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On January 30, 2024, the Office of Childhood (OOC) received an allegation that on Thursday, January 25, 2024, between 10:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m., Creative Minds Child Development Center, LLC teacher Rebecca Harrison took toys out of Child A's (2-years-old) hands and threw them across the room. Child A got up from the table to get the toys and threw the toys back at Ms. Harrison, who grabbed Child A's arm and set them back down in a chair. Child A was upset and was moving their arms around. Ms. Harrison grabbed Child A by one arm, had the broom in her other hand, and dragged Child A across the room into a corner. Ms. Harrison took the broom and put it between herself and Child A in defense because Child A was kicking their feet. After conducting an investigation, Compliance Inspector (CI) Patrick O'Malley has found this allegation to be substantiated based on the following evidence:
5 CSR 25-500.182(1)(C)3., which states the following: "Only constructive, age-appropriate methods of discipline shall be used to help children develop self-control and assume responsibility for their own actions."
AND
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."
On February 1, 2024, CI O'Malley conducted an unannounced inspection of the facility and conducted interviews with Ms. Harrison and director Tina Rich. Ms. Harrison stated that the class played at the sensory table on the morning of Thursday, January 25, 2024. Ms. Harrison began sweeping the floor and asked the class to clean up; Child A (2-years-old) got upset. Child A hit another child with a toy truck that they were holding. Ms. Harrison took the toy away from Child A and tossed it across the room. Child A retrieved the toy and attempted to hit another child with it. Ms. Harrison grasped Child A by the right forearm and escorted him to the timeout corner. Ms. Harrison affirmed that she may have been too rough with Child A and both of Child A's feet may have left the floor as she escorted Child A to the corner. Child A attempted to kick her, and she held the broom sideways between herself and Child A. Ms. Harrison denied striking Child A with the broom. Ms. Rich entered the room and sat in the corner with Child A.
Ms. Rich stated that she reviewed the video footage from the incident with Parent A (parent of Child A) on Friday, January 26, 2024. Ms. Rich affirmed that Ms. Harrison picked up Child A by the right forearm and both Child A's feet left the ground. Ms. Rich denied that Ms. Harrison struck or hit Child A. The facility's camera system retained footage for one week at a time and the footage from January25, 2024, had already been scrubbed.
On February 5, 2024, CI O'Malley conducted a phone interview with Parent A, who stated that they reviewed video footage of the incident with Ms. Rich on January 26, 2024. Parent A immediately disenrolled Child A from the facility. Child A had a small bruise on their left forearm, but Parent A could not be sure it came from the incident as Child A bruised easily.
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