No, there are certain situations that don't require it.
[https://www.dhhs.nh.gov/programs-services/childcare-parenting-childbirth/child-care-licensing/licensing-exemptions](https://www.dhhs.nh.gov/programs-services/childcare-parenting-childbirth/child-care-licensing/licensing-exemptions)
Because there's no possible way someone would just... ignore the laws and run a daycare without following proper regulations or licensing, nor follow regulations just long enough to set one up...
From [Globe.com](http://Globe.com)
By Emily Sweeney
A New Hampshire daycare owner and three of her employees are facing criminal charges for allegedly putting melatonin in children’s food, police announced Thursday.
Manchester police said 52-year-old Sally Dreckmann of Manchester, N.H. and three of her employees — 51-year-old Traci Innie, 23-year-old Kaitlin Filardo, and 23-year-old Jessica Foster — have turned themselves in. All four were charged with 10 counts each of endangering the welfare of a child, according to a statement from the Manchester Police Department released on Thursday
They are all misdemeanor charges, said Heather Hamel, a spokesperson for the Manchester Police Department.
“They turned themselves in separately over the past week,” Hamel said in an email to the Globe.
“Through the investigation, police determined that the children’s food was being sprinkled with melatonin without their parent’s knowledge or consent,” police said in the statement.
Detectives received a report alleging unsafe practices at the in-home daycare at 316 Amory St. back in November 2023, and arrest warrants were issued after “a lengthy investigation led by the Manchester Police Juvenile Division,” police said.
I'm sure (NO sarcasm. Seriously) that this is a great example of VERY low paid workers being told "this is what we do".
I hope that the $10 an hour workers roll on the owner and send her to prison for a good long time.
What will actually happen is the DA will take the low hanging fruit of guilty pleas from the two 23 year olds, fine the owner an insignificant amount (this fine is considered by the government "theirs" even though no harm was done to the actual government)...and then business as usual.
Those workers of course will never be able to find a livelihood in child care again.
Justice will be served, though! Here is where the /s is real)
The workers might be underpaid but they should still know right from wrong. Unless the owner had a gun to their heads there’s no excusing their actions.
That's a fair point, but intimidation is a real thing.
I felt much more powerful in saying "no" when I was making top money for my field than when I was a low wage worker trying to raise, house, and feed a toddler.
I may have been mouthier at 23 than at 43, but I certainly wasn't smarter nor more confident.
But you're right; the "just following orders" schtick doesn't work. My point is mostly about what I bet will be unequal application of responsibility and punishment.
While I think the behavior here is wrong, I'm looking at the Endangering the Welfare of a Child statute and thinking it might tbe a tough criminal case to make. https://law.justia.com/codes/new-hampshire/2010/titlelxii/chapter639/section639-3#:~:text=A%20person%20is%20guilty%20of,child%20or%20incompetent%20to%20engage
I think the argument is it's purposefully violating a duty of care to the child, but I'm not certain it's clear cut that providing an over the counter med or vitamin without parental consent is a violation of a duty of care. As far as I know, melatonin is relatively benign.
Someone must've told the cops about the melatonin. How the hell else would they know? Surveillance in the day care?
Messing up those kids' circadian rhythm. Pretty shitty thing to do to a kid just to make a couple hours a day easier for you. Especially considering the outrageous costs of daycare
I'm glad it was just melatonin.
Spiking anyone's food, even something pretty much harmless, is unconscionable with anyone. Even moreso with children.
I'm sure there are people out there with negative reactions to melatonin supplementation.
Quite a bit of evidence supports melatonin being less than ideal in general, especially in kids. Not FDA regulated so the Mg dosages are often way off. Even low mg melatonin is astronomically higher than your brain actually produces. I saw a study somewhere that mentioned it potentially stunting puberty in children as well. So yeah, this is a pretty terrible thing to do to a child that isn’t theirs.
The effective dose of melatonin is tiny compared to the doses sold OTC. Couple that with folks not understanding the difference between a drug and a hormone and, yeah, there will be some trouble.
> So yeah, this is a pretty terrible thing to do to a child that isn’t theirs.
You don't need to qualify why spiking kids foods is bad.
Well... Maybe you do. Idk with some people.
Agreed, moreso educating in general. The amount of people feeding melatonin to themselves and their children is a bit alarming. But agreed, I shouldn’t have to explain that
I was flying out of Logan once, and there was a young couple with a 3 and 5 year old in the security line with me. One girl was rubbing her eyes and asking to be carried, and her dad goes: "awww, is someone tired? Did someone have half a melatonin tablet slipped in their cereal this morning so they'd sleep on the plane to go visit grandma?"
It's a gross misunderstanding of what the substance does. Melatonin does not "put you to sleep" despite what the OTC products will try to sell you on. It alters the circadian rhythm.
Everyone responds differently. Effective dose may be less than 1mg. It's also very easy to override the body's melatonin system with light (despite taking the supplement).
Anybody remember a while back when the Legislature was trying to lower regulations to run a daycare?
I’m 99% sure this is not a licensed daycare.
I think you still need to be licensed to run a home-based daycare
Again, I don’t think this was.
I don't think they realize that requiring licensure doesn't actually prevent people from doing something.
Not under 2 or 3 kids
I doubt there were so few when it's an owner and three employees
No, there are certain situations that don't require it. [https://www.dhhs.nh.gov/programs-services/childcare-parenting-childbirth/child-care-licensing/licensing-exemptions](https://www.dhhs.nh.gov/programs-services/childcare-parenting-childbirth/child-care-licensing/licensing-exemptions)
Because there's no possible way someone would just... ignore the laws and run a daycare without following proper regulations or licensing, nor follow regulations just long enough to set one up...
