| Conclusion Summary |
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On May 16, 2024, the Office of Childhood (OOC) received an allegation that: On May 15, 2024, Child A (age 5- years- old) was left alone in the classroom for approximately 10 minutes. The staff assigned to the classroom were Katie Wallace and Chloe Moore. There were also 2 other Central Office staff in and out of the classroom. After conducting an investigation, Compliance Inspector (CI) Michelle Honea has found this allegation to be substantiated based on the following evidence:
5 CSR 25-500.182(1)(A)1., which states: "Caregivers shall not leave any child without competent supervision."
AND
5 CSR 25-500.182(1)(A)3., which states: "Caregivers shall provide frequent, direct contact so children are not left unobserved on the premises."
On May 17, 2024, CI Honea conducted an unannounced inspection to the facility and interviewed Director Deniece Moore and caregiver Katie Wallace. Deniece stated that she was out the day of the incident and caregiver Katie called in a panic about Child A being left in the classroom. She came to the facility after the call, and she talked to everyone involved. She reviewed the video and could clearly see Child A's face and hand (which was sticking out from under the pillow) in the room in the safe spot. There were three Central Office staff also in the classroom who allowed a sub caregiver to lead the children from the classroom, which was against policy, and no one did the name to face count that morning between 7:30am and 9:30am. The main teacher was out that day also and caregiver Katie is not that familiar with the tablet. She has put into place more active counting, extra training for everyone in the facility, and an alarm is in the classroom set to go off every hour as a reminder to complete the name to face.
While on premises CI Honea interviewed Katie Wallace who stated that she clocked in around 8:00am and it was her with the sub-Chloe because the main caregiver was out. At that time, they were eating breakfast and then did some table toys. Child A got up from the chair and walked across the room to lay down in the safe space by the wall. Shortly after table toys Central Office staff Kim came in to help with the classroom because there were multiple children having behaviors. A few minutes later Central Office staff Beth came into the room and helped with circle time and practicing the song for graduation. She had an issue with a diabetic child and had to take the Dexcom with the child to their parent (who also works there). Central Office staff Rachel came into the room to assist. She did not do the name to face count that morning and she really has never messed with it because the main teacher always does it. Beth asked how many children were in the room and she stated fifteen because she forgot Child A was asleep in the safe space. Beth took the children outside and no head count was completed until the children were outside. They all realized that Child A was missing, and she remembered where he was. Beth and Kim went back inside and found Child A still asleep. She did tell caregiver Chloe that Child A was asleep in the room but during all the craziness everyone forgot. She was so upset over the situation that she went to the bathroom to call Director Deniece. Beth did not want her to call Deniece about the situation. She told Deniece about the situation and asked Deniece to check the video.
On May 17, 2024, CI Honea conducted a phone interview with Parent A who stated that she received a call from Jennifer Brawner that said Child A feel asleep in a safe place within the classroom and was left alone in the room. She is not worried at all about Child A falling asleep in the classroom. She understands that it is a big deal that Child A was left alone.
On May 17, 2024, CI Honea conducted a phone interview with caregiver Chloe Moore who stated that she arrived in the classroom around 8:00am. They had table time, and the timer was set for breakfast time. Katie pointed to the safe space to let her know that Child A was asleep over there. There were three other caregivers in the room that came from Central Office. Everyone kept saying there were fifteen children in the room. She never touched the name to face board or the iPad because she is just part time. They went outside, and Beth asked about Child A. They all realized that Child A was not outside. Beth and another caregiver went inside to find Child A. Katie was dealing with a child that was having a diabetic issue. They stopped at the door going outside and did a count, then did another count once the children were on the playground.
On May 17, 2024, CI Honea reviewed all statements and event notes provided by Jennifer Brawner, caregiver Katie Wallace, Chloe Moore, and Central Office staff Kim Campbell. CI Honea also observed the video footage from May 15, 2024. The first video clip at 8:02am shows Child A sitting on a chair in front of the window with his back to the children at the table. The second video clip shows Child A get up from the chair, wearing black pants a black shirt with a blue jacket and the hood is over his head, and walk over the safe space which has a mat along with a read round pillow. Child A lays down on the edge of the red pillow against the wall. A few seconds later a little girl walks over to check on Child A. The remaining children are still at the table doing table toys. At 8:06am the two caregivers are still in the front of the classroom with the other children. The third video clip from 9:04am shows Central Office staff Beth Gatlin sitting in a chair beside the carpet area with the other children, that was within three to four feet of Child A. Child A's face was visible, and his hand was sticking out from under the red pillow. Also on the carpet area were Kim and caregiver Katie who was looking at the tablet. The fourth video clip from 9:07am shows Beth and Kim and Katie on the play rug near Child A. During this clip all caregivers are dealing with other children and Beth looks over in Child A's direction. At 9:04am Central Office staff Rachel Gaworski walks into view and turns to look at Child A asleep on the mat at two occasions. The video shows the group singing and dancing to the song. The fifth video clip at 9:10am shows the caregivers lining up the children to go outside and Child A is alone in the room. Once everyone has left the room, the video stops recording until 9:24am when Child A moves his foot into view. At 9:24am Beth and come into the room and find Child A asleep on the mat. Beth then reaches down to touch Child A's hand and face without waking him up. At 9:25am Beth leaves the room with Kim watching Child A. Child A was left alone in the classroom for approximately 14 minutes.
CI Honea also observed the safe space where Child A was asleep and the red pillow that Child A was cuddling.
On May 30, 2024, CI Honea conducted a phone interview with Kim Campbell from the Central Office who stated that she was asked to fill in at the facility due to a lack of caregivers that day. She went into the room while it was breakfast time. She saw Katie with the name to face sheet. She counted fourteen children and missed the one at the cart. She had not seen Child A at all that morning. Katie took another child to deal with a diabetic issue. She did not look at the name to face sheet. She was dealing with children having behaviors. So going forward they are trying to get four caregivers for that room because there are more children with behaviors in that classroom. Both caregivers Katie and Chloe knew that Child A was asleep in the safe space. When she finally looked at the name to sheet, she saw the numbers but did not pay enough attention to what was on the sheet.
On May 30, 2024, CI Honea conducted a phone interview with Beth Gatlin from the Central Office who stated that they were asked to go over and assist the facility. When she walked into the room both caregivers were dealing with children. Central Office staff was dealing with assisting in the bathroom area. She went to the carpet area to help with those children that were done at the table. She never noticed Child A sleeping within 4 feet of her. She was told there were fifteen children in the room. She never looked at the name to face sheet at that point. She did two headcounts. The name to face sheet was given to the sub caregiver when the other caregiver left the room. After they all left the room to go outside, she took the name to face sheet and realized it was not filled out. She thought another child was Child A since they look similar. She realized that Child A was not outside and asked where he was. She went back inside with another Central Office staff member Kim and found Child A asleep in the safe space. She could see that Child A had stuck his boot out from around the pillow. She did not check off the sheet when she first got into the room because she did not know where it was. She did not even think about doing a sweep of the room.
On May 30, 2024, CI Honea conducted a phone interview with Rachel Gaworski from the Central Office who stated that she saw Child A sleeping when she walked around the room. She was approximately 3 feet from Child A. She did not say anything to anyone else about Child A sleeping. She did not know what to do so she did not say anything. She did not know if anyone would be staying in the room with Child A and did not ask. She did not know there was a problem at this point and never told anyone she knew Child A was sleeping.
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