R 400.8112 · ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... R 400.8112 j Comprehensive background check; fingerprinting. (2) An applicant or licensee shall do all of the following: (e) Within the department's child care background check system, accurately complete and maintain the connection, disconnection, or withdrawn status of each individual associated with the license. (f) Immediately disconnect each individual from the system once he or she is no lonaer a licensee, licensee 4 designee, child care staff member, child care aide, or an unsupervised volunteer under the license. ................ ....

On 12/13/2022 I contacted the Program Director & Licensee Designee, Mrs. Amy Bell regarding the pending affiliations and ineligible child care staff members that were still attached to the Michigan Child Care Background Check System (CCBC). During the conversation Mrs. Bell advised that people with pending affiliations were not employed and stated she would withdraw them from the CCBC. While discussing the ineligible child care staff member (CCSM) Ms. Jackie Tahtinen, Mrs. Bell reported that she was employed by the child care facility, and that she had been working at the school in the capacity of a librarian. When asked what involvement Ms. Tahtinen had with the preschool children, Mrs. Bell stated that it was "extremely limited," noting that she had only assisted as a substitute on a few occasions. Mrs. Bell also stated that there had been a few instances where the child care children also had contact with Ms. Tahtinen during their visits to the library. Mrs. Bell also wanted to note that during the periods of time where Ms. Tahtinen had physical contact with the preschool children, she was always in the presence of another child care staff member that had been cleared through the CCBC. I informed Mrs. Bell that per the licensing rules, Ms. Tahtinen would need to be withdrawn from the child care facility through the CCBC, and that she would not be able to return to the premises until she was fingerprinted and deemed eligible. Mrs. Bell also reported that Ms. Tahtinen had passed the school's background check, so she believed this was sufficient for her to remain at the child care facility. Mrs. Bell inquired as to whether she would not be permitted to work in the library, even if she were to not have contact with any of the child care children. I advised that as the rule was written, it was my interpretation that Ms. Tahtinen would not be able to be onsite, at the school which houses the licensed preschool program. Mrs. Bell acknowledged that she understood. An onsite inspection was tentatively scheduled for the first week in January 2023, as Mrs. Bell would be off until then, due to a pending medical procedure. On 01/18/2023 I conducted an onsite inspection at the child care facility. During the inspection, I interviewed Mrs. Bell. Mrs. Bell confirmed that Ms. Tahtinen has remained employed and has continued to work at the school since the previous conversation occurred on 12/13/2022. However, Mrs. Bell stated that they had taken measures to assure she would not have any interaction with the preschool children. Mrs. Bell stated that she discontinued allowing the child care children to visit the library since resuming school last week. I informed Mrs. Bell that Ms. Tahtinen would not be able to return to the physical building until she received an eligibility clearance under the CCBC. Mrs. Bell acknowledged this and noted they would be compliant with the request. 3 Mrs. Bell advised that despite having the ineligible status on the CCBC, Ms. Tahtinen "passed" the clearance procedure conducted through the school which entailed an (chat, the Michigan Public Sex Offender Registry, Central Registry, and through the sheriffs department. I asked for clarification as to what the sheriff department clearance entailed, which she "believed" was done through fingerprinting. I informed Mrs. Bell that regardless of Ms. Tahtenin potentially being fingerprinted through the sheriffs department, she would still need to receive an eligibility letter from the CCBC. While further discussing Ms. Tahtinen's ineligible fingerprint results, Mrs. Bell advised that this was likely due to the department not receiving Ms. Tahtinen's fingerprint results from the State of Ohio and the State of Minnesota, where she previously resided. I informed Mrs. Bell that it would have been the child care facility's responsibility to provide the background results to the CCBC, and that due to the time that had lapsed between Ms. Tahtenin's ineligible results, she would

Open Not marked corrected in the state record

Category: supervision. Open / not marked corrected.

R 400.8112 · R 400.8112 Comprehensive background check; fingerprinting. (3) An individual may serve as a child care staff member pending an eligibility determination by the department under section 5n(8) of the act, MCL 722.115n, and shall be supervised at all times by the licensee or a child care staff member who has been determined eligible.

The individual, Ms. Jackie Tahtinen, served as a child care staff member despite being determined ineligible by the department.

Open Not marked corrected in the state record

Category: supervision. Open / not marked corrected.

