Lenawee Intergenerational Learning Academy Too

R 400.8280(1) · R 400.8280(1) Discipline (1) Positive methods of discipline that encourage self-control, self- direction, self-esteem, and c ooperation must be used.

Program Administrator 1 and Teacher 1 have not yelled at children and they have not been rough with children. Program Administrator 1 and Teacher 1 use positive methods of discipline with children.

View state record

R 400.8280(2)(a) · R 400.8280(2)(a) Discipline (2) All of the following means of punishment are prohibited: (a) Hitting, spanking, shaking, biting, pinching, o r inflicting other forms of corporal punishment.

Teacher 1 did not spank Child A as a form of discipline.

View state record

R 400.8213(1)(a) · R 400.8213(1)(a) Staff; volunteer (1) All staff and volunteers present at the center shall: (a) Provide appropriate care and supervision o f children at all times.

Teacher 2, Tacher 3 and Teacher 5 provided appropriate care and supervision of Child A, Child B and Child C. The teacher stopped the children from playing a rough game where Child A was accidentally hit in the private area.

View state record

R 400.8340(2)(a) · R 400.8340(2)(a) Food services and nutrition; provided by parents. Clean, sanitary, ready-to-feed bottles or beverage containers.

Formula was not provided in a same day supply in clean, sanitary, ready-to-feed bottles.

View state record

R 400.8335(8)(a) · R 400.8335(8)(a) Food services and nutrition; provided by center. Containers must be labeled with the date opened.

Open containers of milk were not labeled with the date opened in the kitchen and one classroom.

View state record

R 400.8385 · R 400.8385 Poisonous or toxic materials. Poisonous or toxic materials.

There was a bottle of bleach and dish soap under the sink within the reach of children.

View state record

R 400.8525(6) · R 400.8525(6) Exits. Means of egress shall be maintained in an unobstructed, easily traveled condition at all times that the center is in operation. Means of egress shall not be exposed to inherent hazards of the building, including the heating plant, flammable storage, commercial kitchen, or other similar conditions.

Means of egress from the infant classroom were not maintained in an unobstructed, easily traveled condition. There was a partition and bookcase blocking one of the exits.

View state record

R 400.8152(4) · R 400.8152(4) Medication; administrative procedures. Prescription medication must have the pharmacy label indicating the physician's name, child's first and last name, instructions, name and strength of the medication, and must be given according to those instructions.

There was an epi-pen and an inhaler that did not have the pharmacy label indicating the physician's name, child's first and last name, instructions, name and strength of the medication.

View state record

R 400.8152(5) · R 400.8152(5) Medication; administrative procedures. 3 LANDMARK BUILDING • 105 W. ALLEGAN STREET • LANSING, MICHIGAN 48933 Michigan.gov/MiLEAP A child care staff member shall keep all medication out of the reach of children and shall return it to the child's parent or destroy it when the parent determines it is no longer needed or it has expired.

There was an epi-pen and an inhaler in a child’s backpack within the reach of children.

View state record

R 400.8350(5) · R 400.8350(5) Toilets; hand washing sinks. Hand washing sinks must have warm running water not to exceed 120 degrees Fahrenheit.

Handwashing sink in infant room 2 was at 132 degrees. Handwashing sink in toddler room was at 127 degrees.

View state record

R 400.8134(2)(e) · R 400.8134(2)(e) Hand washing. After each diapering. Technical Assistance Technical assistance is support and training given to the licensee/licensee designee on a specific rule. Technical assistance includes consultation on how the facility can best maintain compliance with a rule.

View state record

R 400.8176(18)(b) · R 400.8176(18)(b) Sleeping equipment. Cots and mats must be at least 18 inches apart. Bureau

View state record

R 400.8125(1) · R 400.8125(1) Staff; volunteer; requirements. All staff and volunteers shall provide appropriate care and supervision of children at all times.

Child Care Staff Members provided appropriate care and supervision of Child A, Child B and Child C.

View state record

R 400.8125(2) · R 400.8125(2) Staff; volunteer; requirements. All staff and volunteers shall act in a manner that is conducive to the welfare of children.

Child Care Staff Members acted in a manner that was conducive to the welfare of children.

View state record

R 400.8125 · R 400.8125 Staff; volunteer; requirements. (1) All staff and volunteers shall provide appropriate care and supervision of children at all times.

