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On May 12, 2026, the Office of Childhood (OOC) received an allegation of Child A (19-months-old) was taken to the Emergency Room by her mother and father. Supervisor Angela called Parent A and stated that Child A needed to be picked up right away because she had cut the tip off of one of her fingers with a pair of scissors. Parent A states she questioned the facility on where Child A was able to have access to scissors and they replied `We are unsure, it is under investigation but two of the caretakers have been terminated after the incident.' Child A did have a laceration to her right, 3rd digit that did require medical intervention. On May 15, 2026, Compliance Inspector (CI) Christy Hughes conducted an unannounced inspection of the facility and found the allegations to be substantiated based on the following information.
5 CSR 25-500.182(1)(A)1. which states: "Caregivers shall not leave any child without competent supervision."
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5 CSR 25-500.082(1)(I) which states: "All flammable liquids, matches, cleaning supplies, poisonous materials, medicines, alcoholic beverages, hazardous personal care items or other hazardous items shall be inaccessible to children."
On May 12, 2026, Compliance Inspector (CI) Christy Hughes conducted an in-person interview with Parent A and observed Child A (19-months-old) at Child A's home.
Parent A stated that Child A would not be returning to the facility. The Emergency room did not put stiches, instead used glue and it has already fallen off.
Child A had a bandage on her finger and appeared to be comfortable.
On May 12, 2026, CI Hughes conducted in person interviews at the facility with director Natalie Lucas, assistant Angel Griffin and administrator Tracy Arlotta. CI Hughes did not interview Child B due to their age and communication ability.
Natalie stated that she was not at the facility when the incident happened but received a phone call from Tracy and Angela informing her of the situation. She reviewed the footage that showed Child B walking over to the shelf and grabbing the scissors. The 2 staff members Allyiah Fisher and Stevie Fisher were approximately 5 feet away putting together an outdoor playset. The 2 staff members assisted immediately when Child A started to scream. Both staff members did not realize the scissors where there. Both staff members were terminated due to the incident.
Angela stated that she was in the kitchen when the incident happened and Stevie came in to get her. Child A was bleeding significantly so she wrapped Child A's finger and applied pressure. The tip of Child A's finger was missing. She took Child A to the office so that Tracy could hold her while she started trying to get ahold of Child A's family. She was unable to get ahold of a family for approximately 13 minutes. Tracy went to find the tip of Child A's finger, and she placed the tip in a damp paper towel and then placed it into a zip lock bag over ice. She assisted mom by getting Child A into the car to take to the hospital. She did not go with Parent B to the hospital.
Tracy stated that she went into the classroom to retrieve the scissors used and the tip of Child A's finger. She continued to hold pressure on Child A's finger while Angela attempted to contact Child A's parent while she placed 2 popsicles on each side of Child A's finger.
While at the facility, CI Hughes observed video footage of the incident. The video does not have audio. The video footage is 1 minute and 57 seconds in length and the top right corner of the situation is cut off. CI Hughes observed 2 caregivers sitting on the floor putting together a new piece of playground equipment. The children are moving around the room. At the 5 second mark Child B goes over to a shelf and picks up a pair of adult size scissors and starts opening and closing the scissors. At the 26 second mark Child A notices Child B with the scissors and walks over and appears to put their finger in the scissors as Child B is opening and closing them. At the 37 second mark a staff member hears the child crying and gets up and runs to them.
CI Hughes also observed two reports of accident, injury and/or emergency medical care.
Stevie Fisher wrote an incident report on May 6, 2026, at 10:20 a.m. stating that the children were playing while her and her co teacher put together a new outside toy. She heard Child A start to cry and when she looked up, she noticed Child B had adult size scissors in their hands. She did not notice Child B grab the scissors off of the shelf. At that point she noticed Child A's finger had been cut.
Allyiah Fisher wrote an incident report May 6, 2026, at 10:20 a.m. stating that the children were playing in the room while her and her co teacher were putting together a new toy for outside. She heard Child A start to cry and noticed her sitting next to another child. She asked if another child had pushed her and that is when she noticed Child B had scissors in their hands. She then noticed Child A was bleeding. She wrapped her finger and management came to get her.
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