The license for a daycare in Waterbury Center is on suspension after a toddler drowned last week.
The Department for Children and Families suspended Elephant in the Field daycare Friday after three-year-old Parker Berry of Hyde Park died.
The cause of death was drowning, according to the Office of the Medical Examiner.
When Berry’s family arrived at the daycare Thursday afternoon, staff members noticed that the child had gone missing.
He was found floating partially frozen in a stream behind the daycare. He had been outside with staff and a group of other children earlier in the day.
Berry was transported to UVM Medical Center and died roughly 30 hours after he was found submerged in the brook.
The daycare is subject to three concurrent investigations, each of which could have different outcomes, according to DCF Deputy Commissioner Reeva Murphy.
Vermont State Police are determining whether there was criminal wrongdoing. The family services division of DCF is investigating for child maltreatment, and DCF’s child development division is looking into whether there were regulatory issues involved with the incident.
Elephant in the Field opened in 2012. The child development division has inspected the facility three times since then, Murphy said. There are no major violations on record, she said.
Murphy said that the facility is prohibited from operating as a childcare center until the suspension is lifted. Investigations by the child development division tend to resolve within several weeks, she said, but sometimes take longer.
The Berry’s funeral will be held on Friday, according to a GoFundMe campaign.