On 8/15/22 I interviewed the complainant via telephone in an attempt to get further information regarding the allegations. No additional information was obtained. via telephone ed me that s currently works with Child A, Child B (age 4 years, female) and Child C (age 8 years female) who live with Child A, B, & C's Guardian. Child A B & C's Mother told ■ that Child A informed her mother that she was while while she attended care at the center. On 8/15/22, _ informed me that she had separately interviewed Child A at Child A, B, & C's Guardians home using the . The interview took place in a bedroom at the home. spoke with the Child A about her toys and school. During the interview process, had to keep 3 redirecting Child A from wanting to show _ all of the toys in her bedroom. ■ - also said Child A did not have any concept of time and referred to everything as yesterday or tomorrow. When she was asked about starting school, Child A replied with her starting school tomorrow even though it wasn't until the following week. ■ noted that Child A, Child B and Child C only attended care at the center for a short time, approximately in October of 2021 before they moved with Child A, B, & C's Guardian. According to Child A did not disclose to her anything about being while attending care at the center. When they spoke about her attending care at the center and what she liked and disliked about the center, Child A said she said that she liked doing drawings, cutting paper with scissors, and eating dinner. Child A said the people who worked at the center were good. The only thing Child A told that she disliked or felt scared about was thunderstorms. Child A informed when she was scared or felt unsafe, she could talk with her mom and Child A, B, & C's Guardian. The interview was ended at this time as Child A was more interested in playing with her toys. On 8/15/21, I conducted an unannounced onsite inspection to the center and separately interviewed Ms. Nichole Dodson, licensee designee and — I informed them of the allegations. Both Ms. Dodson and denied the allegation indicating that Child A had never disclosed ever being Ms. Dodson informed me that Child A, Child B and Child CWoonn1lly attended care at the center for approximately from . During that timeframe, both Ms. Dodson and said Child A exhibited concerning acting out behaviors such as frequently using the bathroom and during nap/rest time. Child A also expressed concern and These behaviors and fears led them to suspect concerns regarding Child A's living environment. In addition, the children were present at the center for extended periods of time, up to approximately 12 hours per day. Ms. Dodson and spoke with Child A, B & C's Mother regarding their concerns. Their mother also expressed concerns regarding the same After Child A disclosed concerning allegations regarding they notified the appropriate investigating agencies. During my unannounced onsite inspections on 8/15/22 and 10/3/22, I observed the children during mealtime, small and large group activities, and nap/rest time. Child care staff member interactions with children were positive and nurturing. The child care staff members were actively engaged with the children during my observations. During nap/rest time, the child care staff members sat with the children and gently patted their backs to help comfort them while they fell asleep. The center is located inside the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) building. The USDA building is a one-story freestanding building located in Adrian, Michigan. The center utilizes four rooms as a roved child use space: - room 1, Room 2, _ im transition room, and room. All the rooms were equipped with an 4 adequate amount of age-appropriate play and learning equipment conducive to an infant and toddler child care, preschool, and before after school-age program setting. On 9/30/22, 10/3/22 and 10/12/22, I separately interviewed via telephone, all who are child care staff members at

View state record

R 400.8182 · ................................................... R 400.8182 Ratio and group size requirements. (3) In each room or well-defined space, the maximum group size and ratio of child care staff members to children, including children related to a staff member or the licensee, must be as shown in Table 4: Age Child Care Staff Maximum Group member to Child Ratio Size a)Infants and toddlers, 1 to 4 12 birth until 30 months of age b)Preschoolers, 30 months 1 to 8 16 of age until 3 years of age c)Preschoolers, 3 years of 1 to 10 Not applicable age until 4 years of age d)Preschoolers, 4 years of 1 to 12 Not applicable age until school-age e)School-agers 1 to 18 Not applicable After reviewing attendance records and during two unannounced on-site inspections, I found the classrooms to be within the required ratios.

