| Conclusion Summary |
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On November 19, the Office of Childhood (OOC) received a report alleging that on October 18, 2024, Child A (5 months old) spent the day at the facility from 7:20 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Darrah said they forgot to feed him. He ate at 8:27 a.m. there and then didn't eat again until he got home at 4:10 p.m. After conducting the investigation, Compliance Inspector (CI) Cole Eddins finds the allegation is substantiated. This conclusion is based on the following evidence of licensing rule violations which occurred at the facility:
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."
On November 20, 2024, CI Eddins conducted an unannounced inspection and interviewed Assistant Director Missie Cure and Caregiver Kelsie Bolt. Missie stated that she heard Child A was brought to daycare with four bottles and sent home with three full bottles. Child A was only fed twice during the day; once in the morning and once in the afternoon before he went home. She heard that when it was his time to eat, he was sleeping, and staff were not supposed to wake a sleeping baby to eat. Kelsie stated that October 18, 2024 was a crazy day; she was pulled from the classroom several times to assist with the Braxton testing the facility was conducting. Darrah would step in for her during the times she left to help meet the ratio. Child A received his first feeding at around 8:00 a.m. or 8:30 a.m. and he was due to have his next bottle at around 11:30 a.m. or 12:00 p.m. She had to leave for Braxton testing at around the same time his next bottle was due. Between the constant in and out of both herself and Darrah, and Child A sleeping on and off for most of the day, Child A was not fed until around 4:00 p.m. She, Darrah, and Olivia did not communicate as well as they should have or check the bottle-feeding log to properly feed Child A. Child A was sent home with three full bottles of milk.
On December 11, 2024, CI Eddins interviewed Director Darrah Dayson and Caregiver Olivia Touress. Darrah stated that Parent A was the first person to bring up the concern about Child A not being fed. Parent A was confused as to why Child A went to daycare with four full bottles, and when she came to pick him up at the end of the day, she observed three full bottles. Child A slept a lot in the classroom and caregivers went in and out of the room throughout the day for breaks and to assist with Braxton testing conferences. She went in to break one of the caregivers after Child A had already received his morning feeding at around 8:00 a.m. Child A was asleep quite a bit that day, and she did not want to wake him to feed him. Child A was asleep during two of his feedings throughout the middle of the day. The incident was an honest mix-up and the caregivers in charge of Child A, herself included, did not communicate as well as they should have. She did not want to wake up Child A to feed him, so the feeding chart was never updated. Between Child A sleeping for most of the day and Olivia and Kelsie going in and out of the room, they just forgot to feed Child A until 4:10 p.m. Olivia stated that Child A was fed once in the morning and once at the end of the day. Child A was asleep for most of the day, and she was not supposed to wake a sleeping baby to feed them. Kelsie had to leave for conferences and testing so Kelcie and Darrah were in and out of her classroom, which caused communication errors. She meant to feed Child A in between his long naps, but she forgot.
On December 13, 2024, CI Eddins interviewed Parent A, who stated that on October 18, 2024, Child A was sent to daycare with four full bottles, and three of the four bottles were sent back home full. Child A ate at around 8:30 a.m. and possibly later in the day, but nothing in between. She does not think Child A was fed at all past 8:30 a.m. Staff are normally really good about logging Child A's feeding times in Procare, but she only observed the one feeding at 8:30 a.m. Once Child A was back home at the end of the day, she opened Child A's bottle bag and saw three full bottles. She called Darrah to let her know about her concerns, and Darrah admitted to her that Kelsie and Olivia forgot to feed Child A. Darrah told her that Child A had been napping all day, and they forgot to feed him. Child A was supposed to be fed every two or two-and-a-half hours.
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