Lakeville Day-Care Owner Cited for Continuing to Operate After License Suspension

A Lakeville woman whose home day-care license was indefinitely suspended in July has been charged with continuing to operate that business without a license.

Brenda Lee Lysholm, 45, who operates Brenda’s Sharing & Caring Childcare in the 17600 block of Hemlock Avenue, was charged Sept. 13 with providing a residential program without a license, a misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Lysholm’s day-care license was initially suspended by the Minnesota Department of Human Services in April after Dakota County Community Services received a report about her day-care facility. Because of the “serious nature” of the investigation, county officials said, children in her care were in imminent risk of harm, and she was prohibited from operating the facility until further notice.

Lysholm was also ordered in April to post the order of license suspension in a conspicuous location.

In July, the Department of Human Services indefinitely suspended Lysholm’s license after finding a number of violations during an unannounced visit by a Dakota County  Social Services worker on April 18.

Among the violations: Lysholm exceeded her licensed capacity of 14 children and the age distribution limits of her license. On the date of the visit, Lysholm had 15 children younger than school age, including 10 preschoolers, two toddlers and three infants, according to DHS records.

In addition, Lysholm was not present at the time of the visit, and care was being provided by a substitute caregiver. With one adult caregiver present, Lysholm was allowed to care for a maximum of 10 children, with no more than two infants and toddlers and no more than one infant.

Seven of the children at Lysholm’s center during the April visit were not identified on enrollment information that Lysholm submitted in March, and the substitute caregiver did not have access to required records for each child. The social services worker called Lysholm and asked her to return home immediately; she arrived 20 minutes later, but didn’t have the required records for four of the children in her care.

The social services worker saw the substitute caregiver changing the diapers of two children, one in a food preparation area on the kitchen floor. The caregiver didn’t cover the floor with a smooth, non-absorbent surface, and also failed to wash the floor with soap and water or disinfect the area after the diaper change, according to state records.

Lysholm also failed to maintain her current training in cardiopulmonary resuscitation, according to the July suspension letter. During an earlier unannounced visit by a Dakota County Social Services worker, Lysholm received a correction order for failing to follow Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) reduction requirements after she put an infant to sleep in a swing.

Dakota County Social Services received an additional report in June about Lysholm’s day-care facility, and that matter remains under investigation.

A caller to Lysholm’s home on Sept. 19 making inquiries about the day-care center spoke to Lysholm, who told him that she can have 12 children in her center at a time, and that she averages about seven children at any given time.

Lysholm said further that she has been providing day-care services for more than 20 years and that she can provide transportation to and from schools for her clients. She said she expected to have a number of new openings the week of Sept. 23.

Lysholm quoted her rates at $32 a day or $139 a week.

Beth Voigt, communications director for the Department of Human Services, said Friday that the agency will inform Dakota County officials of Lysholm’s apparent disregard of the license suspension. She said that any substantiated violations of an indefinite license suspension are a basis for further licensing sanctions, including license revocation.

Lysholm did not return repeated phone calls or e-mails seeking comment. She is scheduled to make a first appearance on the misdemeanor charge Oct. 2 in Dakota County District Court in Apple Valley.