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On May 20, 2025, the Office of Childhood (OOC) received an allegation of on May 14, 2025, around 3:45 p.m., Child A (17-months-old) was left unattended on the playground for 2 to 3 minutes. Child A's teacher Annie, was unaware Child A had been missing. On May 22, 2025, Compliance Inspector (CI) Christy Hughes conducted an unannounced inspection of the facility and found the allegation to be substantiated based on the following information.
5 CSR 25-500.182(1)(A)1. which states: "Caregivers shall not leave any child without competent supervision."
AND
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."
On May 22, 2025, (CI) Hughes conducted in person interviews with director Anne Dolan, assistant director Shannon Burks and caregivers Ingrid Enrique, Ana DeJesus, Andrea Faulhaber and Tessa Gruener.
Anne stated that she was out of the office the day Child A was left out on the playground and Shannon consulted her on how to proceed. She self-reported to her center's Compliance Inspector on May 15, 2025. She had a meeting with the parents on May 15, 2025, so they could view the video footage and discuss procedures. All three staff members involved were retrained and had disciplinary actions.
Shannon stated that Tessa (2-year-old teacher) came to her office to let her know that she found Child A on the playground unsupervised. Tessa returned him to his classroom and the staff members were shocked that he was out there. She initially told the parents he was outside for about 30 to 60 seconds but had not reviewed the footage.
She waited till the parents picked up to discuss with them. All 3 staff members felt bad. She let Anne know what was going on for her assistance.
Ingrid stated that she was gathering the children to go inside and once inside she realized they only had 8 of the 9 children. Her co-worker Tessa knocked on the door and brought Child A in. She has no concerns with her coworkers.
Ana stated that she opened the door for the children to go in and was counting heads. She assumed Child A was inside and then she noticed he was missing while Tessa was bringing him back. She has no concerns with her coworkers. Child A was left unattended for 1 to 2 minutes.
Andrea stated that she counted 9 children while outside and counted again when they entered the classroom and only counted 8. The 2-year-old teacher, Tessa brought him in. She has no concerns with her coworkers.
Tessa stated that she was out on her playground. She had 4 children in her care that she was taking inside. She saw Child A on the playground and did not notice any other children or staff outside. She picked up Child A and took him inside. When she got to Child A's classroom the teachers gasped and didn't say anything. She immediately went to the front office to notify Shannon.
On May 28,2025, (CI) Hughes conducted an interview via phone with Parent A. Parent A stated that she picked up Child A at around 5:15 pm on May 14,2025 and was informed that Child A had been left outside on the playground unsupervised. She was told it was for about 30 seconds. She listened to everything and then thought about it at home, and she asked to review the video footage. On May 15, 2025, Parent A reviewed the video footage and learned that child A had been left outside form 1 to 1.5 minutes. She was told at that point that it was a teacher from another class that had found him. The director informed her that there would be some disciplinary actions for the involved staff and retraining for the entire staff. She was angry and felt like the incident was swept under the rug. The director did self-report to Compliance Inspector.
On May 22, 2025, (CI) Hughes observed the video footage of Child A (17-months-old), being left on the playground unattended and without supervision. CI Hughes observed the students lining up to enter the building. Child A was still playing on the play structure. The class entered the building while Child A continued to play at 15:47.09. Another staff member, Tessa from a different playground entered the playground at 15:48.25. Tessa noticed Child A and took him back into the building. Child A was alone on the playground for approximately 1 minute 16 seconds.
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