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On January 7, 2026, the Office of Childhood received allegations that after Courtney Zwick, reporter, conducted a subsidy attendance audit, the facility was found to be exceeding capacity based on attendance records. On July 1, 2025, the facility claimed 39 children in attendance. On August 13, 2025, the facility claimed 41 children, with 11 under the age of 2-years-old, in attendance. After completing an investigation, Compliance Inspector (CI) Jackie Ruth and Compliance Inspection Supervisor (CIS) Marla Chrisco, found these allegations to be substantiated based on the following rule violations:
5 CSR 25-500.042(18) which states, "The number and ages of children a group child care home or child care center is authorized to have in care at any one (1) time shall be specified on the license and shall not be exceeded except as permitted within these rules."
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5 CSR 25-500.222(5) which states, "Daily child attendance records shall be maintained and kept on file a minimum of one (1) year."
On January 14, 2026, CI Ruth and CIS Chrisco observed the subsidy attendance records for July 1, 2025, and August 13, 2025. CI Ruth and CIS Chrisco observed that on July 1, 2025, the facility claimed 39 children in attendance during the same time period. CI Ruth and CIS Chrisco observed that on August 13, 2025, the facility claimed 41 children in attendance, with 11 under the age of 2-years-old, during the same time period. The facility's license is only approved for a capacity of 28 children with 9 children under 24-months-old.
On January 14, 2026, CI Ruth and CIS Chrisco conducted an unannounced inspection of the facility and held an in person interview with the director, Kiaundra Barnes. She stated that she does not know why it would say they had that many kids because they cannot fit that many in the building. To her knowledge, they have never had that many kids at one time and there is no way that many kids could have been at the facility. She said it must be a technical error or a glitch with the system, and Angela Malone submits the subsidy attendance at the end of the month for payment.
On January 14, 2026, CI Ruth and CIS Chrisco conducted an in person interview with Subsidy Benefit Program Technician, Courtney Zwick. Courtney stated that they have not received any notification about a glitch or technical issue with the subsidy system. She said that the records indicate that it is mostly the parents who have signed the children in and out at the facility location.
On January 14, 2026, CI Ruth and CIS Chrisco conducted an interview via phone with the facility owner, Angela Malone. Angela had no information to provide and said she would look at her records regarding the dates in question.
On January 22, 2026, CI Ruth conducted an interview via phone with Angela. She had no information to provide.
On February 3, 2026, CI Ruth conducted an interview via phone with Angela. She stated that if the attendance was submitted with a certain number, then those children were present and in care. She said they have ongoing issues with their internet connection and they had to get a new subsidy tablet because one stopped working.
On February 3, 2026, CI Ruth requested a copy of the attendance records via email for July 1, 2025, and August 13, 2025. Angela responded to the email on February 11, 2026, but no records were provided. Angela attached documentation related to Spectrum Internet outages and said that these connectivity interruptions impacted the electronic attendance system and explain any discrepancies reflected in the records. Angela stated that she will implement corrective measures that include manual attendance tracking during internet outages, documentation of internet interruptions, continued coordination with KinderSystems and Spectrum, and reinforcing sign-in/sign-out procedures with all caregivers and transport providers.
On February 11, 2026, CI Ruth observed a screenshot email on an unknown date from Tasha Johnson with KinderSystems support that acknowledges that she and Angela spoke about the subsidy tablet appearing offline on occasion. Tasha stated that Angela will contact Spectrum and ensure their internet is working well. Tasha said that if they still experience issues that are unrelated to the internet connection that they will send a replacement tablet. CI Ruth observed multiple attached screenshots of text alerts sent to Angela from Spectrum that state outages affecting their area with estimates for same day restorations. CI Ruth did not observe recorded outages within the provided screenshots on July 1, 2025, or August 13, 2025.
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