On 6/3/2022 I completed an unannounced on-site inspection at Lenawee Intergenerational Learning Academy located at 700 W. Adrian St. in Blissfield, MI. I spoke with child care staff member Alexis Thomas in the infant and toddler room. Ms. Thomas informed me the program director was not currently at the site but would return soon. Ms. Thomas was in the infant room with four infants. I interviewed Ms. Thomas. Ms. Thomas said her classroom is always in ratio when she is present, and she has never seen or heard of any other classrooms being out of ratio. She works at the center Monday through Friday. I asked Ms. Thomas if she ever worked on Saturday or if she has heard of classrooms being out of ratio during weekend hours. Ms. Thomas told me the child care center does not operate on weekends. She said she believes the center used to provide weekend care but has not provided weekend care recently. I spoke to child care staff member Hayley Mcgee who informed me the child care center provided weekend care in the past. The center has not provided weekend care in a couple of years due to a lack of need. Ms. Mcgee told me there is another Lenawee Intergeneration Learning Academy site located in Adrian, MI that provides child care on the weekends. I completed an unannounced on-site inspection at Lenawee Intergenerational Learning Academy located at 1100 W. Sutton in Adrian, MI. I informed program director and licensee designee Nichole Dodson of the allegations. Ms. Dodson confirmed the child care center provides weekend child care. Ms. Dodson said the site in Blissfield used to provide weekend child care. There is not currently a need to have weekend care at both sites. Therefore, the children who require weekend care were combined into the site located in Adrian a couple of years ago. Ms. Dodson said the child care center always has extra child care staff members scheduled daily due to the number of special needs children who are enrolled at the center. Ms. Dodson makes sure there are extra child care staff members so the children who have behavior challenges can be provided with extra attention without taking appropriate supervision away from the other children. Ms. Dodson worked at the child care center on Saturday 5/28/2022 from 5:50a.m. until 7:00p.m. The child care center was always in ratio while she was present. Ms. Dodson said all the children who attend the child care center on weekends have been enrolled at the child care center for quite some time. Ms. Dodson has not had any parents express concern that any of the classrooms are out of ratio. I reviewed attendance records for the past week and did not observe any instances where the classrooms were documented to be out of ratio. I interviewed child care staff member Kennedy Armstrong. Ms. Armstrong said she has never observed any classrooms at the child care center to be out of ratio. Ms. 4 Armstrong said child care staff members are taught that their scheduled time to leave for the day is a "suggested" time. Child Care staff members are not allowed to leave for the day unless the classrooms are in ratio. If a parent is running late to pick up a child and a child care staff member leaving would cause the classroom to be out of ratio, the child care staff member who is scheduled to leave is expected to remain in the classroom until the classroom is in ratio. If a parent arrives early with a child causing a classroom to be out of ratio until the next scheduled child care staff member arrives, the child care staff members ask the parent to stay until the next child care staff member arrives, or the child care staff member will see if there are any extra child care staff members available to cover the classroom until the next scheduled child care staff member arrives. Ms. Armstrong said she believes it is better to have too many child care staff members scheduled and send a couple home than to have not enough child care staff members. Ms. Armstrong believes all the child care sta

View state record

R 400.8112 · ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... I R 400.8112 Comprehensive background check; fingerprinting. (1) Pursuant to section 5n of the act, MCL 722.115n, before an individual has unsupervised contact with children, the department shall determine the individual's eligibility to be any of the following: (a) A licensee. (b) A licensee designee. (c) A child care staff member. (d) A child care aide. (e) An unsupervised volunteer.

On 6/3/2022 the above allegation was received regarding this child care center. This allegation was combined with the allegation received on 5/31/2022. On 7/18/2022, I completed an unannounced on-site inspection at the child care center. I informed program director and licensee designee Nichole Dodson of the additional allegations. Ms. Dodson said if she believes a potential child care staff member will be a good fit at the center during the initial interview, Ms. Dodson will have the child care staff member candidate come to the center for a "working interview." Ms. Dodson said a working interview consists of having the candidate spend some time in each classroom for the candidate to get an idea of what it would be like to work at the center and which age group the candidate works best with. Ms. Dodson said she has had several candidates decide the job is not for them after the working interview. Or Ms. Dodson observes the candidate is not a good fit after all. Ms. Dodson said the candidates are always supervised by herself or qualified and eligible child care staff members. If both Ms. Dodson and the candidate agree to proceed with the hiring process, Ms. Dodson has the candidate complete a background check. Ms. Dodson said child care staff member new hires are not left alone with children until they are determined to be eligible and have completed all trainings required before unsupervised contact with children. Ms. Dodson said she recently hired a child care staff member who was employed at another child care center. The child care staff member was already determined to be eligible at the other center, so Ms. Dodson connected the child care staff member to this child care center. The new child care staff member also completed the required licensing trainings. Ms. Dodson said it might have appeared to the other child care staff members that the new hire did not receive a background check or complete trainings in between her interview and start date if they did not realize her background check and trainings were transferred from the previous center. I interviewed child care staff member Mairah Mckinney. Ms. Mckinney said when she applied to be a child care staff member she did a verbal interview, then came back to do a working interview. Ms. Mckinney said during her working interview she spent a few hours at the center and visited all the classrooms. Ms. Mckinney said when she did her working interview, she was always with a child care staff member. Ms. Mckinney said she had to wait until her background check results came back and she completed some trainings before she was left alone with any children. Ms. Mckinney said she has seen child care staff member candidates complete working interviews at the center. She has never seen the candidates left alone with children. Ms. Mckinney said she works primarily in the infant room. She has not seen or heard that a candidate completing a working interview was eve left alone with children prior to receiving the required background check and completing the required trainings. 7 I interviewed child care staff member Emily Clark. Ms. Clark said she completed a working interview prior to hire at the child care center. Ms. Clark said during her working interview she went to all the classrooms to decide which classroom would be the best fit for her. Ms. Clark said she always had a child care staff member with her during her working interview. Ms. Clark said she had to complete a background check and various trainings, including CPR and First Aid, before she was allowed to be left alone with children. Ms. Clark said she has never seen a person left alone with children during a working interview. I interviewed child care staff member Bailey Miller. Ms. Miller said when she was hired at the child care center, she completed a working interview after her initial interview. Ms. Miller said she visited all the classrooms during her working interview. Ms. Miller said she was never left alone in a

