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On May 29, 2024 the Office of Childhood (OOC) received a report alleging "On May 24, 2024, Child A's class was outside and none of the staff knew where she was. Reporter found her shut in a bathroom. Child A was very upset and none of the staff could say how long she had been in there." 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)(A)1 which states "Caregivers shall not leave any child without competent supervision."
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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 June 4, 2024 CI Mertz conducted an unannounced inspection at the facility. A walkthrough was also conducted. CI Mertz interviewed Assistant Director Staci Craigmile, Caregiver J'Nariera Brockman and Caregiver Essence Bradford. CI Mertz interviewed Director Maria Kirkpatrick on the same day. Director Maria indicated she reviewed video footage and observed Child A (3 years old) be let inside the building at 4:33 p.m. and Parent A, who is also a caregiver, found her at 4:39 p.m. She indicated she was not present at the time of this incident. She stated Caregiver Nancy Kelly and Caregiver Dakota Baker-Adams were the caregivers on the playground at the time of the incident. Assistant Director Staci indicated she was present on May 24, 2024 when this incident occurred but did not find out about it until the following week. Caregiver Essence was not present at the time of the incident. Caregiver J'Nariera stated she thinks she saw Child A come in around 4:45 p.m. or 4:50 p.m. When she left at 5:00 p.m. she recalls still seeing the bathroom door shut. CI Mertz did not observe any unattended children at the time of the inspection. CI Mertz did not observe bathroom doors to lock.
Caregiver Dakota was interviewed. She stated she let Child A go inside to the go the bathroom. There were other caregivers in the building but not in that classroom. She was tending to another child and did not see Child A come back to the playground. She indicated Caregiver Nancy had said Child A returned. The bathroom doors do not lock. She thinks Child A might have been in there for about 10 minutes. Parent A was also interviewed. She stated she left the building around 4:30 p.m. on May 24, 2024 to pick up her children's dad. She recalls returning around 30 minutes later when she found Child A. She thinks she looked for Child A for approximately 10 minutes before walking by the 4-year-old bathroom and hearing Child A crying. Child A told her she had to potty when they went outside and she couldn't get the door open but no one was listening. Parent A did not wish to have Child A interviewed.
Director Maria was unable to provide the video clips related to this incident. There is sufficient evidence to conclude that Child A was left in the facility bathroom without competent supervision for between six and 40 minutes.
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