A Wasilla child care facility’s license has been suspended pending an investigation of a 19-month-old girl’s apparent suffocation there last week, state officials said Wednesday.
According to Department of Health and Social Services spokesperson Ree Sailors, investigators are trying to determine how Faith Phillips was able to trap her head in a piece of playground equipment Thursday morning at Illuminations Child Care. She was taken to a local hospital, but died Sunday.
The facility has also been subjected to previous enforcement actions, including a completed investigation of a June 2011 incident in which it was fined for failure to protect a child from exposure to possible dangers, as well as failure to ensure those in care received responsible supervision. Illuminations was cited following that investigation.
Sailors says the department’s current focus is on the investigation of Phillips’ death, and what actions presently need to be taken with regard to the facility.
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