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On February 3, 2026, the Office of Childhood (OOC) received a report alleging that a child was left unsupervised at daycare. The child was left outside by daycare staff. When the child's mom picked her up, the child was outside by herself. The parent went looking for the child throughout the school and could not find child. The child was wet and muddy. Her hands and face were cold. Her shoes and pant legs were muddy up to the thighs. The child was in a playground area that was fenced off that does have a gate that has access to the parking lot. After conducting the investigation, Compliance Inspector (CI) Cole Eddins finds the allegation is substantiated. This conclusion is based on the following evidence of licensing rule violations which occurred at the facility:
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 February 3, 2026, Compliance Inspector (CI) Cole Eddins attempted to interview Parent A and Caregiver Alicia Purnell, but they did not respond. CI Eddins left messages.
On February 3, CI Eddins completed an unannounced inspection and interviewed Director Christina Wright, Assistant Director Catera Pryor, Caregiver Machelle Pointer, and Caregiver Jelani Smith. Christina stated that on February 2, 2026, Alicia was supposed to clock out around 4:30 p.m., so she needed to split her children up. From around 4:25 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., she observed Alicia trying to give her children to Jelani, who already had around six children. Alicia had around six children, but she did not remember observing Child A with Alicia at the time of the transition. She advised Alicia to split her children up between Jelani and Machelle to keep the ratio numbers in a good spot. Although she does not remember Alicia's children entering Jelani's classroom, she remembers observing three children going to Machelle's classroom, and Machelle conducting a name-to-face count. She did not observe Child A with Machelle and assumed Child A was with Jelani. Both Michelle and Jelani denied observing Child A in their classrooms all day. The last person to observe Child A in the afternoon before Parent A arrived was Alicia, who told her that she walked Child A over to Jelani's classroom right before she clocked out for the day at around 4:34 p.m. Jelani denied ever receiving Child A, and he did not mark her in attendance in his classroom. Jelani only received two children out of Alicia's six total children. At approximately 4:50 p.m., she observed Parent A entering the building. She was on the phone at the time, but she observed Parent A walk to Catera, then to Machelle, and then to Jelani, appearing visibility worried. Child A had a history of escaping her classroom and running around the daycare before, so she offered to help look for Child A. Very soon after looking for Child A, she heard the playground door open and close. Immediately afterward, she observed Child A standing about a foot or two outside the doorway. She immediately informed Parent A that she had found Child A standing directly outside the playground door and that she was unsure of how long she was unattended. She guessed that Child A had been unattended for around 15 to 20 minutes in total and that she had left Alicia's side sometime during her transition to Jelani's classroom.
Catera stated that Child A was never in her classroom on February 2, 2026. She remembers Parent A looking for Child A when she arrived at the facility at around 4:50 p.m. She heard that Child A was discovered outside near the playground door by Christina sometime after 4:50 p.m. Child A had wet pants, and it appeared that she may have been outside for some time. She was not sure how long Child A was outside. Child A must have wondered outside on her own because classrooms did not go outside due to the ice and snow still covering the playground. Child A was supposed to be with Alicia all day before she left for her doctor's appointment. Machelle stated that on February 2, 2026, she remembers observing Alicia dropping off three 3-year-old children in her classroom. She did not observe Child A, nor did she receive Child A in her classroom at any time on February 2, 2026. The three children were signed at around 4:24 p.m. Alicia had already dropped on children in Jelani's classroom before dropping off her last three children in her classroom. She first heard that Child A was missing when Parent A arrived in her classroom around 5:00 p.m. asking for Child A. She told Parent A that she had not seen Child A and that Child A was not in her room. She heard that Child A was found soon after but did not know any additional information about the allegation. Jelani stated that on February 2, 2026, he remembers Alicia dropping off two children in his classroom from around 4:20 to 4:30 p.m. He observed Christina telling Alicia that she needed to drop some children off with Machelle and that if she dropped off all of her children with him, then he would be over ratio. He received two children from Alicia, and Machelle received the remaining three children. He did not observe Child A with Alicia, and he assumed that Child A was no longer in attendance for the day. Child A was supposed to be with Alicia for the day. At around 4:50 to 5:00 p.m., he remembers Parent A asking about Child A's whereabouts, and he told her to check with either Catera or Machelle to see if they had Child A. Around five to seven minutes later, he observed Parent A, Child A, and Chistina walking to her office.
On February 3, 2026, CI Eddins interviewed Parent A, who stated that when she arrived at the daycare facility on February 2, 2026, at around 4:50 p.m., she immediately went over to Caregiver Jelani's room to pick up Child A. Jelani stated that he had not observed Child A and that Parent A should check in with Assistant Director Catera Pryor or Caregiver Machelle Pointer. She then walked to Catera's classroom and then Machelle's classroom, and both staff members told her that they had not observed Child A all day. She then asked Director Christina Wright for assistance. Within five minutes of looking for Child A, Christina had found Child A standing directly outside the playground door. Child A had wet pants and appeared cold. Thankfully, it was only 40 degrees Fahrenheit outside. Christina stated that she was sorry and that she did not know how long Child A was unattended.
On February 10, 2026, CI Eddins interviewed Alicia, who stated that at around 4:00 p.m. on February 2, 2026, she had scheduled a doctor appointment because she was not feeling well. She had six children, including Child A in her classroom. She remembers observing Child A playing with dolls before she left for Jelani's classroom at around 4:20 p.m. She conducted a name-to-face count before she left her classroom. She walked to Jelani's room while holding Child A's hand during the transition. She counted her children as all six kids walked inside Jelani's classroom the moment she arrived. Jelani did not conduct a name-to-face as they all walked inside his classroom. Jelani had eight or seven children in his classroom, so she was confused as to why she was giving him all of her kids. Immediately after noticing these issues, Christina asked why she was dropping off her children in Jelani's classroom, and they devised a plan to split up her children between Jelani's room and Machelle's room. Jelani would keep Child A and two other children. She dropped the remaining three children off in Machelle's classroom, and then she went to the bathroom. She went to her classroom to gather her things and wrap up some cleaning. She did not observe Child A in her room and assumed Child A was still in Jelani's classroom. She clocked out at around 4:34 p.m. to go to the doctor.
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