Child sex offenders living near day care centers
Posted February 20th, 2008 by minortopics | via www.suburbanchicagonews.comUsing an online registry, the Belleville News-Democrat investigated the over 4,000 day care centers in Illinois and found that 786 centers had at least one registered sex offender living within 500 feet of their front door, despite a state law intended to keep offenders from such close proximity.
The newspaper said the intent of the 2006 law has been thwarted partly because it was worded in such a way that it fails to cover home day care, which accounts for 74 percent of the state’s licensed day-care centers.
The legislation covers home day care that is licensed for nine or more children. But data provided by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services shows that none of the state’s home day-care centers are licensed for more than eight children, according to the News-Democrat. Those with more than eight are required to hire a helper, which would make the small centers more expensive to operate.
The News-Democrat said police would have trouble enforcing the law even if it covered the home day-care centers, because the state agency doesn’t give them updated day care addresses.
Informed of the investigation’s findings, agency spokesman Kendall Marlowe said it was working to address the situation and might develop an online program that could be updated daily for police. “You’ve identified a gap in communication between DCFS and local law enforcement that we will now correct,” he told the News-Democrat.
Sponsors of the 2006 law criticized the agency for making the legislation essentially worthless.