OKLAHOMA CITY — An Oklahoma couple is working with a state senator to create legislation that could save the life of a child following the tragic death of one of their sons.

The interim study called for by State Sen. Stephanie Bice, R-Oklahoma City, and State Sen. Kay Floyd, an Ada, Oklahoma administrative law judge, was accepted for study in mid-July.

Derek and Ali Dodd want tight regulations on in-home daycares because presently there are few.

“We’re going to look into safe sleep standards,” Ali said of the interim study. “We’re going to compare Oklahoma to the states around us. And we’re going to make sure our rules are the way they should be.”

The Dodds’ 11-week-old son, Shepard, died April 6 of suffocation while he was at a home-based Oklahoma City daycare that only watches teachers’ children, Ali Dodd said.

A friend, considering that Derek Dodd teaches in the local school district, had referred the in-home daycare to the Dodds.

“We’re very concerned about the safety and welfare of children at in-home daycares,” Bice said. “We want to make sure we are doing everything that is possible to protect those innocent, sweet children.”

Sen. Bice said in-house daycares must already be registered by the state and be visited by the state’s Department of Human Services. The interim study will focus on creating in-home daycare requirements for continuing education, Bice said.

“We need to be looking at who’s getting training and how much of that training involves up-to-date information,” Bice said. She expects the study will begin this month.

On the Monday morning that Shepard died, he was happy and smiling at Ali before she left the daycare.

“So I kissed him on the head and said, ‘See you later,’” Ali Dodd recalled.

At 12:50 p.m., Ali was in her car driving about an hour east to Earlsboro, Oklahoma on business when her phone rang.

“She called me and said, ‘Get here quickly. Shepard’s not breathing,’” Ali Dodd said. “And I said, ‘What happened?’ And she said, ‘I don’t know. I just put him down for a nap and when I went to check on him he wasn’t breathing.’”

Ali Dodd said she learned through a DHS website report that was posted accidentally online, but removed after four days, that her son had been placed on the floor in an infant car seat in another room with the door closed.

Information is posted on every car seat warning not to leave children unattended, she said.

Ali Dodd learned Shepard had been placed in a velcro swaddle, she said. No charges were filed against the daycare owner because she did not violate any laws.

Shepard’s mother spoke to an emergency medical technician while she was still on the interstate. He told her they had been performing CPR for three or four minutes.

“I already knew three or four minutes was too long,” Ali Dodd said. “I got off the phone with him and I started calling my husband incessantly.”

Derek Dodd said his son had not been checked on for 90 minutes before he took his last breath.

“What happened is he wiggled down and it cut off his airway. He wasn’t able to breathe,” Derek Dodd said. “We don’t know why she made that decision.”

The Dodds also want better access to the DHS public website, because she said every violation involving a death on the site eventually disappears after 12 months.

“So parents — even if they know the website exists — are going to be none the wiser if it happened more than 12 months ago,” Ali said.

Neither do the Dodds believe parents should have to pay for copies of DHS materials to be printed for them.

The interim study will focus on accountability in situations such as Shepard’s death, Derek added. It’s not illegal in Oklahoma to knowingly violate safe-sleep practices regarding in-home daycare, Derek said.

DHS had its hands tied. The daycare owner continued to work with children until DHS issued a letter June 12 saying that the woman’s license would be revoked within 30 days, Ali said.

Ali said in-home daycares should be made to provide liability insurance and prove they have insurance by posting it in a conspicuous location in the house, Ali said.

Also, there is no required or consistent education for in-home daycares, Derek said. Regulations for daycare centers remain strict.

“I would like the regulations to be the same,” Ali said. “I think parents may want a different environment for their child, but they don’t want different safety.”

Coburn writes for the Edmond (Oklahoma) Sun.