California authorities have performed so-called “mask raids” at daycare centers in the San Diego area , setting off outrage amongst parents who learned their toddlers had been separated from grownups and also talked to by state regulators.
California Terrifying Children As Young As 3 To Force Compliance
Just a little more than a week before California Gov. Gavin Newsom(D )was captured in violation of mask policies, officials with The California Department of Social Services visited each of Aspen Fallen Leaf Preschool’s three San Diego-area places after being tipped off that the kindergartens were skirting the statewide mask mandate.
Furious parents have actually explained the checkouts as”mask raids,” Voices of San Diego reported. The raids were carried out on Jan. 19 by the CDSS’s Neighborhood Care Licensing Division.
Aspen Leaf owner Howard Wu defined the case to Fox News as a”synchronized, multi-school raid “that included “unnecessary and inappropriate child interviews.” Children as young as 2 years of age were apparently separated from adults and interviewed by state regulatory authorities without parental consent.
In an official grievance lodged with the state, parents said:
-“I do not feel this interview served my child’s safety or well-being … and I believe it may have given a harmful impression about her obligations to speak with strange adults in private without known caretakers present.”
-“I understand that while the licensing agency is authorized to conduct private interviews with the children — this authority was put in place and intended for use when there is a situation of possible abuse, which is ENTIRELY absent from this situation. Therefore, this agency has blatantly overstepped their authority.”
-“Frustrated. Angry. Aghast. Confused. These are only a few of the words that describe what we felt as parents of a 3.5 year old who was questioned by government officials at his preschool regarding mask-wear indoors.”
According to Wu, the preschool has never applied California’s mask mandate. Taking into consideration kids would not be putting on a mask when eating or napping– two tasks that take in a significant quantity of a young child’s life– the preschool thought applying the mask mandate would certainly be pointless.
What Did The State Do? What Do You Think?
Gavin Newsom’s goon squad slapped Aspen Leaf a Type A citation, the most extreme kind a preschool can receive, Voices of San Diego reported.
The CCLD replied to concerned parents in a March 1 letter defending its activities:
“We want to ensure you that CCLD takes seriously its responsibility of ensuring the health and safety of children in licensed child care facilities. It is for this reason that CCLD spoke with your child.
CCLD has confirmed that conversations with children during the complaint investigation were conducted with Aspen Leaf staff present or within line of sight of Aspen Leaf staff. CCLD has determined that the interviews were conducted in an appropriate manner and were a necessary component of the required complaint investigation.
A licensing evaluator is respectful of a child’s choice to answer questions. If at any point during an interview a child expresses or exhibits apprehension or discomfort, the interview is discontinued.”
To avoid being closed down, Aspen Leaf complied with the state mask mandate, which ends March 11. Then, the preschool will revert to its old policy. Still, Wu thinks the CCLD did not have the lawful authority to apply the state’s mask mandate since it was not the releasing agency; the California Division of Public Health and wellness released the mandate.”We believe in good faith that the agency doesn’t have jurisdiction to enforce another agency’s mask guidance,” Wu told Fox.
“They could have issued us a citation in 5 minutes and let us take our challenge up through the proper channels. The simultaneous multi-school raids and the child interviews just felt like a power play.”
Nonetheless, CCLD asserted it had the authority to “enter and inspect a licensed child care facility at any time, with or without advance notice, to secure compliance with, or prevent a violation” of state laws, and also to”interview children without prior consent and, when necessary, conduct the interviews in private.” Aspen Leaf leave is appealing the state’s citation. In unrelated news, the LA Times reports that homeschooling in California has “grown considerably”
H/T The Blaze
