• Violation

  R 400.8112(1) · R 400.8112(1) Children's records. (1) At the time of a child’s initial attendance, a center shall obtain a child information card, using a form provided by the department or a comparable substitute, that is completed, signed and dated by the child’s parent and updated as changes occur. The center shall keep current hard copies of the child information cards at the center.

  Child information cards were not accurately completed for all children prior to care. Of 10 child information cards reviewed, 9 did not have the date of admission, 2 did not have allergy information, and 5 did not have employer names and phone numbers.

  Open Not marked corrected in the state record

  Category: recordkeeping. Open / not marked corrected.

• Violation

  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 01/05/2022, I received an incident report from child care staff member and site supervisor Mr. Joseph Strouse. The incident reported stated that Child A signed into the program at 3:11 pm. Child A and Child B were talking to Mr. Strouse about Child B enrolling in the program. Child B attends the school, but not the SEEDS program. Mr. Strouse informed Child B that he did not have the enrollment paperwork with him. Child A stated that she had spare paperwork that she could give Child B. At this time, Mr. Strouse went to talk to other children. Child A and Child B left the cafetorium sometime between 3:15 and 3:20 pm. Mr. Strouse discovered that Child A was not in the cafetorium when he did roll call at approximately 3:25-3:30 pm. He then went to search for her in the school building. When he could not find her, we went to the office and she was called on the PA system, but Child A did not respond. At 3:30, Mr. Strouse took some of the children outside for recess and child care staff member Ms. Shaiann Poirier continued to look for Child A. Between 3:35 and 3:40 pm, Child A approached Mr. Strouse and he observed that she was "clearly shaken emotionally and physically." Child A reported that she and Child B started dating that day. Child B asked Child A to go to the door and talk. They then left the building and walked over to the woods across from the main parking lot. Child B began kissing Child A. Child B had inappropriate physical contact with Child A. Child A did not consent to the physical contact. The incident was reported to Child A's parents and the Manistee County Sheriff's department were contacted. Child A's Mother and Father and Detective Jake Bielski arrived at the school. Child A was interviewed by Detective Bielski. Due to Brethren Middle School being closed for snow days and the weekend, I was not able to complete an onsite inspection until 01/11/2022. I interviewed Mr. Joseph Strouse, and child care staff members Ms. Kari Flowers and Ms. Shaiann Poirier. Mr. Strouse reported that this program includes children from grades 6 through 9th grade. On the day of this incident, there were 13 children in care. Some of those children were ages 12 and under. This incident happened at the beginning of programming. Children are signed in immediately upon arrival. Child A was signed in when she arrived. Roll calls are taken at the time of each transition to ensure that all children are present and accounted for. The beginning of programming can be chaotic because children are arriving and dinner is being served. Mr. Strouse recalls that during the time when children were arriving, Child A and Child B were talking to him about Child B enrolling in the program. He told them that he did not have the enrollment paperwork with him and Child A stated that she had the paperwork in her locker. After talking with Child A and Child B for a couple of minutes, Mr. Strouse went to talk to other children. He did not give Child A permission to leave the cafetorium and he did not see her leave. He discovered that she was missing when he completed roll call approximately ten minutes after he had talked to her. He immediately began looking for her in the school building. When he could not find her, 3 he took the rest of the children outside for recess and child care staff member Ms. Poirier continued searching for her. Child A returned to programming about ten minutes later and reported what had happened. After speaking with Child A, Mr. Strouse contacted Child A's Mother and Father and the Manistee County Sheriff's Department. Child A's parents and Detective Jake Bielski arrived at Brethren Middle School a while later and Detective Bielski conducted interviews. Child care staff member Ms. Kari Flowers reported that she has been working for the SEEDS Brethren Middle School program since October 2021. On the date of the incident, children began to arrive for programming at 3:00 pm. and Ms. Flowers was taking attendance. After being signed in

On 01/04/2022, Child A (14-year-old, female) left the building without the knowledge of child care staff members. When she returned to the building, Child A reported that Child B (13-year-old, male) had inappropriate physical contact with her.

Disposition: Substantiated