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On June 16, 2026, the Office of Childhood received allegations that on June 15, 2026, at approximately 5:35 p.m., Parent A arrived at Little Monsters to pick up Child A (age 2-years-old). Parent A observed Child A alone and unsupervised in the side outdoor play yard. Parent A was able to reach over the play yard fence and lift him over the fence into their arms. Parent A brought Child A into the building and talked to staff Christa and the owners over the phone and no one knew Child A had been left outside. After conducting an investigation, Compliance Inspector (CI) Jackie Ruth found these allegations to be substantiated based on the following rule violations:
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 25-500.182(1)(A)3. which states: "Caregivers shall provide frequent, direct contact so children are not left unobserved on the premises."
On June 16, 2026, CI Ruth observed an email forwarded to her by CI Amy Musselman. CI Ruth observed that Justin Coliny emailed CI Musselman on June 15, 2026, at 7:25 p.m. to self-report that Child A was left outside without supervision June 15, 2026, for approximately 15 minutes.
On June 16, 2026, CI Ruth conducted an unannounced inspection of the facility and determined that on June 15, 2026, Child A (2-years-old) was left unattended outside for approximately 13 minutes, beginning at approximately 5:22 p.m. until approximately 5:35 p.m., when he was discovered by Parent A (parent of Child A). CI Ruth observed video footage of the incident from three different camera angles, including two outside and one in the classroom as the class entered the building.
On the first camera angle, CI Ruth observed caregivers, Kat Killingham and Jordyn Keene, gather children and take them inside. CI Ruth was unable to determine how many children were in the video clip due to the camera angle and the classroom door blocking the view, but CI Ruth did not see Child A in this footage. CI Ruth did not observe or hear the teachers perform a headcount. CI Ruth observed Child A in the second camera angle, rolling in the grass by the side of the building, around the corner from where the classroom door is located. Around 5:33 p.m., Child A walked toward the fence of the toddler playground and opened the gate, but remained on his side of the fence. Around 5:35 p.m., Parent A walked up to the gate and CI Ruth observed that Child A saw Parent A and began to cry as he entered the toddler playground, headed toward her. CI Ruth observed Parent A pick up Child A over the fence. On the final camera angle, CI Ruth observed the class enter the classroom. Jordyn came to the door and instructed the children to line up. CI Ruth did not observe or hear a headcount before Jordyn entered the room. CI Ruth observed ten children enter after Jordyn, followed by Kat. CI Ruth did not observe or hear the teachers perform a headcount once they were inside.
On June 16, 2026, CI Ruth conducted in-person interviews with the owner, Justin Coliny, assistant director, Krista Smith, and caregiver, Kat Killingham. Justin and Krista explained that Child A was left outside as the class returned inside from the playground. The teachers involved in this incident were Kat Killingham and Jordyn Keene. Krista and Justin stated that the teachers did not follow proper headcount and transition procedures, and a final sweep of the playground was not conducted, which led to this mistake. Justin stated that he self-reported the incident to his regular CI, and they created an immediate corrective action plan as the co-owner and director collaborate to implement new safety procedures. He did not have any prior supervision concerns about Kat or Jordyn and stated that Kat is a fantastic teacher. He said that Parent A was rightfully concerned, but they have kept communication open and Child A is still attending the center.
Krista stated that she was present and in charge when the incident occurred. She does believes the teachers did not do the required name-to-face headcount, and they did not do a final check of the playground, or else this would have been prevented. She said that Parent A came inside with Child A and asked to speak to management because she found Child A on the playground alone. Justin immediately reviewed the footage and said Child A was outside for over ten minutes. She did not see any injuries to Child A but could tell he was upset. She does not have supervision concerns about Kat and thinks this was a one-time mistake. She said that to prevent this in the future, they created an action plan to hand out to the entire staff, and they will be going over rules and procedures, as well as implementing an attendance sheet to keep track of children during transitions and in real time.
