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On October 16, 2025, the Office of Childhood received an allegation that on October 6, or October 7, 2025, Child A's teacher had open sores and wasn't feeling well. Parent A was not notified until Monday, October 13, 2025, through the Lillio App that there was an outbreak in the building but didn't specify which room or what the outbreak was. After completing an investigation, Compliance Inspector (CI) Jackie Ruth found this allegation to be substantiated based on the following rule violation:
5 CSR 25-500.192(2)(B) which states: "Each child's parent(s) shall be notified immediately when any contagious disease occurs in the facility."
On October 21, 2025, CI Ruth and Compliance Inspection Supervisor (CIS) Marla Chrisco conducted an unannounced inspection of the facility and held an in person interview with the director, Elisa Foley. Elisa stated that Hand Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD) was diagnosed on October 6, 2025. The same day, she sent out a notification to only the parents of children in the Blue Classroom because this is the room where HFMD was contained to. She did not notify the rest of the parents throughout the facility until October 13, 2025, when HFMD was identified in another classroom. She stated that she did not realize she needed to notify every parent if it was isolated to one classroom.
On October 21, 2025, CI Ruth and CIS Chrisco observed the notification letters sent to parents concerning HFMD in the facility. The first letter is dated October 6, 2025, and was sent specifically to the parents of children in the Blue Classroom. The second letter is dated October 13, 2025, and is timestamped at 10:24 a.m. This notification was sent to every parent of a child attending the facility.
Due to each child's parents not being notified immediately when a contagious disease occurred in the facility, CI Ruth found this allegation to be substantiated.
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