as many children as the day Dylan died.

The woman was not charged criminally, but the state issued a cease and desist order, which would make it “very difficult” for the woman to obtain a child care license in the future, according to the report. But she could still watch up to three children at one time as a legally unregulated provider.

Tough to investigate

Roughly two years ago, 28-year-old Rebecca Lane opened a home day care for children under age 5. She registered her limited liability corporation with the state. She promoted her business online. She hired an employee when she reached six children, though state regulations don’t require it.

She thought she was doing everything right.

Earlier this year, however, a state child care inspector showed up at her Bristol Township home to investigate a report she was operating illegally. Lane learned she was watching twice as many kids as allowed without a license.

“It was scary. I didn’t know what was going to happen,” Lane said. “I was very apologetic. I would never want this to happen to anyone.”

Since that day, Lane has been working to secure her state license and required local municipal approvals. She still watches kids, but no more than three at one time, she said.

Lane is cooperating with state regulators, but not everyone in her situation does. And the state is limited in its ability to act against unlicensed home day cares, since it has no authority over them.

“We regulate child care facilities, we don’t regulate people’s homes,” Department of Human Services spokesman Colin Day said. “It’s a different ballgame.”

Investigating and penalizing unlicensed child cares can be a long and potentially moot process in all but the most serious circumstances, as illegal operators can take steps to avoid penalties and slip back under the state radar.

Last year, Pennsylvania investigated 201 complaints of suspected illegal child care operations. It issued 68 cease and desist letters, including four in Bucks and Montgomery counties, according to records provided by the Department of Human Services and its licensing arm, the Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL).

How many centers were closed is unknown. The state doesn’t post information online about child cares it’s investigating. It also doesn’t post the outcomes of those investigations on its website.

State regulators also don’t actively look for suspected illegal child cares, instead relying on the public to report them, Day said.

Alivia Sawicki

And finding evidence of an illegal child care operation can be a challenge. Absent a search warrant, the homeowner can order an inspector off a property. With no access, an inspector can only report what activity is observed outside, and what neighbors say.

After Alivia Sawicki’s death last year, state inspectors twice visited Gorman’s Bristol Township home, after receiving a report she was watching nine children the day the toddler died. No one was home either time. The inspectors were told the family had moved and left no forwarding address, according DHS.

The investigation was closed after local authorities told DHS that all the children in Gorman’s care the day of the death were her relatives, meaning she did not need a license.

Nine months later, though, the Bucks County District Attorney reopened the criminal investigation and charged Gorman with operating an illegal day care after authorities confirmed at least four of the nine children were not family members. The charge was later changed to endangering the welfare of children; if convicted, Gorman would be prevented from opening another licensed child care.

It is unknown if DHS reopened its investigation after Gorman’s arrest. It is not specified in the review of Alivia’s death, and DHS did not respond to a follow-up inquiry from this news organization.

Even after complaints are filed, it can take weeks before an investigation is opened, under current DHS policy. Complaints with an indication a child has been harmed must be started within five days, but it can take 15 days or longer for those deemed medium or low risk, said Tanya Vasquez, bureau director of certification services for the OCDEL.

A provider watching too many children is considered a medium risk, Vasquez said.

Inspectors have more than a month to make a final determination, which is then forwarded to a DHS deputy secretary to decide if a cease and desist order is warranted.

Child care professionals also suggest the number of child care inspectors the state employs could contribute to delays in investigations and weak follow up.

Pennsylvania employs 105 inspectors, and there are six vacancies, all in the southeastern region of the state, which includes Bucks and Montgomery counties.

That works out one inspector for every 75 licensed child care centers. That’s better than four years ago, when the ratio was 1:143, Day said. State legislators approved a funding increase to hire more inspectors in 2015.

But organizations like Child Care Aware and the National Association for Regulatory Administration, a national nonprofit association that represents human care licensing, would like to see the ratio closer to one inspector for every 50 licensed child cares. They believe that reducing inspector caseloads would ensure more frequent and thorough on-site monitoring and investigations.