Kat stated that Child A combines with her class around closing time. They were in the process of combining classes and she was outside with Jordyn. They were trying to get a headcount, but the kids were running around too much, so she had the children sit around her so she could count them. Child A did not come over and she did not realize he was on the side of the playground by the building. She said that while she was sitting with the kids, Jordyn looked around and under the climber and told her that was it, but no one looked on the side yard. She thought she had ten kids, but Child A made eleven, and he was not in her count. Jordyn was getting ready to be off work, so they gathered the kids in a line to go inside. A child ran inside, and she made them come back out. She stated that she counted, grabbed their water bottles, and came inside. She looked back at the playground, but there was no final walk through. She stated that this has never happened before and was an honest mistake. She explained that there should have been better communication when the classes combined, and she should have done a name-to-face check, and walked around the playground.
While present at the facility, CI Ruth observed an incident report written on June 15, 2026, at 5:40 p.m., and was signed by Kat Killingham and Krista Smith. CI Ruth observed that Kat wrote down what happened, and Krista wrote what procedures failed and a description of the action to be taken. Krista wrote that the following procedures were not properly done: name-to-face, mandatory playground sweep, and playground positioning. She described an action plan to be put in place that includes name-to-face counts at every transition, an attendance roster in every class that must go outside with students, two-step count verification before coming inside, conducting a final playground sweep, and proper positioning of the staff when outside.
CI Ruth observed the corrective action plan that was written following the incident. It states, "Following a playground supervision incident on June 15, 2026, Little Monsters Childcare & Development is implementing the following corrective actions to strengthen supervision practices, improve accountability, and prevent future incidents." The document is outlined into sections including immediate actions, center-wide corrective actions, management oversight, and staff accountability.
On June 17, 2026, CI Ruth conducted an interview via phone with Parent A. She said she arrived around 5:35 p.m. to pick up Child A and when she pulled up, she saw Child A unattended with no other adults or children, in the fenced in play area by himself. She did not see anyone else, and she was able to reach over the fence and pick him up off the playground. She went inside with him and told Krista that she needed the owners on the phone because Child A was outside unattended. She spoke with Justin and told him about the situation, and he told her they would self-report the incident and gather more information. They would not show her the video footage for privacy reasons, which she questioned, but she has been communicating with the facility, plans to arrange a meeting, and Child A is still attending. She received a corrective action plan outlining additional procedures and safeguard implements to prevent this from happening again. Parent A recorded a video of when she found Child A, took photographs of the area he was found, and took a photograph of Child A to show his condition. She stated that he was not injured but appeared to have been crying and eating dirt.
On June 17, 2026, CI Ruth observed six photos of the outdoor area where Parent A found Child A unattended, and observed one photo of Child A. CI Ruth observed that the tip of Child A's nose was red, with a small amount of snot and some dirt around his chin and lips. CI Ruth observed a video recorded on June 15, 2026, at 5:35 p.m. In the video, CI Ruth observed that Child A appeared to be alone in the facility's fenced-in playground, along the side of the building. Parent A walked to the fence and Child A saw her and said, "Mommy!" Parent A then said, "Child A, why are you out here by yourself? Oh my god, they left you out here?" Child A walked to Parent A and was crying.
On June 29, 2026, CI Ruth conducted an interview via phone with the facility director, Chanel Williams. Chanel stated that they have implemented new attendance sheets to make sure caregivers know who is in their classroom at all times, and the teachers will count during all transitions. She now does a walk through every day and will ask each teachers how many children they have and require them to name them all. She does not have any supervision concerns about Kat or Jordyn and thinks this was just a one-time mistake, and that they are coachable. She has communicated with Parent A about the situation, and Parent A was understanding but upset. Child A is still attending the center and has every day since the incident.
On July 10, CI Ruth conducted an interview via phone with caregiver, Jordyn Keene. Jordyn said that she is not sure if Kat did a headcount, but they did not do a final sweep of the playground and she thinks that was a big mistake. In the future she would wait before she opened to door and try to get the kids to line up so it would be less chaotic and both teachers can do a playground sweep and final headcount. She stated that they have begun using a new attendance sheet, they went over new rules and expectations, and discussed teacher positioning on the playground to prevent situations like this in the future.
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