Chesterfield daycare appears to continue operating after state required forfeiture of religious exemption

Sep 2, 2025 - 15:25

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Chesterfield daycare appears to continue operating after state required forfeiture of religious exemption

CHESTERFIELD, Va. (WRIC) -- 8News saw several children dropped off at Fortress of God International on Tuesday, Sept. 2, even though the childcare facility of the same name was required to forfeit its religious exemption to operate on Aug. 31.

The facility's owner entered into an agreement with the state last July to forfeit her religious exemption to operate at the end of August.

But, on Sept. 2, the day after Labor Day, children were seemingly dropped off into that same owner's care.

(Photo: Mariah Jallad/8News)

The Virginia Department of Social Services agreement said the owner, Monique Ede, needed to apply for an exemption or license and have it issued "before the child day program can legally operate."

At the time of reporting, 8News has still not heard back from DSS about the state of the facility's exemption or license.

8News saw at least four children enter or be dropped off at the facility on the morning of Sept. 2. In at least one case, the child was directly given to Ede at the back door.

8News also saw and spoke with officials from the Virginia Department of Education in front of the church/childcare facility, who knocked on doors and looked inside windows. The officials were not answered by Ede or anyone else inside.

8News has reached out to the Virginia Department of Education regarding this visit, but has not yet heard back.

The facility first came under scrutiny on Feb. 21 when a 3-year-old wandered away from the daycare and into the busy roadway nearby. The child was not hurt, and while Ede did not face charges for the incident, increased attention came to dozens of violations from past inspections.

This led the state to revoke Fortress of God Childcare's religious exemption, which allowed it to operate without a license and without following some regulations.

Though the exemption was revoked on April 22, DSS inspectors discovered nearly 30 children in the facility's care on April 25.

In May, 8News found that the Fortress of God signage had been removed and replaced with advertising for Serenity Faith Academy, a business that was registered by Ede and had no registration under DSS as a childcare facility.

DSS records show they inspected Fortress of God again in June and July, when the facility was found to be in violation for false advertising.

After this Ede entered into a consent agreement with the state that included the stop operation date of Aug. 31 due to "high-risk violations."

“After [Aug. 31,] an exemption must be approved or a license must be issued before the child day program can legally operate,” the DSS said — implying that Ede could pursue either of those options.