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On May 14, 2025, the Office of Childhood (OOC) received a complaint alleging that the facility has no water; the well went dry, about a year ago. There is a pump that is hooked up outside and in between the daycare and the store building (Dine 1Nine-owned by the LLC member's husband Jeff). There are three totes, and there is a pump sitting next to the totes outside of the child care center. The pump is hooked to the underground waterlines. Those underground waterlines are leaking and have been leaking for a year. They (owner/facility) only turn the pumps on a couple of times a day to flush the toilets and or when an inspector shows up. There is no drinking water in the facility. Compliance Inspector (CI) Heather Radney conducted an investigation of the allegation and found it to be substantiated based on the following information:
5 CSR 25-500.082(3)(A)3. - Toilet and handwashing facilities shall be in working order and convenient for the children's use.
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5 CSR 25-500.082(1)(B) - The premises shall conform to the fire and safety requirements of the State Fire Marshal or his/her designee and requirements for state or local zoning, building and sanitation.
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5 CSR 25-500.202(1)(H) - The water and milk supply, and the method of dispensing, shall be approved by local or state health authorities, or both. Powdered milk shall not be used except for cooking purposes. Milk substitutes shall not be used for drinking or cooking.
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5 CSR 25-500.202(1)(L) - Drinking water shall be located conveniently near playrooms and the playground so children may be free to drink as they wish. Water fountains or individual cups shall be used.
On May 22, 2025, Compliance Inspector (CI) Heather Radney conducted interviews with Rebecca Amendola, Lisa Tigert, Wanda Hendrickson, Tara Jo Swaigan and Child A. Rebecca reported the well went dry about eight months ago. They are using totes with water samples taken to provide water to the facility's bathrooms for toileting. Lisa reported she knows they have water issues. She knows the well went dry but nothing else. They use totes filled with clean drinking water. They use the totes for the toilets and handwashing, and she drinks the tote water. Wanda reported the fire trucks come fill the totes with water. There is a leak in the bathroom under the floor; that is how the whole thing started. They rely on the sink water for hand washing. The bottled water is for bottles only. Tara reported the well was messed up. They have running water from totes. The totes are filled a couple times a week by the fire department. The water from the totes is used for eating and drinking. Child A reported he is 7 years old. He sometimes doesn't flush the toilet because the water is sometimes off.
On May 22, 2025, Compliance Inspector (CI) Heather Radney conducted an unannounced inspection at the facility. Both toilets flushed once. One toilet did not refill. There was a water station in the preschool room but there were no cups and the jug of water appeared empty.
On May 22, 2205, CI Radney received and reviewed the Sanitation Observation form provided by the Bureau of Environmental Health Services. The following was observed: "The unannounced inspection was performed on May 15, 2025, to verify that the childcare facility was operating under the emergency conditions set forth by the Bureau of Environmental Health Services while the facility does not have an approved potable water system. The current water system they are operating with are three large tote containers outside the building where water from the City of Buffalo is brought in to fill the totes. The water in the totes is on a " Do Not Drink" order by the Bureau of Environmental Health Services and is only to be used for flushing toilets in the building. Bottled water is to be purchased by the facility and kept for handwashing and drinking water purposes... Today, Edith Todd and Mollyann Grellner entered the childcare facility at 11:05 am. The bathrooms were inspected for bottled water available for children and staff to wash hands. The bathroom outside the playroom area had about 1/5 to 2 inches of water in the bottom of the estimated 3-gallon water cooler container with a spigot. There were no other bottled water containers in the bathroom if that was to be emptied to continue the supply for handwashing. In the bathroom next to the dining area, the water cooler doesn' t have any water in the bottom of the cooler. There were no additional bottled water containers in that bathroom for a back up supply. The water supply in the bathrooms was addressed with Rebecca Sosna, owner. She stated that the staff just forgot to fill them. She then went to the infant/toddler room where the cabinet containing extra 1-gallon jugs of water are kept for filling the empty water containers. The infant/toddler room is using a one-gallon jug of water at their handwashing sink. That jug just had an estimated one inch of water in it. In the storage cabinet where, extra potable water is stored, there are now a quantity of 7, 1-gallon jugs of water left for the facilities reserve supply. On today' s visit to the childcare facility, there are 5 infant/toddlers and 11 children in the other area of the childcare facility. There is one adult in the infant room, one adult with the older children and Rebecca Sosna present at the childcare facility. The amount of potable bottled water found at the childcare facility today is not considered a sufficient supply of water for handwashing and drinking water with the number of children and adults in the building. Handwashing is required to happen before food handling/eating and after toileting, diapering, assisting with toileting, nose blowing, cleaning and sanitizing, outdoor play, handling of animals, smoking, etc... Concerning the complaint received on the facility, that inspection was conducted at the same time as the site review of the emergency operations. The complaint stated that the water for the toilets was turned off and was only turned on a couple of times a day to flush toilets. While in the bathrooms checking on the water supply, I inspected the toilets. In the bathroom next to the playroom, the toilet was flushed several times. Each time the water was slower to fill the tank. Even though the water from the sink is not approved to be used for handwashing, I turned on the water at the sink and found that there was sputtering air working out of the water line as I was first running water. In the bathroom next to the dining area, the toilet was flushed several times. On the fourth time, the toilet tank was not refilling with water and the toilet bowl was not refilled. The water in the sink was also turned on and it too was sputtering air out of the faucet while running water. The infant room sink faucet was also checked with the same results. In that handwashing sink basin of the infant room, there was also a used infant formula bag. When the complaint was discussed with Rebecca Sosna arid she was told that the toilets were not flushing properly, she stated," Oh did somebody turn off the water?" And she started walking toward the outdoor water storage tanks. She looked at them and stated that they were on. The toilets after a few flushing' s were indicating that there was low water pressure flow or no flow. This information was given to Mr. Gamble and he went into the bathroom while I was talking to Rebecca Sosna. He said that the toilet was working fine. I then went into the bathroom to see the operation of the toilet. It did have water in the toilet bowl and was flushing. Mollyann Grellner and I did watch it flush. It was refilling slowly again. This was estimated to be an hour after I was testing the toilets the first time. The three storage tanks outdoors did not have very much water in them which could possibly be causing the low pressure in the pipes. It is substantiated that the toilets do not continuously flush properly." The report appears to be completed by Edith Todd, Region D, E.H. Supervisor on May 19, 2025.
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5 CSR 25-500.042(19) - All child care provided on the premises of a licensed group child care home or child care center shall be in compliance with the licensing rules, the conditions specified on the license, and the conditions of any variances granted to the licensee.
On May 22, 2025, Compliance Inspector (CI) Heather Radney conducted interviews with Rebecca Amendola, Lisa Tigert, and Wanda Hendrickson. Rebecca reported they are open from 5:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. Lisa reported they open between 5:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. Wanda reported they open between 5:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. and sometimes earlier as parents need. At the time of the interviews and presently, the facility's limitation on their license allows them to operate from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
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