Pennsylvania Family Support Alliance CEO and President Angela Liddle said the low number of inspectors was not a shock; most state agencies are underfunded and it leads to delays and backlogs.

“I’m surprised we don’t hear about the more abuse, more fatalities, more near-fatalities in some of these settings,” she said.

Pennsylvania day cares that are ordered to shut down have 30 days to appeal. And even after that deadline passes, the state has no legal authority to immediately shut down an illegal child care without an indication of imminent life-threatening danger, Vasquez said. The state must ask a judge to order closure, though it can issue fines that start at $25 a day.

Penalties can be avoided if the operator agrees to reduce the number of children to no more than three, which removes them from state oversight. The operators the state listed as closed who told this news organization they remained open claimed they reduced reduced the number of kids they were watching.

“We see that often,” said Diane Michel, an OCDEL program executive.

Michel also acknowledged that her agency is aware of home child care providers who have been issued “multiple” cease and desist letters after breaking promises not to take in more children than allowed without a license. She described those situations as “not frequent.”

Hard to find

Five years before Gorman moved into the rental home in the 1100 block of Fourth Avenue in Croydon, another child care business, “Ms. Stacy’s Child Care,” operated there in 2011, according to a Yellow Pages listing still available online.

The state has no record a licensed child care ever operated at that address. Bristol Township also has no record of issuing a use and occupancy permit or special exception variance for a home-based day care at the address, according to property records.

When “Ms. Stacy’s” closed and other details are unknown. A phone number listed for the business is no longer in service.

The ability for illegal child cares to hide in plain sight is unique, according to Copeland, the child care business expert.

“If I go into any town in Pennsylvania and open a restaurant without following regulations, I couldn’t do it. If I opened up, I’d be shut down immediately,” he said. “But I can open an illegal child care program and operate unimpeded for a long time, if not forever.”

Research shows that unlicensed home child cares typically have a high turnover rate, which makes it hard for regulators to keep track of them.

The number of unlicensed child care providers in Philadelphia jumped 9 percent — from 1,095 to 1,205 — between 2014 and 2016, according to the Reinvestment Fund, a city nonprofit dedicated to improving the lives of low-income residents. But 25 percent of providers that were open in 2014 disappeared a year later; nearly 40 percent of those open in 2015 weren’t in business the year before, the study found.

U.S. Census and IRS tax data suggest there are an estimated 5,459 child care locations in Bucks, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties alone. But state records show roughly half that number are licensed providers.

Meanwhile, statewide the number of licensed family home child cares has declined 35 percent — from 2,647 to 1,727 — over the last four years, DHS data shows. Roughly half the number of licensed family home child cares are operating in Bucks and Montgomery counties compared to four years ago.

Pennsylvania is following national trends that show licensed home-based child care is declining as state and federal government efforts to better regulate them have increased, Copeland said.

The state toughened its requirements in 2015 requiring family home providers obtain regular operating licenses, which subject them to more intense DHS scrutiny, including, for the first time, unannounced yearly inspections and pre-opening inspections.

The new state rules were in response to 2014 changes in the federal child care subsidy program, which required that states implement stronger licensing standards for home child care providers receiving federal money. The federal change was inspired by calls to improve child care quality and ensure small child cares in private homes are following standards.

Tougher licensing standards may drive smaller child cares out of business if they can’t meet the minimum standards, said Fiene, the retired Penn State University professor. Whether more regulation encourages some of those providers to operate unlicensed is speculation, he added.

“My gut would be that for a small group of homes, this definitely could be the case,” he added. “I’m sure that many parents who need the child care to continue working will look the other way or justify in their own head that the care is just fine, even when it isn’t.”

Update: On July 13, Barbara Kristiansen obtained a license to operate the Children’s Learning Corner in Warrington, according to Ali Fogarty, communications director for the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services.

Bristol Township home child care providers explain why state licensing matters

Posted: July 12, 2018

Donna Archer

Clients call her Grandma.

For more than 20 years, Donna Archer has watched children inside her Bristol Township ranch home. She has watched children so long, she now cares for children whose parents she once watched. One parent she had as a child wanted to make sure she’d have an opening before his youngest child was conceived.

