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On October 28, 2024, the Office of Childhood (OOC) received an allegation that: On October 24, 2024 at approximately 10:40 am, Child A was laying on the circle time rug crying for 5-10 minutes. Teachers Courtney and Reilly did not attend to Child A. While Child A was laying there, a boy came up to her, hitting her on the back and bottom. He attempted to pick Child A up more than once and dropped her abruptly. Another boy came over to Child A and kicked her in the face repeatedly. Neither teacher responded to Child A's continued crying. Sara, a member of management, went into console Child A and asked the teacher what happened. Courtney stated she did not see anything. Child A's parent was not informed of this incident, and no incident report was completed. After conducting an investigation, Compliance Inspector (CI) Michelle Honea has found this allegation to be substantiated based on the following evidence:
5 CSR 25-500.102(1)(E)., which states: "Caregivers shall have knowledge of the needs of children and shall be sensitive to the capabilities, interests, and problems of children in care."
AND
5 CSR 25-500.192(5)(A)., which states: "In case of accident or injury to a child, the provider shall notify the parent(s) immediately. If the child requires emergency medical care, the provider shall follow the parent's(s') written instructions."
AND
5 CRS 25-182(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)(C)11., which states: "Children shall not be permitted to intimidate or harm others, harm themselves, or destroy property."
On October 29, 2024, CI Honea conducted a phone interview with Parent C who stated the following information. She is having issues with the teachers and poor communication at the facility. She will periodically drop in to check on Child C. She does not go into the classroom but will look through the two-way mirror. On October 24, 2024, Teacher Courtney was sitting at the craft table doing crafts with several of the children including Child C and teacher Rielly was doing bathroom breaks with the other children. She saw Child A (2-years-old) laying on the carpet crying. She witnessed Child B (2- years- old) walk over to Child A, hit Child A in the back, the bottom, and Child B even attempted to pick up Child A then drop Child A back onto the floor. Neither teacher bothered to acknowledge the incident or to check on Child A. Child B, kept climbing on the bookshelves and both teachers would make him get down. Then Child C (2 -years- old) walked up to Child A and started to kick Child A in the head. She turned and ran down the hall to get Assistant Director Sara. She walked out to her car at this point and waited for Assistant Director Sara to leave the classroom before going back inside. She reached out to Parent A that evening to see if Parent A was notified of the incident. Parent A stated that no one notified her of the incident.
On October 30, 2024, CI Honea conducted an unannounced inspection to the facility and interviewed Director Mary Michelle Purdy (aka Michelle), Assistant Director Sara Koenig, teachers Rielly Goodwin and Courtney Peterson.
Michelle Purdy stated the following. This did happen to Child A and at this time she was in a parent meeting, so she was not able to handle the situation. Assistant Director Sara was dealing with the issue. There were other things that happened that day and the incident just got put to the side. She did receive an email from Parent A that evening about the incident and she talked to Parent A Friday morning while watching the video. Assistant Director Sara also watched the video footage. She did explain to Parent A what was on the video. It was just one of those days and they were stretched thin. There are no excuses to why Parent A was not notified. She has talked to all the parents with children involved in the incident. There will be actions taken along with more training on communication and more safety checks conducted. Both teachers will be talked to about the incident in more detail. There is a safety aspect in the staff manual. The next staff meeting is on November 20, 2024, and there will be an employee meeting over safety.
While on premises CI Honea interviewed teacher Rielly Goodwin who stated the following. Child A had dumped all the toys on the floor, and she was sitting with Child A trying to get Child A to pick up the toys. Child A did not want help to pick up the toys. Child A started kicking and screaming so she let Child A throw a fit. She had all the other children move away from Child A while she was dealing with bathroom breaks. There is not a clear view from the bathroom to where Child A was laying on the carpet. She did not see the incident happen. If Child A was standing up, then yes Child A would have been seen from this angle. Teacher Courtney was sitting down at a table, closer to Child A, doing crafts with other children and did not have a clear view of Child A from the table. Neither teacher could see the incident with Child A and Child B. She does not have an excuse as to why she did not go back and check on Child A.
While on premises CI Honea interviewed teacher Courtney Peterson who stated the following. Child A is a very emotional child and does not like correction or redirection. Child A will be more physical and not use words. Child A will throw herself to the ground and kick any one around her. Child A had multiple fits that morning for several different reasons. Child A will hit or kick if the teachers attempt to console Child A. At this point both teachers try to leave Child A alone. They try to leave Child A on the carpet away from other children to calm down. There are times that other children will go check on other crying children. She had previously checked on Child A but did not see anything that happened during the incident. She is not sure which child hit or kicked Child A because she was at the table doing crafts with the children. If an incident happens like this, they separate the children and will discuss the issue. Once a child is redirected, they will comfort the other child. If an injury happens, they talk to the child, call management, ice pack is needed, and complete an incident report. Management notifies the parents. She does not have an excuse as to why nothing was done with Child A and this incident. She feels they should have called management to assist but did not.
