On May 10, the Suffolk-based Parents for Megan's Law, along with the parents of two children who attended Play Play Play, called upon lawmakers to require day care owners to check the New York State Sex Offender Registry prior to allowing any individual entry into a day care center. The proposal comes in the wake of allegations that Sandra Henderson, owner of the Westbury-based Play Play Play day care center, hired a Level 2 sex offender and that a background check on the man was never done.

As it stands now, a person is legally allowed, according to state law, to work at a center while the results of their fingerprints are pending, as long as they "promise" to not be alone with the children. While fingerprinting, along with a background check, will ultimately unveil a convicted sex offender's criminal history, results of the fingerprinting can take up to two months, during which time the person is allowed to work.

"Through the current state law, you can hire someone and have them 'promise' that they are not going to have contact with children. That is an outrage because obviously there are people who do not follow any rules at all," said Laura Ahearn, director of Parents for Megan's Law. "Right now day care centers are hiring people who have not yet been cleared by the state. We want to be certain that day care centers use the information that is available to any member of the public [through the] New York State Sex Offender Registry. So at the very least, they can be assured that the person is not a convicted sex offender."

While the law currently prohibits sex offenders who are on parole or probation from working specific jobs, once they complete parole or probation, they are free to work anywhere. In fact, the only thing that would restrict a sex offender from working around children would be the employers themselves.

In the case of Play Play Play, Henderson allegedly never conducted the state-required background check or fingerprinting on Emmet Charles, who was convicted in 1997 and served a one-year jail sentence for sodomozing a 7-year-old boy. According to police, Charles was released in 1998 and currently lives immediately next door to the day care center. However, since no paperwork was ever filed, determining exactly how long Charles was working at the center is almost impossible.

In Suffolk County, Legislator Vivian M. Viloria Fisher is working on proposing legislation that would require day care centers to run background checks on all prospective employees, volunteers and assistance through New York State Sex Offender Registry prior to them being hired. "The fingerprinting process in New York State is cumbersome, to say the least," said Fisher. "There is a time lapse from the time you submit the fingerprints to the time you get the results. Sometimes that can be a matter of months, which is unacceptable."

In Nassau, a similar proposal is being considered by County Legislator Lisanne Altmann (10th L.D.).

"If it becomes part of a pattern of how child care centers hire people, then I think it would become a standard for the industry," Fisher said.

If approved by either county, the law would require any contract agency that is a child care provider and receives money from the county to check all employees, volunteers or anyone else having contact with the children through the New York State Sex Offender Registry. As a result, even a day care center that has just one child out of 250 who receives public assistance would be subject to this law.

On May 5, the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS), the state-licensing agency that handles day care centers, suspended Henderson's license and revoked her registration. In a letter sent to Henderson, OCFS states that the suspension is "based on the office's determination that the health, safety and welfare of children in [her] care are in imminent danger." The decision was made in accordance with Section 390 (10) of the Social Services Law and 18 NYCRR 413.3 (c)(1).

According to state law, day care centers must notify the state of any new employees, volunteers or assistants as well as provide information on anyone else living in the same building as the day care. In Henderson's case, background checks on anyone else living in the building - in her case tenants, where also not provided. In their letter to Henderson, OCFS also states that "Office staff determined that you have one or more tenants in your home ...You never notified the office of this change in household composition ... You are conducting a boarding house business in your group family care home."

To reduce situations such as the one at Play Play Play from reoccurring, Ahearn said she would also like to see OCFS conduct more frequent and unannounced inspections of day care centers. This would prevent, she said, situations such as the one in Westbury from occurring. As the law is now, day cares are inspected upon their initial application and registration of the their license and upon renewal.

"The state must pass legislation requiring the OCFS to inspect facilities more often and unannounced," Ahearn said. "OCFS has the ability to go in and inspect, unannounced, but it doesn't, statutorily, require two or three inspections per year. It only allows the state, at its discretion, the right to go in and inspect unannounced."

She added, "We would like to see this problem resolved by OCFS being required to inspect, unannounced, at least two times a year. That would have at least caught Emmet Charles because he has, according to the families, been working there since at least [last] summer. If they would have inspected, they would have found him."