"Rep. Ritchie Torres announced on Wednesday his new bill, dubbed "River's Law," which would prohibit in-home daycares from having swimming pools on their premises. The legislation was named in memory of River Wilson, the 20-month-old Castle Hill toddler who drowned at her daycare's swimming pool on Aug. 1. If the bill passes, residential daycares with pools would not be able to receive licenses, and owners would be required to install safety alarms on doors and windows."
"Torres described the city's residential daycare system as "broken," plagued by understaffing and a lack of regulation. "The failure to protect River was as unforgivable as her drowning was preventable," he said. Inspectors at the daycare were "too late and too slow" to flag problems with the above-ground pool, which was found to be unsafe only after River's death, said Torres."
A 20-month-old toddler named River Wilson drowned at her Castle Hill daycare's above-ground pool on Aug. 1. A bill called "River's Law" would prohibit in-home daycares from having swimming pools and bar residential daycares with pools from receiving licenses. The proposal would require owners to install safety alarms on doors and windows. Inspection records show inspectors visited the facility six times between March 2023 and May 2025 without citing pool-related violations, yet an Aug. 4 inspection cited nine violations and led to license suspension. The measure targets understaffing, regulatory gaps, and inconsistent inspections in residential daycare oversight.
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