• Violation

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

  On 08/19/2021 I received a complaint that a child was observed unattended in the parking lot of the center by the side door. The complainant reported that the child was trying to get inside the door to use the bathroom as she was doing the "potty dance." The complainant observed child care staff member, Jenny Woods, across the parking lot yelling over to the child to knock hard on the door. The complainant came over and knocked hard on the door for the child until a child care staff member came to the door and let the child inside. When the child care staff member came to the door, Ms. Woods yelled to the child care staff member, "she has to use the bathroom again, imagine that." On 08/20/2021 I conducted an unannounced onsite inspection to Little Lambs of Jesus Child Care Center. I observed children in the fenced in playground area playing. The playground is located across the parking lot from the center building. The size of the parking lot is approximately the width of two vehicles, or a two-lane road. The center building has a front door and side door that both lead outside, the side door directly to the parking lot. A child care staff member came over to the fence and greeted me. I identified myself and asked if the program director, Chelsea Siedzik, was inside the building. The child care staff member indicated that Ms. Siedzik was not present as Ms. Siedzik was off for the day and that she was in charge in her absence. She identified herself as child care staff/assistant director, Jenny Woods. Ms. Woods gathered her class from the playground and brought them inside for lunch, so we could talk and I could obtain child information cards. The other children in the center were starting lunch as well. Ms. Woods did not recall a time a child was left unattended in a parking lot. I explained the complaint was that a child was observed alone in the parking lot by the side door of the building doing the "potty dance" and trying to get inside and that she was the child care staff member yelling to the child to knock on the door hard and that when child care staff came to the door she said, "she has to use the bathroom again, imagine that." Ms. Woods did recall this incident but indicated it happened several weeks to a month ago (end of July) and denied that the child was ever left unattended and that she was watching the child and yelling to the child the whole time. She explained that this child often says she needs to use the bathroom but then does not really need to go and that she did make the comment reported in the complaint but that she meant it in a playful way as the child even jokes with her about wanting to go to the bathroom. On this particular day she came up and asked Ms. Woods to go to the bathroom. Ms. Woods was with another child care staff member on the playground with approximately 20 children. She reported that she walked the child across the parking lot to the sidewalk by side door to go into the building. The side door was ajar, so she told the child to go in. She walked across the parking lot and stopped at the sidewalk because the child was not yet in the door. She yelled to the child to knock hard on the door for the staff inside the door to hear. A parent came up to the child at the door at that moment and banged on the door. Child care staff came to the door and they both went in. Ms. Woods returned to 3 the playground where the rest of the children were still outside playing. Ms. Woods indicated the reason she walked back to the sidewalk was to keep her eye on playground and the child going into the door for the bathroom. Ms. Woods maintains supervision in her classroom and out on the playground by always staying within ratio of children to child care staff, engaging in activities with the children to keep an eye on them all, spreading out on the playground with other staff, constantly counting the number of children present and comparing it to attendance, and always making sure attendance is accurate

A child was observed in the parking lot alone, unattended.

Disposition: Substantiated