Crime near child care centers on Fort Worth’s east side put parents, owners on edge

When Anna Villarreal showed up at work in September to train a fellow early educator on how to close at Good Shepherd Christian Academy, she ended up giving a real-time walk-through of how to initiate a lockdown.

“Just keep the kids safe, that was my priority,” she told the Star-Telegram two months later.

Villarreal was going through the motions when she was notified by another staff member that a suspicious character was outside, holding a knife.

The assistant director, June Robles, took control and corralled the kids to the back of the building at 5625 Good Shepherd Way, called the police and waited at the front door, telling parents they would not be allowed to come in until an all-clear was given.

It eventually was, after the man was picked up by someone in another car just moments before police arrived, according to Robles.

The incident was just the latest security concern outside of an east-side child care center that has put some parents and owners on edge, leading them to invest in additional staff and security measures at a time when funds and employees are at a crisis low for the sector.

Experts say historic lack of trust in law enforcement in the community along with the lack of standardized warning systems like those in school districts contribute to the rare but troubling incidents affecting the majority-minority community.

Increased security measures

Julysia’s Learning 2 Learn Childcare, also in a church on the east side, has experienced similar problems.

“It’s been all kinds of things honestly over the time I’ve been here,” the owner, Julysia Jackson, told the Star-Telegram.

She has been at the location at 5420 Flamingo Road for over a year, and witnessed multiple people trespassing as well as cars speeding on surrounding streets.

Around two or three weeks ago, a trespasser looked like he was on drugs, Jackson said.

“He was beating on the property,” she said.

As a result, she encourages her employees to go outside in groups.

The episode at Good Shepherd was not the first nightmare scenario for the center. In 2016, someone broke into director Ontara Nickerson’s car.

Shauntrell McIntyre, a parent who was dropping her two children off when the man approached, said the 2016 incident rattled her.

“I’m constantly thinking about it,” she said. “I’m usually the first one at the day care, and I will drive around before I drop them off. I’m constantly checking my surroundings.”

Security measures have ramped up over the years. Good Shepherd installed a bus cage after catalytic converters were stolen and gas was siphoned out of church vans and buses.

And after the 2016 incident, Nickerson started scheduling male employees to help open and close to ensure safety for the children and other workers.

But after years of adaptation, employees say there needs to be more done by the city and community partners to support their efforts.

Elevated struggles

In areas with high crime and lower investment in public infrastructure, child care centers are more likely to run into problems with petty crime and trespassing, and less likely to have resources to help with them, advocates say.

“There’s this layering effect that happens,” Kara Waddell, the CEO of Child Care Associates, said. “An area might be high crime, but it also could be very low-income, and they have a variety of zoning issues or concerns.”

Child Care Associates, which operates Head Start and Early Head Start in Tarrant County, has the goal of ensuring a high-quality early learning program is available in every neighborhood. The organization operates in many lower-income areas and workers have seen a variety of crimes throughout the years.

“We’ve had a variety of impacts through the years, but not nothing serious,” Waddell said. “Petty crime, copper wire, when copper prices are high, we get wire stripping, we’ve had cameras stolen or damaged and windows broken.”

But even small crimes like that add up for the small businesses that operate increasingly in the margins. Even affording rent in a high-quality, secure building can be a struggle for some providers.

As operators and advocates look for solutions, they say law enforcement is a key aspect of controlling nonviolent crime and increasing the safety surrounding child care centers.

Law enforcement presence

Police Lt. Buck Wheeler of the East Division said police have received calls about crime near day care centers in the past couple of months, but could not confirm the specific instances detailed by operators.

Wheeler recommends that parents and day care operators call police whenever they witness any crime.

“Getting the police involved helps to ensure that the communities are safe and reduce any concerns a parent might have,” Wheeler said in an email.

But for some communities of color that have carried mistrust of law enforcement for generations, it’s not always that simple, said Cary Adkinson, an associate professor of criminal justice at Texas Wesleyan University.

“The local police, especially in the South, have traditionally been seen as an arm of a repressive government or oppressive culture that is racist and that it does in some ways, discriminate against minorities, not just African-American citizens, but all citizens of color,” Adkinson said.

