Kendra Smith, a mother in Michigan, was shocked when she discovered that her daughter was being racially discriminated against. What made matters worse was that the person subjecting the 18-month-old to it was her daycare caretaker.
Smith’s daughter, Braelynn, is enrolled at the tinkrLAB facility. The toddler has been going to the daycare for the last 2 years. The Michigan initially filed a request with the state welfare agency after she felt like something was off.
Upon getting access to the file, Kendra discovered the shocking treatment that her daughter was being subjected to. Initially, the mother recalls receiving a call from Child Protective Services, who informed her about the racial discrimination.
On the call, she was informed about how the daycare facility had reported an incident of discrimination a day prior to the call. “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,” she added.
Another staff member who spoke to the investigators revealed how one of the other staff members wiped their hands after they had touched Braelynn. The same individual also denied feeding or holding the 18-month-old.
Kendra shared how the same staff member who denied holding her daughter made an extremely disgusting comment about the toddler’s hair. The same staff member claimed that Braelynn’s hair “stinks” because Black people used “cooking grease” in their hair.
Smith also shared how CPS’s investigation resulted in them finding out even more “points of neglect.” The agency found out that the toddler was not being fed, and that the provider did not even want to change her.
Kendra opened up about how the findings of the investigation left her deeply disturbed. The Michigan mother shared that what she discovered was “really hard to handle” as a parent. “You don’t ever want to have to deal with your child.” she said in an interview with WLNS 6 News.
The Smiths were promised by the CPS that they would be conducting an even more in-depth investigation along with the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. Following the initial commitment, Kendra’s calls were ignored by the agency.
Eventually, she resorted to filing a Freedom of Information Act request. Upon doing that, she received a 20-page report that revealed the findings of CPS’s investigation. “They were placed on a provisional license with monitoring, and told to do some DEI trainings for their staff,” Kendra revealed.
The report also revealed the problematic way that Madison Sorenson, who serves as the director of the daycare, made. According to the report Sorenson was informed about her staff’s behavior which she ended up neglecting.
What made matters worse was the director’s comment that followed. “‘Well, Black people owned white people as slaves before, so I guess it’s OK,’” Sorenson was heard saying in response.
