Windsor Terrace Parents Can't Save Ilene's Sunflower Daycare (Updated)

WINDSOR TERRACE, BROOKLYN — Ilene's Sunflower Daycare, a beloved caretaker of neighborhood children, shut down last Friday following the sudden death of its owner, and despite last-ditch efforts by parents and legislators to find a way to keep it open until a new daycare could be started in its place. Now, those same parents are raising money, both online and in person, to pay $14,000 they say is owned to the businesses' former employees, while still waiting to be reimbursed for their own lost payments.

On Friday, Jan. 20, employees of the daycare unexpectedly informed dozens of parents who trusted Ilene's with their children that the daycare would be closing in a week.

According to parent Emily Giles, who helped organized a campaign to save the daycare, about 30 parents used Ilene's locations, while the business employed about 10 caretakers.

The cause of the closure was the sudden passing of owner Ilene Lieberman, with the shutdown order coming from the state's Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS). A department spokesman said last week that, "because day care center licenses are non-transferable," Lieberman's locations had to close following her death.

"Anyone who wishes to operate such a day care center must first be approved and licensed by OCFS," the spokesman added.

In its order, OCFS gave the daycare until Jan. 27 to close down, but parents faced with a sudden lack of daycare options wanted the state to let Ilene's stay open temporarily while its workers organized a new business. At a Jan. 26 meeting hosted by Windsor Terrace Assemblyman Bobby Carroll, OCFS officials reportedly said they'd do what they could, but no decision was made by the state's deadline.

Parent Scott MacMillan said his 13-month-old daughter Isabella went to Ilene's, and that it provided a "loving, caring environment."

"The caretakers are great," MacMillan said. "Isabella's a very active kid and is clearly happier being in an environment where there's just a lot of stuff going on. The bond that she formed with the caretakers was evident."

MacMillan and Giles both told Patch they were told that Lieberman's son, Jonah Kaminer, was taking over the business, but added that Kaminer hasn't returned their messages. In fact, the only official communication from the daycare over the past two weeks came in the form a single, unsigned email announcing the closure of the business, MacMillan said. Kaminer did not respond to multiple interview requests from Patch.

In addition to leaving parents in the dark, the lack of communication means former Ilene's caretakers haven't received a total of $14,000 they're owned, MacMillan and Giles said. An online fundraiser has brought in just over $10,000 for them. A group of parents is also hosting a neighborhood fundraiser on Feb. 4 to raise more money.

What's more, parents who paid for future daycare services haven't been reimbursed, to the collective tune of $94,000, according to Giles. MacMillan said he paid through February, and will be pursuing the matter in small claims court. A spokesman for New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said the AG's office is investigating the matter.

But while he's upset with Ilene's owners, MacMillan said he's also disappointed with the way the state dealt with parents impacted by the closure.

This week, he sent a letter to Gov. Andrew Cuomo saying that, "this situation had been handled poorly by OCFS and other state bodies."

Parents weren't given timely information from state officials, he told Patch. (MacMillan said they didn't get the state's closure order until three days after workers told them the business had to close.)

What they were given, he continued, was false hope. At last week's meeting, MacMillan wrote, OCSF staffer Patricia Lewis, "assured us she would do everything in her power to grant an extension of the caretakers' permission to provide services at the site."

"On Friday afternoon, however," MacMillan continued, "one of the parents called Ms. Lewis to ask for an update. Ms. Lewis informed him that OCFS lawyers had declined to expand permission to stay at the site. There was on further communication or channel for appeal."

"I urge you to work with state and city bodies to ensure that in the future, this does not happen to other families," MacMillan wrote.

"OCFS and the local Child Care Resource and Referral Center quickly arranged an in-person meeting with the families impacted by the closure and helped parents identify new options for child care," said OCFS spokesman Craig Smith on Tuesday. "OCFS will work closely with any applicants who wish to become licensed and reopen the child care programs."

MacMillan said that for now, he's paying a former Ilene's caretaker to babysit his daughter Isabella at home. But that's a temporary solution, the dad said, before stressing that what parents like him need are local daycare options for their kids.

Top image courtesy of Save Sunflower