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On May 17, 2024, the Office of Childhood (OOC) received an allegation that the facility was out of ratio in the infant/toddler unit several times. On January 22, 2024, there was one staff to either five or six infants and another time there was two staff to ten infants. After conducting an investigation, Compliance Inspector (CI) Ian Fyfe has found this allegation to be substantiated based on the following evidence:
5 CSR 25-500.112(1)(A), which states that: "The staff/child ratio and group size shall be followed as outlined in the below chart unless it meets an exception in subparagraphs (1)(B)-(G) below: Infants, toddlers, and 2-year-olds shall have one caregiver for every four children with no more than eight children per group; Groups composed solely of children 24 to 36 months shall have one caregiver for every eight children with no more than 16 children per group; Groups composed solely of children 3 to 4 years shall have one caregiver for every 10 children with no more than 20 children per group; Groups composed solely of children 5 years or older shall have one caregiver for every 16 children with no more than 32 children per group; A mixed group of children consisting of no more than four children age 2 years, and at least one child older than 3 years shall have one caregiver for every 10 children with no more than 20 children per group; A mixed group of children consisting of more than four children ages 24 to 36 months, and at least one child older than 36 months shall have one caregiver for every eight children with no more than 16 children per group."
On May 23, 2024, Compliance Inspector (CI) Ian Fyfe interviewed the reporter of this complaint via phone call. The reporter did not have any additional information to provide that was not already included in the initial complaint.
On May 23, 2024, Compliance Inspector (CI) Ian Fyfe conducted an unannounced inspection to Kindercare Education LLC and interviewed staff members Shuai Murray, Kendria Miles, Yania Ge, Najat Simon, and Sarah Walter. Ms. Miles, Ms. Ge, Ms. Simon, and Ms. Walter are all caregivers in various infant and toddler units at the facility. According to the staff members interviewed, classrooms will go out of ratio occasionally due to issues like being short-staffed, sporadic arrival times of families in the mornings, and staff members leaving their room for reasons unrelated to childcare. There also appears to be a lack of communication amongst facility staff when rooms are out of ratio. While Ms. Murray is unsure of why there is an issue with communication amongst staff, Ms. Miles stated that she does not communicate to the front office when she is out of ratio simply because nothing can be done to fix the issue. Instead of communicating with the front office, Ms. Miles will remain out of ratio by leaving herself with five to six infants and toddlers at a time. According to multiple staff members interviewed by CI Fyfe, the issues involving staff to child ratios seem to be revolve solely around the infant classrooms. While all infant and toddler classrooms having appropriate staff to child ratios during the inspection, CI Fyfe observed one preschool classroom to be out of ratio. The classroom had eighteen children, 2-years-old to 3-years-old, with two staff members. Of the eighteen children that were present, five were 2-years-old.
There are no attendance records present at the facility for January 22, 2024. Ms. Murray believes that the facility was most likely closed on this day due to weather.
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