R 400.8112 · ...................... R 400.8112 Comprehensive background check; fingerprinting. (4) For an individual who is determined ineligible by the department, a licensee shall immediately do all of the following: (a) Prohibit the individual from being on the premises of the child care center. (b) Prohibit the individual from having any contact with children in care. (c) Disconnect the individual from the child care background check system.

The licensee designee/program director Mrs. Amy Bell failed to prohibit the child care staff member Ms. Jackie Tahtinen from being on the premises, having contact with the children in care, and disconnecting her from the Michigan Child Care Background Check (CCBC) system upon being deemed ineligible by the department.

Open Not marked corrected in the state record

Category: background checks. Open / not marked corrected.

R 400.8125 · R 400.8125 Staff; volunteer; requirements.

On 1/13/2022 I spoke to the Licensee Designee and Program Director, Ms. Amy Bell. During the conversation, Ms. Bell provided me with additional information pertaining to the complaint, noting that the child care staff member, Ms. Sarah Ortiz was terminated as a result of the incident. On 1/14/2022 at 11:00 AM I conducted an onsite inspection at the Faith Community Christian School. During the inspection, I spoke to the Program Director and Licensee Designee, Ms. Bell. Ms. Bell stated that on 1/11/2022 the board member's president, Ms. Britney Dillon arrived at the school to feed the goats located behind the school, and found the front door of the school building propped open with the former child care staff member, Ms. Sarah Ortiz, sitting in her car. Ms. Bell then relayed that when Ms. Dillon returned to the front of the building after feeding the goats, she was not sure if Ms. Ortiz was still in her car, but she acknowledged that the front door was still propped open. I asked Ms. Bell if she was able to provide me with the amount of time that Ms. Ortiz was outside the school building, based upon the footage from the Ring doorbell located at the center's front door. Ms. Bell stated that she was not able to locate the footage from the Ring device, noting it did not capture Ms. Ortiz exiting or reentering the building. Ms. Bell reported that during the time Ms. Ortiz left the school building, she took Child A and Child B to Ms. Bell's office which is located closer to the entry way of the school building. While Ms. Bell acknowledged that she was not sure how long Ms. Ortiz was outside the building, but she stated that it was long enough for the two child care children to eat all the candy that was located in her office; while she also 3 stated that Child A informed her that they were alone "for a long time." Ms. Bell also noted that Ms. Ortiz gave Child A and Child B an iPad during the time she left the building. I asked Ms. Bell if she addressed the matter with Ms. Ortiz, which she acknowledged. Ms. Bell reported that Ms. Ortiz denied that she was sitting in her car but did disclose that she placed Child A and Child B in the office for a brief period so that she could get a tampon from her car. Ms. Bell reported that Ms. Ortiz was the only child care staff member in the building at the time of the incident, but she also disclosed that the maintenance person, Mr. Chris Thacker, was also in the building. Ms. Bell informed me that Ms. Ortiz asked Mr. Thacker to stay with the children in the office; however, Mr. Thacker denied that Ms. Ortiz ever made this request. Ms. Bell then confirmed that Mr. Thacker was also fingerprinted and cleared through the Child Care Background Check (CCBC) system. At this time, I asked Ms. Bell what the protocol was regarding a situation like this, where there is only one staff member present. Ms. Bell suggested that the child care staff member could have called her and she would have shown up at the school for coverage. I recommended to Ms. Bell that a new policy should be put in place regarding how emergent situations should be addressed in the future, when there is only one child care staff member present. Ms. Bell acknowledged this and noted that she would be brainstorming different procedures to avoid any similar incidents from occurring in the future. On 1/14/2022 I left a voicemail message for the former child care staff member, Ms. Ortiz. On 1/14/2022 I received an email from the Program Director and Licensee Designee, Ms. Bell. Attached within the email Ms. Bell provided me with a link to the Ring camera footage that had been found. While watching the camera feed from the Ring doorbell, it was observed that Ms. Ortiz left the school building at 4:57 PM, was seen running to her car, and then running back to the school building. Based upon the video footage, Ms. Ortiz was only observed to be outside the school building for exactly 46 seconds. Additionally, while Ms. Ortiz was exiting the buildi

Open Not marked corrected in the state record

Category: background checks. Open / not marked corrected.