Archer has a state license to watch up to six children at one time who are not related to her. But no parent has ever asked to see it, she said.

Her experience isn’t unusual.

Jean Garnett has cared for children in her Bristol Township home for more than 30 years. No one has ever asked if she has a state license, which subjects her to unannounced state inspections to ensure she is meeting minimum safety, health and quality standards.

Child care experts said they are troubled, but not surprised, that parents don’t ask, or more likely don’t know to ask, about state licensing.

“I’ve got someone down the street who says, ‘I’m watching my kids, and two other kids, if you want to drop off kids,’ and a mile down the road there is a high quality program, most parents will go the path of least resistance,” said Richard Fiene, a retired Penn State University behavioral science professor who studied unlicensed child care in Pennsylvania.

Price and proximity are typically the first things parents look for in prospective child care, according to Fiene and other child care experts.

“If a place looks good and the person seems nice, that is a gauge,” said Carol Austin, executive director of the Delaware Valley Association for the Education of Young Children. “Parents don’t understand what a high quality child care program is.”

Holly Rhoades put her 2-year-old daughter, Gemma, with a woman who watched kids in her home. A friend who recommended the woman told Rhoades she knew first aid and had a state license. The woman showed Rhoades a notebook where she tracked when children were fed and diapers changes. Her rates were affordable, Rhoades added.

Yet Gemma would come home with more diapers than Rhoades thought she should have leftover and had more frequent diaper rashes. The last straw was a text message telling Rhoades another child scratched her daughter’s face, she said.

She switched Gemma to Archer’s child care. The difference is eye-opening, she said.

Archer follows a curriculum including colors, letters and numbers. She sends Rhoades photos throughout the day showing what Gemma is doing. She gives Rhoades frequent updates. She keeps detailed records on each child, which the state requires.

One day Gemma fell and bumped her head. Archer immediately called Rhoades and sent photos of the injury.

“I’m a first-time mom, so I’m super protective of her. I definitely want someone who is licensed with my daughter,” said Rhoades, a Bristol Township resident. “I feel it should be required. It’s an innocent life. They can’t take care of themselves.”

Parents too often don’t know what questions they should be asking child care providers because no one tells them, Garnett said.

“When I have parents who are leaving me, I give them a list of questions to ask,” she added.

Garnett operates the only family home-based child care in Bucks County with three out of four Keystone Stars, a widely recognized indicator of quality early childhood education. But quality doesn’t come cheap.

The cost of mandatory training, certifications on topics like recognizing child abuse, safe water play and safe sleeping environments, and related expenses comes out of her pocket, she said. The same for any home upgrades required to meet standards.

“But it’s not something you wouldn’t want for your children,” she said. “Especially home providers, it being your home, you live here day to day. There are things you can easily overlook.”

The average Pennsylvania home child care provider watching six children brings in less than $950 a week before taxes, based on estimates from the nonprofit Child Care Aware of America. Garnett and Archer declined to provide their weekly rates.

But illegal child cares often charge less than licensed family home child cares, which typically operate on razor-thin profit margins. Losing one or two families can result in financial instability and potential closure, according to Tom Copeland, a Minnesota attorney and national expert in home child care businesses.

“I can’t think of another industry that allows illegal competition to flourish without negative consequences to the violators,” Copeland added.

Taxpayers also get hurt. Potentially billions in uncollected local, state and federal tax revenues is lost to illegal child cares, which typically operate under the table, experts estimated.

More than 235,000 Pennsylvanians sought $129 million in tax credits for child and dependent care in 2015, IRS records show. The figure included an estimated $13.4 million in tax credits for Montgomery County taxpayers and $8.9 million in write-offs for qualifying parents and guardians in Bucks.

Every year, the IRS allows parents to seek millions of dollars in tax write-offs for child care. To qualify for those tax credits, families must provide the names, addresses, Social Security numbers or employee identification numbers of child care providers, who are required to be state licensed if they are watching six or more children.

But the IRS form that families fill out does not ask families if their provider is properly state licensed.

Licensing is the first thing Archer tells prospective parents looking for child care. She credits its required continuing education and training with preparing her for any emergency and keeping her updated on regulation changes.