Recent demonstrations after the murder of George Floyd and after east side resident Atatiana Jefferson was killed by a Fort Worth police officer in her home in 2019 have reflected frustrations that communities of color have with police mistreatment.

Adkinson recommends that people who don’t trust police share their concerns at local government meetings.

Nonviolent property crimes in particular can be solved more effectively if the community and police collaborate, Adkinson said.

“If the problems originate in the community ... then the community is critical for helping to solve those problems. And of course, they can’t do that by themselves, which is why it’s so important to have some form of police community relations and community oriented policing.”

Waddell said she starts each year by checking in with the operators of centers to make sure they know the information of local police.

“We encourage them … to bring their neighborhood police officer over to meet the staff and come in and see what we do,” she said. “We have a good relationship and they always encourage us to call them when there is a crime.”

The owners of Faith Academy and Sunrise Daycare said crime activity near their centers reached a peak around two years ago.

Sunrise owner Angela James Davis said there was drug-dealing nearby, and Faith Academy owner Dimitri Demps said she saw homeless people sleeping nearby and had issues with her plumbing after copper was stripped from a building near hers.

But police efforts have diminished some of the activity in recent years, both owners said. Davis sees patrol officers driving by periodically, and Demps sometimes sees officers pull into her driveway to check if homeless people are sleeping in next-door buildings.

Davis said she has a great relationship with her neighborhood patrol officer. She said she has his personal cell number and his office number saved on her phone.

“If we need anything, we call them and they come right away,” she said.

Both owners plan to collaborate with police.

During the winter storm, kids broke into the Faith Academy’s back windows and doors. But because Demps saw where they went, she was able to help police with their investigation.

Davis said she hears complaints from parents and her staff about speeding.

“Every day it’s cars flying down this street,” Davis said. “Oh my God, we so scared that someone’s going to get hurt maybe turning in the driveway or turning out the driveway.”

Davis said not much has been done to solve the issue since cars go by so fast it’s hard to catch their license plates.

Other solutions

In addition to law enforcement, strategies like increased signage with the threat of legal penalties and advanced warning systems could provide greater safety to centers, advocates say.

K-12 schools are part of a system that notifies them of police activity is in the area, so they can institute lockdowns. That is not the case for child care centers.

“I’m close to Dunbar High School, so I just have to scroll Facebook every now and then to find out stuff,” Nickerson said. “Or a parent will tell me, so I have some ears from the community as far as finding out information.”

Waddell said that including a system like what they have in elementary schools would be beneficial.

“I do worry a little bit about when there is a lockdown at an area school because of gun violence,” she said. “There’s a process in place where schools are contacted. Child care doesn’t get called … about anything unless somebody heard about it.”

Overall, Waddell said that centers and parents should be speaking up about the problems they are experiencing to drive change.

“Our early learning campuses are great voices,” she said. “When we speak up and say this isn’t what we want, it can be a strong voice for change.”

As operators and advocates look at how to ensure safe learning environments for kids, Waddell said parents should do research, and meet the director of their child’s center before deciding where they should go.

“We always encourage parents to use that inner sense,” she said. “If they don’t feel comfortable when they walk through the doors of an early learning center, they need to listen to that voice.”

That “voice” could be in response to staff, security concerns or crime in the community.

“Never turn that voice off, but be part of the solution,” she said. “And ask the campus what you can do and be a part of helping make that happen.”

Children at Risk, an advocacy organization that has pushed for greater protections in a variety of early learning environments, points to recently passed legislation as a possible model for policies that help deter crime, and other untoward behavior in areas surrounding child care centers.

House Bill 1540, for example, which makes sex trafficking a felony, includes a trespassing offense for those who traffic through residential treatment centers.

Signs are posted around the centers, as well as schools, that allow law enforcement to enhance penalties for crimes committed in the area.

“Essentially, what this does is that it allows law enforcement more authority and jurisdiction in those areas,” said Mandi Kimball, the vice president of Children At Risk. “And then if you’re busted or caught, then the penalties are usually enhanced. So it might be something that we can think about, like, what kinds of protections can we put in around where child care centers are?”

If you are a parent or child care operator and have concerns about safety near day cares, please text or call us at 817-390-7041 or email at mrivas@star-telegram.com or iwindes@star-telegram.com