View state record

R 400.8131 · 1 R 400.8131 Professional development requirements. (11) Verification of all professional development required by this rule must be kept on file at the center or online at MiRegistry. Verification must be issued from the training organization or trainer and include the date of the course, the name of the training organization or trainer, the topic covered, and the number of clock hours. Training hours I from MiReaistry also meet this rule.

The licensee designee maintains child care staff member trainina records via MiReaistrv.

View state record

R 400.8110 · R 400.8110 Applicant; licensee; licensee designee; requirements. (6) The licensee or licensee designee shall maintain accurate records detailing daily arrival and departure times for each child care staff member, child care aide, and volunteer. Z

Licensee designee Nichole Dodson said she forgot to sign in for the day when she opened the child care center on 5/28/2022. I reviewed the attendance records for children and child care staff members and found this to be true.

View state record

R 400.8125 · R 400.8125 Staff; volunteer; requirements. .......... ........... ........... (1) All staff and volunteers shall provide appropriate care and supervision of children at all times. ..............

On 4/1/2022 I completed an unannounced on-site inspection at the child care center. I informed licensee designee Nichole Dodson of the allegations. Ms. Dodson said, "I will fire someone if that happens." Ms. Dodson said the center has three special needs children enrolled. One of the children requires one on one staffing and likes to be holding a child care staff member's hand or touching a child care staff member all the time. The child screams loudly if a child care staff member is not near the child all the time. Child care staff members attempt to always meet the needs of the child, but there are times when a child care 2 staff member is required to walk away briefly. The child who has a tendency to scream has a speech therapist who said he uses his scream as a form of communication because the child does not have the vocabulary to use words to express himself. Another special needs child has Tourette like behaviors where he yells out the "F word" and other inappropriate words and phrases on occasion. Ms. Dodson said it is possible this child's voice could sound like an adult child care staff member. Ms. Dodson said the child care center shares a building with another business. Employees of the other business have complained about the noise level at the child care center. The employees at the business next door have asked child care staff members to keep the babies quiet when they are crying. The employees have also asked the child care staff members to keep the children quieter during outdoor play time. Ms. Dodson said the employees next door have worked at home for the past couple of years due to the pandemic. The employees recently returned to the office. Ms. Dodson believes the noise level at the child care center is not out of the ordinary of any child care center. Ms. Dodson said she has moved the classrooms around so that the children are further away from the wall that is shared with the other business to attempt to appease the employees at the other business. Ms. Dodson said she does not currently have any concerns that any of her child care staff members speak to the children in an inappropriate manner. Ms. Dodson has not had to take disciplinary action on any of her child care staff members due to their interactions with children. Ms. Dodson said she believes she has a good group of child care staff members who have appropriate skills to handle not only the special needs children who are enrolled, but all the children in general. Ms. Dodson said she reviews the child care center cameras frequently to assure child care staff members are appropriately supervising children. Ms. Dodson attempts to use the video system in a positive way by showing newer child care staff members appropriate ways experienced child care staff members handle various behaviors and situations with children. During my observation at the child care center, I found the child care staff members to speak to the children in an appropriate manner. I observed one child to have a child care staff member near him all the time. As nap time approached, I observed child care staff members encourage all children to rest. However, there were some children who declined to lay down. I observed child care staff members engage in quiet activities with children who refused to lay down and rest. I interviewed child care staff member Jared Costa. Mr. Costa said he has never heard any of his co-workers say derogatory things to any of the children at the child care center. Mr. Costa has heard child care staff members use a stern voice to re- direct children at times. He has never heard a child care staff member "full blown yelling" at a child. Mr. Costa has only heard a child care staff members voice get loud if the noise level in a classroom gets loud and the child care staff member must raise their voice to get the attention of the children to ask the children to quiet down. If the children get loud as a group, often the child care staff members will tell the c

View state record

R 400.8140 · R 400.8140 Discipline. .................................................. .................................................................................................................................................................................................................. (1) Positive methods of discipline that encourage self- control, self-direction, self-esteem, and cooperation must be used. 5

Child care staff members and the licensee designee state they have never heard any child care staff members call children names or tell children to shut up. There are children enrolled at the child care center who have special needs that cause them to yell out inappropriate words at times. The child care staff members address the behaviors with the children individually based on individual recommended behavioral plans. ............................................... .............................................................................................................................................

View state record