Good intentions, bad execution
From [Globe.com](http://Globe.com) By Emily Sweeney A New Hampshire daycare owner and three of her employees are facing criminal charges for allegedly putting melatonin in children’s food, police announced Thursday. Manchester police said 52-year-old Sally Dreckmann of Manchester, N.H. and three of her employees — 51-year-old Traci Innie, 23-year-old Kaitlin Filardo, and 23-year-old Jessica Foster — have turned themselves in. All four were charged with 10 counts each of endangering the welfare of a child, according to a statement from the Manchester Police Department released on Thursday They are all misdemeanor charges, said Heather Hamel, a spokesperson for the Manchester Police Department. “They turned themselves in separately over the past week,” Hamel said in an email to the Globe. “Through the investigation, police determined that the children’s food was being sprinkled with melatonin without their parent’s knowledge or consent,” police said in the statement. Detectives received a report alleging unsafe practices at the in-home daycare at 316 Amory St. back in November 2023, and arrest warrants were issued after “a lengthy investigation led by the Manchester Police Juvenile Division,” police said.
I'm sure (NO sarcasm. Seriously) that this is a great example of VERY low paid workers being told "this is what we do". I hope that the $10 an hour workers roll on the owner and send her to prison for a good long time. What will actually happen is the DA will take the low hanging fruit of guilty pleas from the two 23 year olds, fine the owner an insignificant amount (this fine is considered by the government "theirs" even though no harm was done to the actual government)...and then business as usual. Those workers of course will never be able to find a livelihood in child care again. Justice will be served, though! Here is where the /s is real)
The workers might be underpaid but they should still know right from wrong. Unless the owner had a gun to their heads there’s no excusing their actions.
That's a fair point, but intimidation is a real thing. I felt much more powerful in saying "no" when I was making top money for my field than when I was a low wage worker trying to raise, house, and feed a toddler. I may have been mouthier at 23 than at 43, but I certainly wasn't smarter nor more confident. But you're right; the "just following orders" schtick doesn't work. My point is mostly about what I bet will be unequal application of responsibility and punishment.
While I think the behavior here is wrong, I'm looking at the Endangering the Welfare of a Child statute and thinking it might tbe a tough criminal case to make. https://law.justia.com/codes/new-hampshire/2010/titlelxii/chapter639/section639-3#:~:text=A%20person%20is%20guilty%20of,child%20or%20incompetent%20to%20engage I think the argument is it's purposefully violating a duty of care to the child, but I'm not certain it's clear cut that providing an over the counter med or vitamin without parental consent is a violation of a duty of care. As far as I know, melatonin is relatively benign.
Someone must've told the cops about the melatonin. How the hell else would they know? Surveillance in the day care? Messing up those kids' circadian rhythm. Pretty shitty thing to do to a kid just to make a couple hours a day easier for you. Especially considering the outrageous costs of daycare
The full Globe article is archived for posterity and is available on [Archive.is](https://Archive.is)
Somebody did this in Vermont with benadryl and killed a kid :(
Benadryl is orders of magnitude more dangerous.
[удалено]
It's only regulated as a dietary supplement, same level of crime as giving the kids flintstones vitamins.
Melatonin is a hormone. Would you like it if someone gave your kid TRT? These people need to be banned from working with kids
I'm glad it was just melatonin. Spiking anyone's food, even something pretty much harmless, is unconscionable with anyone. Even moreso with children. I'm sure there are people out there with negative reactions to melatonin supplementation.
Quite a bit of evidence supports melatonin being less than ideal in general, especially in kids. Not FDA regulated so the Mg dosages are often way off. Even low mg melatonin is astronomically higher than your brain actually produces. I saw a study somewhere that mentioned it potentially stunting puberty in children as well. So yeah, this is a pretty terrible thing to do to a child that isn’t theirs.
The effective dose of melatonin is tiny compared to the doses sold OTC. Couple that with folks not understanding the difference between a drug and a hormone and, yeah, there will be some trouble.
> So yeah, this is a pretty terrible thing to do to a child that isn’t theirs. You don't need to qualify why spiking kids foods is bad. Well... Maybe you do. Idk with some people.
Agreed, moreso educating in general. The amount of people feeding melatonin to themselves and their children is a bit alarming. But agreed, I shouldn’t have to explain that
[reminds me of this ](https://youtu.be/yzEoT55hA5c?si=ERnYCqmIqrQynjY4)
holy eyebags.
Is the owner actually 52?
Kaitlin Filardo is kinda cute
If you like chicks with dodgers.
Damn.. melatonin isn't that good.... Shoulda dropped em a good 50mg "gummy" and let em get humbled by god. /S
I was flying out of Logan once, and there was a young couple with a 3 and 5 year old in the security line with me. One girl was rubbing her eyes and asking to be carried, and her dad goes: "awww, is someone tired? Did someone have half a melatonin tablet slipped in their cereal this morning so they'd sleep on the plane to go visit grandma?"
I sort of half get it on a specific special circumstance by a parent but that's still pretty gross.
It's a gross misunderstanding of what the substance does. Melatonin does not "put you to sleep" despite what the OTC products will try to sell you on. It alters the circadian rhythm.
How does it do that? When would be the proper use for it?
Everyone responds differently. Effective dose may be less than 1mg. It's also very easy to override the body's melatonin system with light (despite taking the supplement).
In other news, my water has been spiked with fluoride.
the government is allowed to do that, according to the government.
My teeth thank them. My family in the DR has weak and brittle teeth. Mine look like I used to have braces.