On November 15, 2024, the Office of Child Care Licensing (OCCL) received a complaint regarding allegations of unqualified staff alone with children, unsafe playground conditions, and unsafe indoor conditions. An investigation was conducted on November 18, 2024. This complaint is substantiated for unqualified staff alone in the infant room because Staff #1, who is an early childhood intern, was in the infant room alone and is not qualified to be alone with infants. There is no evidence to substantiate this complaint for unsafe conditions on the playground or unsafe conditions indoors. All interior doors were observed to be in proper working order and no broken or unsafe equipment was observed on the playground. A concern noted at the visit was sleep-safe practices were not being followed because an infant was observed with a blanket in their crib.

Disposition: Substantiated

On June 26, 2023, the Office of Child Care Licensing (OCCL) received a complaint regarding incorrect staff-to-child ratio, improper discipline, underage and unqualified staff working with children, other unknown people alone with children, lack of supervision, mixing infants and toddlers with older children, sanitation concerns, unsafe physical environment, and new staff beginning employment without eligibility or provisional eligibility being determined through a criminal background check. An investigation was conducted on June 26, 2023. Based on the results of this investigation this complaint is substantiated for unqualified staff working alone with children because attendance records show Staff #1 was left alone with children on several occasions prior to receiving an eligibility determination. Also, at the time of the visit, LS Flowers and Budin observed Staff #1 working in a classroom with children. This complaint is substantiated for incorrect staff-to-child ratios because attendance records from June 21, 2023, documented one staff member was left alone with 14 pre-school age children. There is no evidence to substantiate this complaint for an unsafe physical environment because LS Flowers did not observe any hazards inside the building or in the outdoor play area. There is no evidence to substantiate this complaint for unknown people working alone with children because Ms. Lott denied allowing Person #1 to be alone with children. There is no evidence to substantiate this complaint for improper discipline because the center administrator, Staff #2, and Staff #4 all denied observing any staff member use improper discipline with children. There is no evidence to substantiate this complaint for lack of supervision because the center administrator, Staff #2, and Staff #4 all stated Child #1 does come to the center but is not left in charge of a classroom and stated they have never observed a child being swung in a blanket. There is no evidence to substantiate that staff do not wash their hands or the children s hands because the center administrator stated staff always follow proper hand washing procedures. There is no evidence to substantiate that infants and toddlers are mixed with older children because the center attendance records reviewed do not show infants and toddlers to have been mixed with older children. Additional concerns noted at the visit include incorrect staff attendance (because attendance records show on June 22, 2023, one staff member never signed out of the Busy-Bees classroom and on June 23, 2023, one staff member never signed out of the Wee-Walkers classroom) and incorrect children s attendance (because attendance records from June 21, 2023, show three children were not signed out of the classroom.)