LOUISVILLE, Colo. — A single mother living in Westminster has spent the past few days reeling after, she claims, a teacher at a Louisville child care facility hit her 19-month-old son.
Brittny Braun has been missing work as she searches for child care options for her son, Jaxson Arlowe.
“Waitlists are six months to a year and a half out in the Denver metro area," Braun said about the daycare options she has been finding. “There's not enough daycares for how many children are here with all the people moving here.”
Braun originally appreciated the care her son received at Little People’s Landing Louisville. But over the past month, the mother noticed a change in her son's personality. Then last weekend, she says she noticed Jaxson flinching when she went to move his hair or wipe his face.
“It was reported Friday that a teacher had hit my son," Braun said, explaining why she believes her son was flinching.
Braun says she was told about the incident on Sunday evening, after a staff member reported the incident to the child care facility on Friday. However, Braun claims the incident dates back around three weeks.
“They fired the person accused, and then the person who reported three weeks after the incident, she's on admin leave," Braun said. "I needed to be his voice. I needed to make other parents aware. People needed to know about this so they can keep their children safe.”
Denver7 attempted to get Little People’s Landing's side of the story, and was told it reported what it needed to report.
“They need to do a better job at ensuring children are safe, [that] they are around trusted adults, that there is training, that there's more supervision," said Braun. “The person who hit my child needs charges pressed on them, as well as the person who did not report it. They should no longer be working with children.”
The Louisville Police Department told Denver7 it is investigating the allegations.
Braun's sister has organized a GoFundMe to help with expenses while the mother searches for child care options and misses work.
Denver7 looked up Little People's Landing on Colorado Shines, which gives them a two out of five for their program quality.
An inspection from August 2022 shows missing documentation of certain criminal clearance background check letters for a handful of employees. Another report shows a founded report of not using time outs appropriately, while a different one includes a founded case regarding unsafe sleep with an infant in a swing.
