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On February 22, 2024, the Office of Childhood (OOC) received an allegation that Ms. Rodgers threw Child A (2-years-old) onto the mats, causing him to hit his head on the wall, because he would not get off the floor that had just been mopped. After conducting an investigation, Compliance Inspector (CI) Ian Fyfe has found this allegation to be substantiated based on the following evidence:
5 CSR 25-500.102(1)(E), which states that: "Caregivers shall have knowledge of the needs of children and shall be sensitive to the capabilities, interests, and problems of children in care."
AND
5 CSR 25-500.182(1)(C)7., which states that: "Physical punishment including, but not limited to, spanking, slapping, shaking, biting, or pulling hair shall be prohibited."
On February 23, 2024, Compliance Inspector (CI) Ian Fyfe conducted an unannounced inspection to The Guardian Angel Settlement Association and interviewed Director Venita Oatis, Caregiver Raven Bobo, and Family Advocate Worker Jennifer Jefferson. All three staff members provided consistent information regarding the reported concerns. On February 21, 2024, at approximately 5 PM, staff member Robbie Rodgers attempted to move Child A (2-years-old) off of a freshly mopped floor and onto a nearby mat. Ms. Rodgers picked Child A up off of the ground and threw him towards a wall, landing on his butt. After Child A landed on the mat, he fell backwards and hit his head on the wall. Ms. Bobo was present in the classroom when this incident occurred and completed an accident report afterwards. Parent A (parent of Child A) arrived to pick up Child A shortly after the incident and was told at pick up about what had happened. Child A was examined by Lauren Wall, the facility's on-site nurse, but did not appear to have any significant injuries. Ms. Rodgers was placed on suspension but ultimately had her employment terminated because of the incident. Ms. Oatis was able to provide CI Fyfe with video footage of the incident that was captured by a camera in the classroom.
On March 1, 2024, CI Fyfe interviewed Robbie Rodgers via phone call. Ms. Rodgers provided information consistent with the information provided by facility staff members. On February 21, 2024, at approximately 5 PM, Ms. Rodgers attempted to move Child A to a nearby mat after Child A had crawled onto a freshly mopped floor. Ms. Rodgers denied throwing Child A but stated that he did hit his head after he was moved. Ms. Rodgers was the staff member that told Parent A about the incident when she arrived for pick up.
On February 23, 2024, Compliance Inspector (CI) Ian Fyfe observed camera footage from Robbie Rodgers, Raven Bobo, and Child A's classroom on the day of the reported concerns. The camera footage begins at 4:57:10 PM on February 21, 2024, and shows Ms. Rodgers sitting in a chair in front of four children. Child A can be observed sitting on the floor and wearing a white shirt and black pants.
At 4:57:17 PM, Ms. Rodgers quickly gets up from her chair and picks Child A up off of the ground. In one motion, Ms. Rodgers picks Child A up, lifts him over another child's legs, and throws him towards one of the walls in the room. Child A lands on his bottom but falls backwards so that his head hits the wall. Child A immediately becomes upset. Ms. Rodgers retrieves her phone but then walks back to Child A. Ms. Rodgers then rubs Child A's head before walking him to the changing tables where they remain for approximately twenty-two seconds.
At 4:58:13 PM, Child A leaves the changing table area and goes to sit down near the area where the incident happened. Ms. Rodgers follows Child A shortly after, retrieves her phone once again, and leads another child to the same area. Once the second child is in the same area as Child A, Ms. Rodgers appears to grab the child's wrist forcefully in an attempt to get the child to sit down. The child does sit down and appears to be upset for a brief moment.
The footage ends at 4:59:58 PM with no notable events occurring following the interaction between Ms. Rodgers and the second, unknown child.
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