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On October 1, 2024, the Office of Childhood (OOC) received an allegation that: Child A was left unattended in the bathroom at the daycare on June 13, 2024, around 4pm, while the rest of the class went to the playground outside. Another parent found Child A roaming the halls looking for her teachers and classmates. 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)3., which states: "Caregivers shall provide frequent, direct contact so children are not left unobserved on the premises."
AND
5 CSR 25-500.182(1)(A)1., which states: "Caregivers shall not leave any child without competent supervision."
On October 8, 2024, CI Honea conducted a phone interview with Parent A(parent of Child A and a caregiver at the facility). Parent A stated that she worked at the facility as a cook when Child A (3-years-old) was left in the classroom on June 13, 2024. She received a text message from teacher Faith Brockman who said that Child A got left in the classroom. She was told that Child A asked to use the bathroom, and everyone left the room. Teacher Kaili Fuller was the one that left Child A in the classroom. She was not worried about the incident at the time and did not want to make a report until she had another facility for Child A. She was terminated on August 19, 2024, and she took Child A out of the facility then. She finally decided to call in a complaint on the facility.
On October 8, 2024, CI Honea conducted an unannounced inspection to the facility and interviewed Director Tara Martin and teacher Faith Brockman. Tara stated that she was not there the day of the incident, so she was not aware of the incident until later. The classroom that Child A was in goes outside at 3:30 pm, right after snack time. There are no cameras in the hallway but there are cameras in the classrooms. She will not have access to the video from the classroom since the incident was four months ago. The teachers already carry around clipboards and do name to face checks. She is open to different ideas and will have a meeting with the teachers to discuss the issues.
Faith Brockman stated that she went to do classroom errands while co-teacher Kaili Fuller took the children outside. Normally she checks the room, bathroom, and then will close the bathroom door after the children leave the room. She does complete name to face checks throughout the day. There are days that things are just crazy and from what she can remember that was one of them. She believes that Child A was trying to follow her instead of following the classroom outside. The incident happened around 3:30 pm and she texted Parent A at 4:08 pm. She was in the office when Parent B brought Child A to the office. She asked Child A what happened, and Child A said, "she was sitting on the carpet". The room is wide open, and she did not remember seeing Child A on the carpet. She did text Parent A who stated, "Ok thank you for letting me know". Parent A works in the morning until lunch and on this day was supposed to pick Child A up around 4:00 pm but does not show up until 4:30 pm. She thinks Child A was only left in the room for a few minutes.
On October 8, 2024, CI Honea observed the camera information which shows footage from June 13, 2024, is not available. CI Honea reviewed text messages for June 13, 2024, from teacher Faith Brockman to Parent A which states: "Child A was accidently left in the classroom. She was not in the classroom at the time. Child A stated that she was sitting on the carpet but did not line up. Child A was not by herself very long. My apologies for it happening and Child A had a blast at water play." Parent A responded, "Ok thank you for letting me know!".
On October 8, 2024, CI Honea conducted a phone interview with Parent B. Parent B stated that she was picking up her children from different rooms. When she came out of a classroom Child A was standing in the hall near Child A's classroom door. Child A was not roaming the halls. Child A was not crying or upset in any way. She took Child A to the office and apparently the others went outside. The classroom door was propped open. She talked to teacher Faith Brockman who said, "Child A must have followed me to the office instead of following the classroom outside." This happened around 3:30 pm right after snack time. She does not have concerns about the facility or any of the teachers in the facility.
On October 9, 2024, CI Honea conducted a phone interview with teacher Kaili Fuller. She stated that they called the kids to line up and she did the head count. She was taking the children outside and the teacher Faith Brockman stayed behind. Apparently, Child A was on the carpet, but no one saw Child A on the carpet. This incident happened around 3:30 pm and it was approximately two minutes later teacher Faith Brockman brought Child A outside. Kalli did not complete a name to face count once outside. Teacher Faith Brockman said that Child A was in the hall and Parent B brought Child A to the office. Since that happened, she is making sure there is more consistency with the name to face counting and children are marked on the clip boards.
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