BRUNSWICK, Ga. – For the last few months, 2-year-old Kendall Kendricks' mom has trusted him to a YWCA day care in Brunswick.
That is, until she got an anonymous phone call "saying he was a concerned parent and that I needed to check on my son to see if he was all right," Joy Kendricks said.
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The caller went on to tell her that last week, a provider working for the state's Division of Family and Children Services went to the day care to pick up a foster child and take the child to a doctor.
The problem is, the provider picked up the wrong child. They got Kendall instead.
Kendricks said when she called the day care, they told her "that it did happen. My son was taken out of the facility by accident. Another child was supposed to go in his place, but they mistakenly took the wrong child."
When Kendricks asked the day care why they never called her and told her about the mix-up, she said they told her, "We're sorry about not calling, but we didn't see the big deal, and he was back before snack time."
"It worries me that no one even thought to think this was important," Kendricks said. "My son could have been missing. He could have been gone."
Kendricks said the state told her that her child was taken all the way to Woodbine, which is about 30 minutes south of Brunswick, and given a physical and mental evaluation and pricked on his finger to check his iron levels.
Ann Granger, the executive director of the YWCA, released this statement Thursday:
"The YWCA of Brunswick has had a long-standing reputation in the community for being a positive and responsive organization. In light of the recent incident involving a child enrolled in our child care center, we have taken measures to ensure that the children left in our care continue to thrive in the safest environment possible.
"Immediately following the incident on Dec. 27, new policies were implemented and all staff members have been provided training for following these new procedures. We have given our sincere apologies to the family of the child involved, and continue to make efforts to reconcile with them."
The DFCS is putting blame on the day care, saying the day care handed over the wrong child to the provider, and because of the day care workers' actions, another state agency called Bright from the Start is investigating. That agency regulates the licensing of day cares in Georgia.
Kendricks said that what upsets her is that no one from the day care called her or told her about what happened.
She said even though day care workers have apologized and offered her a week of free care, she has already removed Kendall from their care.
"That's my baby," Kendricks said, "and for them to be so careless and so neglectful and not care, it hurts."