While on premises CI Honea interviewed Assistant Director Sara Koenig who stated the following. When she saw the video footage, she saw Child A being redirected by teacher Rielly. Child A was hitting and kicking teacher Rielly. Child A was on the ground and another child tried to help Child A. She saw other children go check on Child A. Nothing was seen by a first boy hitting Child A. The video does not show a boy try to lift Child A by the arms or drop Child A on the ground. It appeared that Child B was just nudging Child A and not kicking Child A. Nothing in the video appeared to be aggressive. She was told by Parent C as she was walking up the hallway that something happened. She was told that boys were hitting and kicking Child A and neither teacher did anything about it. She went in to comfort Child A, there were no children around Child A, and Child A appeared to be ok. She told the teachers that a parent was observing the classroom and saw the little boys hit / kick Child A. Both teachers said they did not see anything that happened. Both teachers stated they did check on Child A prior to the incident. She did not get a chance to see the footage right then because Director Michelle Purdy was with a parent in the office. She did not want to contact Parent A until she was able to view the footage. That day things were crazy and she never looked at the footage or contacted Parent A. She did talk to Parent A the next day to apologize for what happened and for not notifying Parent A.
On October 30, 2024, CI Honea reviewed an email from Parent A to Assistant Director Sara Koenig and the response from Director Michelle Purdy. Parent A reached out by email with concerns on what happened to Child A that day. Parent A was upset that no one notified her of the incident that happened that day and received the information from another parent. Director Michelle Purdy apologized for the lack of communication.
CI Honea also observed the video footage of the incident that happened on October 24, 2024. Video one (October 24, 2024, at 10:36 am) shows teacher Rielly sitting on the floor rocking Child A, then Child A started to buck while on teacher Rielly's lap by hitting / kicking and using Child A's head to hit teacher Rielly. This all happens while teacher Courtney is sitting at a table doing craft time with other children. Teacher Rielly sets Child A on the floor (at 10:37 am) to the left of teacher Rielly. Child A starts kicking teacher Rielly in the back at teacher Rielly then gets up from the floor walking away towards the bathroom to start potty time. Video two (at 10:47 am) shows Child A still laying on the carpet when Child B walks up to Child A (at 10:48 am) and Child B starts kicking Child A in the head, then Child C, (at 10:48 am) was not a boy but actually a girl, walked up and starts kicking Child A in the stomach, all the while Child A is crying. Child A begins kicking both Child B and Child C to protect herself. Teacher Courtney gets up from the craft table (at 10:49 am) to separate Child B and Child C from Child A. Teacher Courtney never stops to check on Child A who was laying on the floor crying. Teacher Rielly never goes to check on Child A laying on the floor. At 10:49 am Assistant Director Sara Koenig walked into the room to check on Child A.
On November 7, 2024, CI Honea conducted a phone interview with Parent A who stated the following information. Parent C texted that evening to ask if she received an incident report. She did not receive an incident report and did not know what Parent C was talking about. She spoke to Parent C on the phone who explained what happened with Child A at the daycare. Parent C stated that Child B walked up and started kicking Child A. Parent C then stated she went to get Assistant Director Sara to check on Child A. Parent C stated she saw teacher Courtney get up from the table, move the other children away from Child A, never checked on Child A, and walked back to the table then sat down. No one at the facility told her about the incident. She sent an email to Assistant Director Sara, but the email was responded to by Director Michelle. She dropped off Child A the next morning and Assistant Director Sara tried to talk to her but she was in a rush. She called Director Michelle later that morning and the conversation was full of excuses. Director Michelle stated that Child A was kicking both Child B and Child C. Child A was provided ice by Assistant Director Sara. Child A is okay and is still going to the daycare. She was told that the teachers would be doing training. The teachers are paying more attention and are more communicative.
On November 7, 2024, CI Honea conducted a phone interview with Parent B who stated the following information. She was told several stories by different people about what happened that day. She was told by the teaches that Child B went to check on Child A and then Child A started kicking Child B, so Child B kicked Child A back. She did not get the full story and is not happy about the communication issue. Before this she did not have concerns about the daycare. Child B is still going to the daycare.
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