“It’s a lot of work. There are many times I say, ‘Why do I do this? Why am I jumping through hoops?’” she said, before pausing to look at four infants and toddlers gathered at her dining room table one May morning.

“This is why. This is why,” she said, gesturing toward the children, tears rimming her eyes. “I wanted to make sure I did everything right. God forbid something happens here, I can say I did everything right.”

Staff writer James McGinnis contributed to this story

Bucks judge at center of Kayden Mancuso case wants records released

Posted: Aug. 24, 2018

The Bucks County judge facing unrelenting criticism for his handling of the custody battle involving a 7-year-old Lower Makefield girl murdered earlier this month during a court-ordered visit with her father hopes the public will soon get a chance to access court records that are normally kept confidential.

Bucks County Judge Jeffrey Trauger

“Normally, these proceedings are not released as they include very personal, confidential and sensitive information about the parents and children,” Judge Jeffrey Trauger wrote in an Aug. 22 letter to the Pennsylvania Judicial Conduct Board and Gov. Tom Wolf. “However, this case now demands a departure from that past practice as it now comes before your review.”

The four paragraph letter — obtained by this news organization — offers Trauger’s first comments since the Aug. 6 death of Kayden Mancuso, who was found dead at the Philadelphia home of her father, Jeffrey Mancuso, who also killed himself, a crime that has focused international attention on child custody decisions.

Trauger wrote that he hoped the media and public will soon be given access to the “complete case record including, but not limited to, transcripts of all witness testimony, trial exhibits, custody reports, psychological reports, and all other evidence presented to me.”

He added that he hoped the tragedy could serve as a “teachable moment for all parents, the media and the public.”

“Unfortunately, judges sitting in family court proceedings too often see toxic and bitter parental communications and conflict,” Trauger wrote. “Many custody cases become more about a struggle for power and control between the parents than a search for the best interests of the children.”

The letter was written days after the Wolf administration referred complaints about Trauger to the Pennsylvania Judicial Conduct Board for review at the request of Kayden’s family, who are demanding that Trauger be removed from the bench. They contend the judge mishandled Kayden’s custody case and it directly contributed to her murder.

Jeff Mancuso and Kayden

In Pennsylvania, judges can be removed only through sanction by the Judicial Conduct Board or after impeachment and conviction in the General Assembly. Trauger was appointed to the Bucks County bench two years ago and re-elected to a 10-year term last year.

In a May custody order, Trauger granted Kayden’s mother, Kathryn Sherlock, primary custody and reduced visitation for Jeffrey Mancuso from four-day weekends to overnight visits every other weekend, according to the custody order.

The family contends Trauger should have ordered supervised visits with Mancuso, though it was not recommended by any doctor or court evaluator consulted in the case, according to the administrative office of Pennsylvania courts. Mancuso had a well-known history of violent outbursts and erratic behavior including arrests for assault; a court-order psychiatric evaluation for the custody case diagnosed him with major depressive disorder and suicidal thoughts.

In his court order, Trauger noted he had serious concerns about Mancuso’s violent history, poor judgement, and inability to accept responsibility for his actions, and urged him to get mental health treatment. Mancuso was never violent with Kayden, and the girl did not appear to be afraid of him, though she told a court evaluator she didn’t want to spend “as many days” with him and had witnessed his violent behavior, according to the court order.

After this news organization provided a copy of the Trauger letter, Jennifer Sherlock, Kayden’s aunt, issued a statement on behalf of the family.

“It is laughable that Judge Trauger is now seeking to utilize this horrific tragedy as a ‘teachable’ moment for parents, the media and public,” Sherlock said. “The family prays that Judge Trauger is immediately removed from presiding over any and all family court actions currently pending in Bucks County Court of Common Pleas as Judge Trauger is clearly unfit to do so.”

Rather than admit his own “culpability in this tragedy,” Sherlock said Trauger shifted the blame and asked the public to “educate themselves” on Pennsylvania law regarding child custody.

“A job that he himself clearly failed to do resulting in the murder of their daughter, Kayden.”