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On July 29, 2025, The Office of Childhood (OOC) received an allegation that Child A (1-years-old), had a seizure, and the facility did not call for medical assistance. On July 30, 2025, Compliance Inspector (CI) Christy Hughes conducted an unannounced inspection of the facility and found the allegations to be substantiated based on the following information.
5 CSR 25-500.102(1)(F)., which states: "Caregivers shall be capable of handling emergencies promptly and intelligently."
On July 30, 2025, CI Hughes conducted in person interviews with LLC Manager Alena Malone, director Dariah Daniels and caregivers Vanessa James and Cianna "Nova" Russell. Dariah stated that she was not made aware of the situation with Child A until the next day when Parent A brought it to her attention.
Alena stated that she was present when Parent A was called. She asked one of her staff to call and let her know that Child A seemed more tired than usual. She was also made aware that Parent A had brought in a bag of medication because Child A had a low-grade fever due to teething. No medication had been given by the facility due to Parent A not filling out the medication form. There was no knowledge of previous seizures. Parent A told her he had a seizure but did not provide documentation to support it.
Vanessa stated that Child A was always sleepy at that time of day. They arrive early and are ready to eat lunch and go down for their nap. She did not see anything concerning. Child A did not go in and out of conscience. He slept for about 20 minutes and was up playing when Parent A arrived.
Nova stated that Child A's cheeks looked a little red. She brought him into the building with her and provided him with a drink of water. Child A followed Nova around as she was doing things. He did not act out of the ordinary other than a little more tired. She took him back outside and when the class came in, they placed him on a cot, and he fell asleep. He slept for about 20 minutes. He was fine when he woke up.
On July 30, 2025, Compliance Inspector (CI) Christy Hughes observed a video that was shown by LLC Manager Alena Malone. The video did not have audio. CI Hughes observed caregiver Nova bringing Child A into the building to get a drink. Nova and Child A returned to the playground with the rest of the children. CI Hughes was not able to see on the facility's video where Nova took her own personal video of Child A that she sent to Parent A. Child A was placed on a cot to rest until Parent A arrived. Child A slept for approximately 20 minutes. When Parent A arrived Child A was up and alert. The weather on July 28, 2025, at 10 am was approximately 87 degrees Fahrenheit and sunny.
On August 28, 2025, CI Hughes conducted an interview via phone with Parent A. Parent A stated that caregiver Vanessa contacted her to let her know that Child A was not acting right, and he seemed very sleepy. Caregiver Nova sent her a video of Child A and stated, "He looks like he finna pass out or something" in the text. They were not able to get him to respond. Parent A told them to call 911 and she was heading that way. When she arrived at the center Child A was more alert but still not himself. The center had not called for emergency service. She took Child A to 2 separate facilities to have him evaluated. The hospital provided Parent A with paperwork stating that Child A had had a febrile seizure due to either having a fever or from being out in the heat. Parent A took Child A to a follow up visit with a neurologist on September 19, 2025 and they too confirmed it was a seizure and provided directions on how to handle seizures.
On September 04, 2025, Compliance Inspector (CI) Christy Hughes observed video footage sent to her by Parent A that Parent A received from caregiver Nova. The video footage was from July 28, 2025. The video footage showed the caregivers holding Child A and repeatedly saying Child A's name and moving him around trying to wake him up. Child A's eyes were closed and he was unresponsive.
On September 23, 2025, Compliance Inspector (CI) Christy Hughes returned to the facility to show the video provided by Parent A from Nova and to conduct in person interviews with director Dariah Daniels, LLC Manager Alena Malone and caregiver Vanessa James.
Dariah stated that the video was alarming to watch, and she was not aware of the situation until Parent A came back the next day and informed her.
Alena stated that she was not concerned with the behavior of Child A in the video, that was how he was when he was sleepy. She does not think Child A had a seizure at that time. It didn't look like a seizure. She asked, "What is a febrile seizure?" She has done a lot for Parent A in the past and feels that she is being set up by Parent A. Parent A is still communicating with Nova. There is no way of proving Child A had the seizure at that time at the center. She had the staff call Parent A due to all of the medication she brought in and if he was that ill he needed to be at home. She did not feel she needed to call 911. Parent A told her it was a seizure but never produced the paperwork.
Vanessa stated that she was the one in the video holding Child A but she really could not see him. She did not think Child A looked ok in the video, but she thought he was just hot. Nova took him in to get a drink because he was not acting like himself. He is usually running and playing but Child A was by himself standing over by the gate. She is up to date on her CPR and First Aid. Parent A approached her the next day asking if she knew what a seizure looked like. Parent A told her it was a seizure.
On September 23, 2025. Compliance Inspector (CI) Christy Hughes conducted an interview via phone with caregiver Cierra "Nova" Russell. Nova stated that Alena asked her to contact Parent A. Parent A asked for her to send her a video of what Child A looked like. She was concerned by the video but sometimes he is tired. She felt that he probably did need extra help.
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