Four years ago, Montana’s Department of Public Health and Human Services hired external consultants to assess the agency’s child care regulations and identify gaps.
“Licensing has no teeth,” one child care professional told assessors, referring to the state’s limited ability to shut down problematic child care providers. “They don’t have power… They really don’t even have power for licensed care. They can write them up. They can threaten to close them, but it’s hard for them to close a program.”
This comment seems all the more troubling in light of the news that an East Helena daycare owner faces multiple charges of child sexual assault over several decades. The case has prompted questions about Montana’s oversight of child care providers, such as how licenses are revoked and which offenses the system is able to address.
David Carl Simpkins, 68, of East Helena, made his initial appearance in Lewis and Clark County Justice Court on Feb. 25 facing eight felony counts tied to the alleged sexual abuse of multiple children, according to the Helena Independent Record. According to court documents cited in that report, the charges are tied to conduct between 2005 and 2018, though allegations of abuse stretch back more than 40 years. Eight alleged victims are named in the documents.
The investigation began in Sept. 2025 when Child Protective Services reported concerning behavior to the Lewis and Clark County Sheriff’s Office, according to KTVH. Deputies interviewed around a dozen individuals, and victims described alleged sexual acts and inappropriate pictures. Simpkins was released Feb. 25 after posting a $150,000 bond and was arraigned in state district court March 17.
Simpkins ran PaPa’s Day Care out of his East Helena home, and the business was registered via DPHHS’ Child Care Licensing program. DPHHS maintains a public database of licensed providers and inspection results on its website, but Simpkins does not appear in the search because his license expired in March 2024, according to KTVH.
[The Monitor has submitted a public records request seeking the full licensing history for the facility, inspection reports and any complaints filed against Simpkins through the child care licensing program.]
DPHHS’ 2022 assessment led to several notable findings: annual inspections of registered facilities focus primarily on physical space and paperwork rather than on providers’ interactions with children; joint investigations between child care licensing and the state’s child welfare agency were described as poorly coordinated, with information not consistently flowing between the two agencies; and enforcement had little bite.
Assessors found that negative licensing actions, such as revocations, were “not taken nearly enough in situations where children are at risk,” citing a lack of clear jurisdiction and lack of effective enforcement authority.
The assessment also found that child care licensing staff and partner agencies have no jurisdiction to act against providers operating without a license, leaving the county attorney as the only avenue for legal action – with a maximum penalty of a $500 fine, an amount most providers said was not enough to change behavior. One licensed provider put it plainly in the report: “The metric should not be a child dying.”
For licensed providers, DPHHS does have authority to suspend or revoke a license, which constitutes closing the facility. But the challenge of pursuing illegal operators is not a new one.
Jane Arntzen Schumacher, then executive director of Child Care Connections in Bozeman, wrote in a 2015 letter to the editor in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle that even when a provider is known to be operating illegally, closing them is extremely difficult as DPHHS lacks the authority to enter private property to investigate unlicensed care. Child Care Connections closed in 2024 following a loss of state funding.
Assessors reported that most families knew where to find information about a provider’s license status, but fewer than 40% had ever actually looked up inspection reports or complaints. More than three out of four (77%) instead relied on referrals from family and friends to find daycare. That informal network, it would seem, often fails to surface serious concerns.
Simpkins’ case highlights a major tension at the heart of Montana’s child care system. Licensed child care capacity in the state meets only about 47% of estimated demand, according to a 2020 report by the Montana Department of Labor and Industry. Roughly 40% of Montana businesses said the shortage was already hampering their ability to recruit and retain workers.
In fact, the shortage may also be weakening oversight. The 2022 assessment highlighted experienced professionals saying that the lack of child care capacity creates a hesitation, within DPHHS, to shut down providers that families depend on, even when problems are found. Perversely, the scarcity of Montana child care may be making it harder to police.
As we report on Montana’s child care licensing system, The Monitor hopes to speak with local providers about their experiences. If interested, please contact reporter Piper Heath at piper@boulder-monitor.com.
