Yesterday we received a copy of a letter addressed to a local parent from the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services. The letter acknowledges that a complaint was made against Conshohocken Catholic Early Education Center and states that a representative of the department “verified illegal operation of an uncertified child care facility.” Here is the letter:

After receiving the copy of the letter we contacted the Department of Human Services and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. The Archdiocese provided the below response:

Contrary to information that has been shared on social media and elsewhere, the Saint Matthew Parish Early Learning center is operating under a license issued by Department of Human Services. St. Matthew’s worked cooperatively with personnel from the Department of Human Services throughout its licensure process and continues to work cooperatively with the Department of Human Services to maintain the license and ensure compliance.

St. Matthew’s licensure process began in September 2017 in complete cooperation and coordination with the Department of Human Services.

St. Matthew’s and DHS worked through a large logistical issue related to the center’s certificate of occupancy which lists the address as 205 Fayette Street, Conshohocken, PA 19428, the official address of St. Matthew Parish Center and the building in which the early learning center operates. When the building was complete, it was determined the school would use 210 Harry Street address for UPS and mail deliveries so that the school would receive its mail and package deliveries directly, rather than parish office staff. Both addresses refer to the same building; the addresses just face different streets.

St. Matthew’s has always operated its center in a safe, loving and caring environment for the children in our care. The information above has been shared with early learning center families.

We shared the statement provided by the Archdiocese and a representative of the Department of Human Services confirmed the details.

Conshohocken Catholic Early Childhood Center is currently operating under a provisional certificate issued by the Department of Human Services. If you search the department’s database of child care facilities you will find this information and an explanation of what a provisional certificate means.

Note that we can’t link directly to Conshohocken Catholic information in the database. To find Conshohocken Catholic within the database, follow the link above, switch the search feature to “Provide Name” and search “Conshohocken.”

One of the reasons for operating under a provisional certificate is:

Provider had an initial inspection, has been in operation less than six months and is awaiting a full inspection visit by Certification for assessment of compliance with all statutes, ordinances, and regulations.

A provisional certificate can be renewed up to three times while a center works towards full compliance. If you view the inspection report (you can find it by going through the search we outlined above), you will see that Conshohocken Catholic was out of compliance on several things and thus going through the process to rectify those issues. It can operate as long as its working on the issues and has the provisional certificate. It’s current certificate is valid from April 18, 2018 through October 18, 2018.

So that is what we found out. Email us at kevin@morethanthecurve.com if you think we missed something.

Photo: Google 2018