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On May 17, 2024 the Office of Childhood (OOC) received a report alleging "Child A (4 years old) soiled his pants, and his caregivers called Child A's mother, who is also a caregiver, to bring him clothes because he didn't have any in the classroom. Child A's mom brought a 2-year-old child with her and was cussing, yelling and threatening Child A while he was changing." After conducting an investigation, Compliance Inspector (CI) Caylin Mertz has found this allegation to be substantiated based on the following evidence and rule violations:
5 CSR 25-500.182(1)(C)8 which states "No discipline technique which is humiliating, threatening, or frightening to children shall be used. Children shall not be shamed, ridiculed, or spoken to harshly, abusively, or with profanity."
AND
5 CSR 25-500.182(1)(C)9 which states "Punishment or threat of punishment shall not be associated with food, rest, or toilet training."
On May 22, 2024 CI Caylin Mertz conducted an unannounced inspection at the facility. A walkthrough was also conducted. CI Mertz interviewed Caregiver Jillian "Lily" Anthony and Caregiver Alicia Wright. Lily indicated on May 17, 2024 Child A had an accident. She went to ask Parent A, who is also a caregiver, if she had clothes for Child A. Parent A came to Child A's classroom and yelled at him telling him to "put your fucking clothes on" and "if you punch another friend I'll punch you." Child A was crying. Child A started hitting Parent A and Parent A just kept telling him "stop, we're not doing that, I'll close this bathroom door and beat your ass right here." Alicia was also present in the classroom at the time of the incident and heard Child A screaming and crying from the bathroom.
While Parent A is Child A's mother, at the time of the incident, Child A was signed into care at the facility and Parent A was employed as a caregiver. Yelling profanity and threatening to beat a child is not age appropriate or constructive discipline. Additionally, Lily and Alicia indicated Child A was very upset and observed him to be screaming and crying after being yelled at and threatened.
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