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On April 27, 2023, the Office of Childhood (OOC) received an allegation that Child A (23-months-old) received injuries at "Training up a Child" LLC including scratches on his face, arms and back and on April 26, 2023, Child A came home with a black eye. The facility staff members are unable to explain the injuries to Parent A (parent of Child A). After conducting an investigation, Compliance Inspector (CI) Ian Fyfe has found this allegation to be substantiated based on the following evidence:
5 CSR 25-500.182(1)(A)1., which states the following: "Caregivers shall not leave any child without competent adult supervision."
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5 CSR 25-500.182(1)(C)7., which states the following: "Physical punishment including, but not limited to, spanking, slapping, shaking, biting, or pulling hair shall be prohibited."
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5 CSR 25-500.192(5)(A)., which states the following: "In case of accident or injury to a child, the provider shall notify the parent(s) immediately. If the child requires emergency medical care, the provider shall follow the parent's(s') written instructions."
On May 4, 2023, Compliance Inspector (CI) Ian Fyfe conducted an unannounced inspection to "Training up a Child" LLC and interviewed Executive Director Kebra Peebles, Director Priscilla McAfee, and staff member Tiera Richardson. Ms. Richardson was Child A's caregiver while Child A attended the facility. All staff members interviewed by CI Fyfe were familiar with the reported concerns as Parent A (parent of Child A) called the facility on April 26, 2023, and asked about a scar on Child A's eye. Facility staff members never observed Child A to have any injuries while they attended the facility and stated that Child A had multiple scars on their face from previous injuries not received at the facility. Ms. Richardson informed CI Fyfe that she has never observed Child A fall or have an accident in her classroom and that the only marks that she has seen on Child A are old scars. Ms. Richardson informed CI Fyfe that in the eight years that she was worked at the facility, no children have gotten hurt in her classroom because she prevents each injury from happening. Despite Ms. Richardson's statement and a lack of accident reports in Child A's record, Ms. McAfee informed CI Fyfe that Child A does fall in Ms. Richardson's classroom. If a child were to be involved in an accident in Ms. Richardson's room, Ms. Richardson would complete an accident report and inform the director so that they can contact the child's parent immediately. Neither Ms. Peebles nor Ms. McAfee expressed concerns regarding Ms. Richardson's ability to care for the children in her room. No parents have come to Ms. Peebles or Ms. McAfee to express concerns regarding Ms. Richardson besides Parent A. Ms. Richardson does not have a co-teacher. Both Ms. Peebles and Ms. McAfee informed CI Fyfe that staff members do not contact the parents of an injured child unless the injury is major.
Compliance Inspector (CI) Ian Fyfe obtained enrollment forms for Child B (2-years-old), Child C (23-months-old), and Child D (23-months-old). All three children were in Ms. Richardson's classroom at the same time as Child A. Interviews were conducted with Parent B, Parent C, and Parent D (respective parents of the previously listed children).
On May 22, 2023, CI Fyfe interviewed Parent B (parent of Child B). According to Parent B, Child B has never come home with unexplained injuries from the facility. The facility staff members have always completed accident reports for any accidents that Child B has had at the facility and have always communicated the accidents to Parent B appropriately. The only concern that Parent B has with the facility comes from an incident in which a staff member pulled on Child B's arm recently. Child B's sibling saw this happen and told Parent B about it. Child B's sibling, who is 4-years-old, told Parent B that Child B said "ouch' when it happened. Child B's teacher was Ms. Tiera [Richardson]. Parent B addressed the incident with Ms. Priscilla [McAfee] and felt like the facility staff members handled Parent B's concerns appropriately. Parent B does not know when exactly this incident occurred.
On May 22, 2023, CI Fyfe interviewed Parent C (parent of Child C). Child C just transitioned to a new room with Ms. Priscilla, however Child C's previous teacher was Ms. Tiera. Child C has received multiple scratches while in Ms. Tiera's room recently. While Child C's first scratch was small, the second scratch was deep and was present for two weeks. The scratch was on Child C's nose. This occurred approximately three to five weeks ago. Parent C believes that either Ms. Tiera caused the scratch by wiping Child C's nose too hard, or that Child C might have scratched themselves while wiping their nose. Regardless of either cause, the scratch seemed too deep to be the result of an accidental scratch. Parent C did not receive an accident report when this scratch occurred and was told by staff members that they do not know how the injury occurred. Parent C does not have any photo documentation of the scratches.
On May 22, 2023, CI Fyfe interviewed Parent D (parent of Child D). On an unknown date, Parent D was picking up Child D from the facility when they observed Ms. Tiera "yank" a child by their arm. Parent D identified the child as Child B. After yanking Child B, Ms. Tiera knocked over Child D while walking past them. Child B's sibling saw what happened as well. Parent D was able to tell Parent B (parent of Child B) about the incident. While this is the first time that Parent D has seen something like this happen at the facility, Child D has come home with unexplained injuries in the past, including an infected finger that required medical attention and scratches to the face from the last two weeks. Facility staff members have not been able to tell Parent D about how the injuries occurred. Parent D did not receive an accident report for these two previous injuries sustained by Child D. If Parent D does receive an accident report for an incident involving Child D, Parent D receives the report at the end of the day when picking up Child D. Parent D never receives a notification during the day after the accident occurs.
On May 22, 2023, and May 23, 2023, CI Fyfe attempted to conduct an interview with Parent A (parent of Child A) but was unsuccessful in both attempts. Due to this, CI Fyfe was unable to obtain any photos that documented Child A's injuries.
As evidenced by Parent B's, Parent C's, and Parent D's above statements, as well as the combination of the parent's respective children's injuries and a lack of explanation by the facility staff members, it is apparent that lack of supervision is a re-occurring issue in Ms. Richardson's classroom.
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