Home daycare license of South St. Paul city council member suspended as result of investigation
The Minnesota Department of Human Services recently suspended the at-home daycare license held by a member of the South St. Paul City Council, citing an 'imminent risk of harm' to the children it served.
The temporary license suspension, issued Dec. 9 to Pamela Bakken, follows the recommendation of Dakota County Community Services, which is handling an investigation. It reads: 'You are prohibited from providing family child care. You are also prohibited from operating as a legally unlicensed child care provider at this time.'
Bakken, according to her campaign materials, has run an at-home daycare in the city for 20 years and raised six kids in South St. Paul. She was elected to the city council in 2020 and again this November, coming in third in a close four-way race.
Kare 11 reported on Friday that the state had suspended a license held by a South St. Paul daycare operated by an elected official after a 3-year-old child was sent home sick and later tested positive for methamphetamines.
South St. Paul Police Chief Brian Wicke said because of a possible conflict of interest his department turned the investigation over to the Lakeville Police Department.
About 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 6th, his police department received 'a report of a child who had consumed an unknown substance.'
'During the course of our preliminary investigation, it was learned that a conflict of interest may present during the course of this investigation and as such, we contacted the Lakeville Police Department and asked them to conduct a conflict investigation on our behalf,' Wicke said Friday. 'My understanding is that (the) investigation remains active and as such, our original report(s) surrounding the response to this incident are not available at this time.'
Attempts to reach Bakken were not successful Friday evening.
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