LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — Lansing mom Kendra Smith is livid after she discovered a state report detailed racist feedback and actions at Okemos daycare tinkrLAB.
Smith is asking for justice after she says her then-18-month-old daughter confronted racial discrimination.
“That was really hard to handle as a parent,” Smith says. “You don’t ever want to have to deal with your child.”
Smith says that again in February 2023, she acquired a name from Youngster Protecting Providers (CPS) about her daughter, Braelynn.
“They informed me that they received a report from the facility that we had Braelynn enrolled in, Tinkrlab, and the report stated that there was some discrimination the day prior,” says Smith.
That is when Smith says she discovered concerning the allegations.
“One of the providers in the facility said that Braelynn stinks because she’s Black, and it’s probably because of the Black products that we use in her hair,” says Smith,
One of many daycare employees additionally instructed investigators that one other staffer refused to feed or maintain Braelynn and would wipe her hand after touching the kid.
“She was also the one that made a comment about well she probably stinks because Black people use cooking grease in their hair,” says Smith. “CPS had a portion of the case that they investigated because there were points of neglect. Braelynn not being fed, provider not wanting to change her.”
Smith says CPS instructed her they’d do a full investigation with the Michigan Division of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, however she says they weren’t answering her calls. She says she solely acquired the report after submitting a Freedom of Data Act (FOIA) request. What she acquired was a 20-page report from CPS investigators after making a number of visits to the middle.
Whereas some parts of the report are redacted, it seemed into a number of totally different accusations, verified most of them, and made some suggestions for motion.
“That’s when I learned that, along with some other situations happened, and they were placed on a provisional license with monitoring, and told to do some DEI trainings for their staffs.”
The report talked about a childcare employee, who was not named, was not the one individual referenced within the report. It additionally included feedback from daycare director Madison Sorenson, who was made conscious of the feedback.
“They told the director, ‘Hey, these comments happened. They happened in the presence of children. What are you going to do about it?’ Her response was, ‘Well, Black people owned white people as slaves before so, I guess it’s okay.'”
6 Information has reached out to the proprietor, Melissa Rabideau, via electronic mail and by cellphone, however we’ve but to listen to again from them. She did publish to Tinkrlab’s Fb web page saying a few of these staffers have not been with Tinkrlab since 2023:
“I regret the way the entire situation was handled. I have learned so much, put so many protocols in place, so many policies and accountabilities to ensure there is no question of our standards and expectations. I have taken trainings, put my team through trainings and am regularly evaluating where we are at.”
Melissa Rabideau through tinkerLAB Fb.
