Some Jamestown area parents are scrambling to find a new child care provider after the state Office of Child and Family Services filed notice to limit and eventually to revoke the Jamestown YWCA’s day care license.

The first thing to affect parents will be the closure of what is known as the Dandelion Room at the YWCA, which houses a universal pre-kindergarten program. According to a letter to parents by YWCA officials provided to The Post-Journal as well as the notification from the state Office of Child and Family Services, the YWCA’s license to operate the Jamestown YWCA Day Care Center was being limited effective Oct. 18 while the state OFCS was seeking to revoke the state license for the entire center.

“YWCA plans to appeal both decisions and we are fully cooperating with OCFS to resolve these actions,” Amanda Gesing, YWCA executive director, wrote in a letter to parents that was posted at the YWCA’s Fourth Street facility.

State officials inspected the YWCA on Oct. 2-3, Oct. 10 and Oct. 15, finding day care staff took a group of preschool children to a playground and discovered on the way back that a child had been left at the playground. The group was gone for 4 or 5 minutes when he was found hiding under a slide. On Oct. 8, according to state officials, day care staff allowed a child to leave the 3-year-old universal prekindergarten room and go into a staff lounge unsupervised for two minutes. Staff also allegedly didn’t immediately report the incident to the statewide center register. Then, on Oct. 9, a child was left alone in the UPK3 classroom for 19 minutes, with the incident not immediately reported to the child’s parent, the Office of Child and Family Services or to the statewide central register.

“Effective immediately, your day care program has been removed from the office’s day care provider referral list,” the state’s notice of violation states. “Your program will be reinstated to this list if you successfully challenge the office’s determination to limit and revoke your license if the office determines to remove you from the limited and revoked category.”

Gesing’s letter to parents said YWCA staff believe the issues are being caused by systemic challenges to its facilities that include classroom layout, bathroom locations and lack of an enclosed, on-site outdoor play area. A full review of the Day Care Center is under way and Gesing said YWCA officials will overhaul the program if necessary.

Over the past 12 months the YWCA has worked to obtain additional funding and is working on a plan to remodel its facilities. Changes are coming over the next 18 months, Gesing wrote.

“In the meantime, YWCA Jamestown is implementing immediate changes to ensure the safety and well-being of all children in our care,” Gesing wrote. “We have replaced our Day Care Center director with an interim director and will be conducting a national search for a new director that is fully qualified and able to address any remaining staffing and facility issues. We have made additional staffing changes and adjustments and will continue to do so as needed or required by OFCS.”

The YWCA Jamestown is still listed late Monday night as having a pending license revocation as of Oct. 18. The site is listed as having capacity for 59 children, including eight infants, 12 toddlers and 39 preschoolers. The agency’s day care license was first given in 1991 and had been scheduled to remain in effect until 2028.

It is joined on the list in Chautauqua County by the YWCA Westfield, which lost its state license in July. That site had capacity for 143 children.