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On June 25, 2026, the Office of Childhood (OOC) received a complaint alleging that on June 25, 2026, Caregiver Kimberly Baggett was seen raising her voice at Child A (20 months old). She grabbed him and shoved him against the wall twice. She grabbed his face, his head hit the wall, and she restrained the child. Compliance Inspector (CI) Heather Radney conducted an investigation of the allegation and found it to be substantiated based on the following information:
5 CSR 25-500.182(1)(C)3. - 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)6. - Firm, positive statements or redirection of behavior shall be used with infants and toddlers.
On June 30, 2026, CI Radney received and reviewed video footage. At 9:28:58, Caregiver Kimberly "Kim" Baggett tells Child A "Get down. It's not funny." At 9:29:18, Kim tells Child A "No. Knock it off." Kim picks up Child A and carries him toward the wall. At 9:29:28, Kim sits Child A down close to the wall. Child A wiggles and looks like he is going to get up. At 9:29:31, Kim squats down in front of Child A and points her finger in his face and says "No. No." Child A continues to move and Kim uses both hands to grab Child A's left and right forearm, lifts him up and sets him back on the ground closer to the wall. At 9:29:37, Child A continues to move away from the wall. Kim pushes Child A's belly with her left hand, moving him toward the wall. Kim pushes Child A's chin up with her right hand, causing Child A's head to hit the wall. The sound of his head hitting the wall can be heard in the video. Kim says "No. Stop. Not funny." Kim's face was very close to the front of Child A's face while she said this. Child A continues to move away from the wall. Kim kneels down next to Child A and grabs his right wrist area with her right hand and right shoulder area with her left hand, swings him around and grabs his other arm with her left hand. Kim sits Child A in front of her on the ground. At 9:29:46, she crosses Child A's legs and holds her hands on his legs. Kim talks to Creelynn and Child A sits in front of Kim on the floor, moving his hands. At 9:30:17, Kim takes Child A's hand and holds it down in front of him, along with his legs. Child A continues to wiggle and move. At 9:30:44, Kim says "No. You are not listening and you are not being nice. No." At 9:30:54, Child A stretches his arm out and Kim takes his arm and puts it back under her hands which are still holding his feet still and says "No. You are not listening." At 9:31:08, Kim says "You need to listen, sir. Go play." and allows Child A to get up and walk away. 9:31:14 Kim says "Use your listening ears or you're going to come right back here and sit."
On June 30, 2026, Compliance Inspector (CI) Heather Radney conducted interviews with Assistant Executive Director Chrissy Marsh and Caregiver Creelynn Pruett. Creelynn reported she was the assistant teacher in the classroom with 10 2-year-olds and Kim. She was there giving breaks. Child A wasn't listening and was crawling on the toy shelf. She removed him once. Child A continued. Kim picked him up under his arms and carried him. The way she was turned, she couldn't really see what was going on, but Kim was turned and talking to Child A. Child A was laughing at her. Kim roughly sat him on the floor. Kim was holding Child A between her thighs, and she grabbed his arms and crossed them over and held them. Child A was facing away from her. Child A could wiggle and tried to get away but couldn't. Child A could not move his arms or legs. Kim was restraining Child A. Chrissy reported she happened to be watching the cameras when she saw Kim roughly sit Child A down on the floor and Child A hit the wall with his head. She is not sure whether it was intentional or not. They sent Kim home for the day, spoke to the board and terminated Kim effective immediately. The actions appeared to be intentional, as Child A was climbing on shelves over and over. While reviewing the video, she observed Kim restraining Child A.
On June 30, 2026, CI Radney received two Incident and Injury reports: one written by Caregiver Creelynn Pruit and one written by Assistant Executive Director Chrissy Marsh. The reports supported their interviews.
On August 12, 2026, CI Radney conducted an interview with Caregiver Kimberly "Kim" Baggett. Child A was very full of energy that morning and wasn't listening to anyone. Child A was climbing on the shelf and throwing toys at friends. It wasn't like a light toss but like a baseball player with intention behind the behavior. She told him "no" and carried him over to the wall. She was trying to get him to calm down. She scootched him up against the wall, kind of across the floor a little bit because he was trying to hit and kick her. She was trying to redirect him. She was holding him still to get him to calm down. She had him sitting in her lap with his hands in her hands. She was fired the same day that the incident occurred.
On August 12, 2026, CI Radney conducted an interview with Parent A. Chrissy called her and told her about the incident. Chrissy said a teacher grabbed Child A by the face and made him hit his head on the wall. Parent A came to the office and they showed her the video.
Based on the information provided, Caregiver Kimberly "Kim" Baggett was not using firm, positive statements or redirection or constructive, age-appropriate methods of discipline with Child A, 1 year old, when she grabbed him by the arms, scooted him across the floor with her foot, grabbed his face causing his head to hit the wall, and sat with him in front of her holding his arms and legs still for approximately 1.5 minutes.
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