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On March 19, 2026, the Office of Childhood (OOC) received a report alleging that Child A (4 years old) was involved in an incident in the classroom, which led him to being escorted to office. While on the way to the office, he ran into a doorway. This resulted in an injury to the right side of his forehead. The facility told the mother that the child was walking beside the teacher and ran into the doorway on his own accord. Parent A then reviewed the video footage, and it shows that the child is walking behind the teacher. It looked like he was being dragged by the teacher into the doorway. After conducting the investigation, Compliance Inspector (CI) Curtis West finds the allegation is substantiated. This conclusion is based on the following evidence of a licensing rule violation that occurred at the facility:
5 CSR 25-500.182(1)(C)3, which states "Only constructive, age-appropriate methods of discipline shall be used to help children develop self-control and assume responsibility for their own actions."
And
5 CSR 25-500.182(1)(C)8, which states "No discipline technique which is humiliating, threatening, or frightening to children shall be used. Children shall not be shamed, ridiculed, or spoken to harshly, abusively, or with profanity."
On March 20, 2026, CI West conducted an unannounced inspection and interviewed Caregiver Mikayla Reeves and Child A (4 years old). Mikayla stated that she saw Caregiver Briana Adams take Child A by the hand and lead him out of the classroom. She heard a loud thud sound as Briana and Child A were exiting the classroom. She saw Briana in the hallway holding her hand over Child A's forehead. Child A was bleeding. Child A stated that he was climbing on the shelf, but he got down on his own. Ms. Briana grabbed him by his left arm and walked him out of the classroom. Ms. Briana was pulling him by his arm, and he was afraid while they were walking out. His head got hit on the door as he was being taken from the classroom. He was afraid he was going to get into more trouble because his head got hurt.
On March 20, 2026, CI West conducted a walkthrough of the facility and observed video footage of the incident. The video begins at 12:18:50 p.m. and is dated March 4, 2026. The camera is angled down from the corner of the ceiling. There's no audio. Child A stands on his cot and climbs up a shelf. At 12:19:06 p.m., Briana enters the classroom. Child A can see Briana walking towards him. Child A climbs down off the shelf and lays down on his cot. At 12:19:13 p.m., Briana stands over Child A holding a bowl in her left hand. Briana bends down and takes Child A by his left wrist with her right hand. Briana pulls Child A up to standing by his wrist and then heads towards the door. Briana puts her bowl down and opens the door with her left hand. At 12:19:19 p.m., Briana pulls open the door and attempts to pull Child A through the door in front of her. Child A hits his head on the door frame and falls to the ground.
On April 8, 2026, CI West interviewed Briana Adams, who stated that she doesn't remember the day, but she knows Child A was climbing on a shelf. Child A wasn't one of the children who would climb on stuff, so it was odd to see. She didn't speak with Child A at all about climbing. She didn't try to redirect Child A. She took Child A by the hand and walked him out of the classroom to go speak with Kayla. On the way out of the door, Child A hit his head on the door frame.
Based on video footage and interviews, Caregiver Briana Adams pulled Child A up by his wrist while laying on his cot, pulled him to the door, and then caused him to hit his head on the doorframe while trying to pull him out of the door in front of her. Briana did not attempt any other discipline prior to these actions. She did not tell Child A why he was in trouble. This type of discipline is not constructive and would not help Child A to develop self-control and assume responsibility for his actions. Child A stated that Briana was pulling him by his arm, and he was afraid. This type of discipline was frightening to Child A.
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