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On October 22, 2024, the Office of Childhood (OOC) received a complaint alleging that on October 21, 2024, Debra grabbed him, yanked his arms up, hit him on his back, and threw him on a cot. Compliance Inspector (CI) Heather Radney conducted an investigation of the allegation and found it to be substantiated based on the following information:
RSMo 210.254.2. - The notice of parental responsibility shall include the following: (5) - The disciplinary philosophy and policies of the child-care facility; and
On October 29, 2024, CI Radney interviewed Phil Stotts. On November 8, 2024, CI Radney interviewed Debbie Johnson. Phil reported he has a video of the incident and Debbie did pick up Child A and swat him on the bottom. Debbie reported she was sitting at the desk at the end of the day and Child A was jumping with another child and she asked him to stop a couple times. She got up and picked him up with her left hand by the arm, thinking he would stand and he drew his legs up under him. She hurried to get him to time out. "I swatted his bottom once. He had a diaper on. He didn't cry. He wasn't hurt." She went and sat back down. Child A just looked at her and kind of laid down. Phil called her the day law enforcement was out and said he just wondering if she remembers spanking a child. She said "No," he said "Nothing at all?" and she said "No." She didn't consider that a spanking. Phil called her later and told her about the video footage. She said "Oh my goodness, but I didn't spank him, I just spatted him on the bottom but he was wearing a diaper." It wasn't out of maliciousness or being mean, it was just redirection.
On October 29, 2024, CI Radney received and reviewed video footage. The video is two minutes and 49 seconds long. Debbie and Child A, along with other children, can be seen in the video. At 5:31:41, Debbie stands up from a chair and two children move away from Child A. Child A and another child remain on the carpet. At 5:31:45, Debbie leans over and appears to take Child A by the left arm using her right arm and lifts Child A up off the ground. Debbie appears to be lifting Child A and Child A appears to be refusing to put his feet down to stand. At 5:31:51, Debbie appears to use her right hand to hit Child A on the back/bottom area. At 5:31:53, Debbie appears to sit Child A on the ground and leans over Child A, appearing to be speaking to him.
On October 29, 2024, CI Radney received and reviewed the facility's Notice of Parental Responsibility (NPR). The disciplinary philosophy and policies are: "Roadsters Daycare will always attempt praise and redirection on a child to try to solve a behavioral problem before it begins. Our system utilizes positive praise, strategic ignoring, and two choices. In addition, time out will be used for repeated non-compliance, safety issues, and/or violent or threatening behaviors."
Based on the evidence provided, Debbie Johnson was not following the facility's discipline policy when this incident occurred.
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