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On April 1, 2024, the Office of Childhood (OOC) received an allegation that caregiver Sharon Lairy has been popping Child A (13-months-old) in the crib and pushing him down. Child A was standing in his crib and she pushed him on the head, causing him to fall back in the crib. 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."
On April 2, 2024, Compliance Inspector (CI) Ian Fyfe conducted an unannounced inspection to Young Expressions Child Care Center and Preschool, LLC and observed video footage of the reported concerns. On March 27, 2024, shortly after 12:11 PM staff member Sharon Lairy walked up to Child A while he was standing in his crib. Ms. Lairy then gave Child A a bottle, placed her hand on the top of his head, and pushed his head backwards. Child A fell backwards and onto his bottom as a result. While present at the facility, CI Fyfe interviewed Ms. Lairy, staff member Denita Caine, staff member Jacqueline Howard, and Director Dorcas Walker. Ms. Lairy, Ms. Caine, and Ms. Howard all denied the reported concerns. Ms. Walker found Ms. Lairy's actions to be inappropriate and issued Ms. Lairy a warning.
On April 12, 2024, CI Fyfe interviewed Parent A (parent of Child A) via phone call. On March 28, 2024, Parent A was told about the reported concerns from another staff member and later observed the reported concerns through the facility's camera system. While she did not observe Ms. Lairy pop Child A when watching the footage, she did observe Ms. Lairy push Child A down in his crib. Ms. Lairy pushed Child A down after Child A refused to take his bottle from her. Child A did not sustain any injuries and was removed from the facility's care on April 1, 2024.
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