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On November 6, 2025, the Office of Childhood received an allegation that on November 4, 2025, Child A (13-months-old), was crying and unwilling to bear weight on his leg when Parent A picked him up at the end of the day, and staff were not sure how he got hurt. After completing an investigation, Compliance Inspector (CI) Jackie Ruth found this allegation to be substantiated based on the following rule violation:
5 CSR 25-500.102(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 10, 2025, CI Ruth conducted an unannounced inspection of the facility and held in person interviews with LaTanya Lewis, Kay Newson, and Noi Kidera.
LaTanya stated that she reviewed the footage from November 4, 2025, after learning that Child A sustained an injury to his leg. In the footage, she saw caregiver, Ciji Wayne, toss Child A over a low shelf and on to a mat. Child A landed on his leg.
Kay stated that Child A was only with her for a few minutes after being dropped off in the morning and he was and playing, walking, and acting normal. Child A left her care at approximately 8:00 a.m. and went to have breakfast in his regular classroom. with Ciji and Noi.
Noi stated that she begins work at 9:00 a.m. When she arrived to the classroom, Child A was laying down on the mat, crying, and he would not walk. She asked Ciji what was wrong with Child A, and Ciji replied that she did not know. She thought maybe Child A was getting sick. She held him, changed his diaper, and he kept crying. He would not stand or walk, only sit down and cry. Child A was still crying after a morning nap, so she called the office to ask for Child A to be picked up because he was not acting normal. Parent A picked Child A up around 10:00 a.m. and told her that Child A was acting normal that morning.
On November 10, 2025, Compliance Inspector (CI) Jackie Ruth conducted an unannounced inspection of the facility and observed a video recording that is timestamped on Tuesday, November 4, 2025, and is eight seconds long. The director, Latanya Lewis, saved this footage to her phone and identified the people in the video as Child A and Ciji Wayne. In the video clip, CI Ruth observed Ciji lift Child A off the floor, behind the corner of a toy shelf, by the arms at the elbows, and put him down on the other side of the shelf onto a mat. As Child A is put over the shelf, Ciji is observed letting go of her grip on Child A's left arm and holds him by only his right arm for a second as he lands on the mat. Child A's feet make contact with the mat, his knees immediately buckle, and he leans down to put his head on the mat and cry. CI Ruth observed the shelf to be at the approximate height of a person's knees.
On November 10, 2025, CI Ruth observed the front page of the employment application for Ciji Wayne. The application is dated on November 5, 2015, and provides Ciji's contact information.
On November 12, 2025, Compliance Inspector (CI) Jackie Ruth conducted an interview with Parent A. She stated that she dropped off Child A around 7:50 a.m. that morning and he was acting normal. She received a message in the parent communication app around 10:00 a.m. saying that Child A was upset, not playing, and just not acting like himself. She picked him up shortly after, around 10:30 a.m. No one was aware of any incidents or injuries at this time. Around 4:00 p.m. she noticed that Child A would not bare weight on his right leg and took him to the emergency room. They found that Child A had a buck fracture to his right tibia. She stated that she did not suspect at first that a teacher would have been involved. She stated that the teachers at the facility are wonderful, and all her kids enjoy the center. She feels that the situation was handled properly.
On November 12, 2025, Compliance Inspector (CI) Jackie Ruth attempted to contact Ciji Wayne via phone. The number would not connect, and CI Ruth was unable to make contact.
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