Toddlers escape from north Austin daycare

Two toddlers are safe after escaping from a day care in north Austin. It happened Monday morning at the Papa & Nana's child care center. They were found by someone nearby who stayed with the kids until police arrived. 

"If I was in a situation like that, I would have been very upset behind my kids. It's not right, something needs to be done," said Marcelina West.

West lives nearby the child care center. When she heard two toddlers got out and wondered off Monday, as a parent herself, she feared for the worst.

"What happened if they would have got hit or anything that's not good, that's not good what so ever," said West.

What concerns West isn't just the fact that two toddlers escaped, its where they could have escaped too. Right next to the daycare center just a few feet away is a busy intersection.

FOX 7 stopped by the child care center to see how the toddlers were able to make a break for it. The lady who answered said she wasn't working during the escape and the owner did not want to make any comments at this time.

While they didn't want to talk, FOX 7 did speak to parents stopping by to pick up their kids. Many were like Barima Mohammed, who didn't even know about what happened until after FOX 7 told them.

For the past two years, Mohammed has dropped off his son at the center with no problems. Even after what happened Monday he said he still plans to send his kid there.

"I'm not trying to cover for them because I get a report every single day for my son. My son is happy, I am happy," said Mohammed.

While Mohammed said he would be concerned if it was his kid who got out, he believes it was just a onetime accident.

Texas Department of Family and Protective Services is currently investigating.

Mohammed said he was told by the center that the person who was working during the escape was fired. FOX 7 has not been able to confirm this.

Papa & Nana's child care center is a licensed day care center, which gets regularly inspected by the Texas Department of Health and Human Services. After investigating FOX 7 found in the past, some care givers did not have all the proper training or failed to renew background checks. On a couple occasions we also found the center did not have enough care givers for the amount of kids they were watching.