Happy Elephant Child Care

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.

There is no evidence that Child A sustained bruises while in care or that program staff did not provide appropriate care and supervision of Child A.

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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 1 and Teacher 2 were not providing appropriate care and supervision when they handled young children by one arm in a rough manner.

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R 400.8213(1)(b) · R 400.8213(1)(b) Staff; volunteer (1) All staff and volunteers present at the center shall: (b) Act in a manner that is conducive to the welfare o f children.

Based on my interview and review of allowable information, the Child Care Licensing Bureau finds that the disposition, temperament, condition, and actions of Teacher 1 are not conducive to the welfare of children.

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R 400.8219(11) · R 400.8219(11) Sleeping, resting, and supervision (11) Infants and toddlers who fall asleep in a space that is not approved for sleeping shall be moved to approved sleep equipment appropriate for their age a nd size.

On 10/1/2025, an infant was observed sleeping in a bouncer and another infant was observed sleeping on the floor.

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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 held Child A's head down onto his cot when he was trying to get up at nap time. Child A sustained bruising as a result.

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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 November 23, 2022, I interviewed Child A's mother. She did not see the video of the caregiver grabbing Child A and carrying her by one arm but Witness 1 saw it. Witness 1 went to the center to view web cam footage of Child A's classroom because the center had been telling her that Child A was hitting and biting other children and they wanted to see this as Child A does not exhibit this behavior at home. She was concerned that the center wasn't taking the incident seriously and that the caregiver was not being punished. She was told that the caregiver was still employed at the center and that "corporate was dealing with it." The incident involving Child A occurred on November 22, 2022, at approximately 10:30am. On November 23, 2022, I interviewed Witness 1. She went to the center to view web came footage of Child A hitting another child, because Child A did not do this at home. Assistant program director Marie Acre showed her web cam footage from Child A's classroom and when watching the footage, she saw a caregiver snatch Child A up by one arm and carry her across the room in this manner. Witness 1 said that she was livid when she saw this. She believed that this occurred around 10:38am to 10:45am on November 22, 2022. Child A had recently moved up to the toddler classroom, which is the first classroom you see when leaving the front office area. On November 29, 2022, I made an unannounced onsite inspection to the child care center. Present were program director Aimee Ferris and assistant program director Marie Acre. Ms. Ferris was not present on November 23, 2022. Ms. Acre confirmed that she showed Witness 1 web cam footage as she and Child A's mother did not believe that Child A was scratching and biting other children at the center. While at the center, I was able to view the web cam footage from the toddler room. At 10:08am, Child A is seen by a baby gate at the door, along with three other children and CCSM1 is seen grabbing Child A by the arm and swinging her away from the baby gate area and proceeding to go towards the classroom door carrying Child A by the arm. I was able to view the classroom and it appears that the distance from the baby gate area, where Child A was grabbed, and to the front of the classroom where Child A and CCSM1 go out of camera view is approximately seven feet. Ms. Ferris said that CCSM1 had grabbed Child A to quickly remove her from the situation as she went to scratch and bite another child. Child A's actions were not visible on the web cam as CCSM1 is standing between her and the camera, but it does appear that Child A is seen going towards another child when CCSm1 grabs her. After Child A is taken away by CCSM1, the child she went towards is seen distressed and another child care staff member is seen comforting him and checking him out for possible injury due to biting. Both Ms. Ferris and Ms. Acre confirmed that Child A will often time attempt to scratch and/or bite other children for seemingly no reason. Because of this, caregivers have been trying to shadow Child A to prevent this from happening. Ms. Ferris confirmed that CCSM1 was still employed at the center and that CCSM1 does not have a history of disciplinary action and has been employed by the center for approximately five years. As a result of the incident, CCSM1 was written up and put on temporary leave. They 3 have mandated that all child care staff members complete a positive discipline training online through MiRegistry. While at the center, I was able to interview CCSM1 as well as two other caregivers present in the toddler classroom on November 22, 2022. CCSM1 confirmed that she had been written up and suspended due to the incident and that this was her fist day back to work. In five years, she has never been written up until now. She said that she "reacted too fast" when she saw Child A go for another child on November 22, 2022. She said that Child A had scratched another child earlier that morning, so they were trying to s

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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.

On October 12, 2021, a complaint was received stating that Child A came home (unknown date) and said her teacher, Miss Laura, had cut her hair off because she would not lay down for a nap. Child A's Mother has the cut braid in a bag at home. The center claimed that she snagged her hair on a toy, then they changed their story and said that they did not have to cut her hair off from a snagged toy. When Child A's hair was finally taken down from her braids, she was missing her hair in the same spot where she had indicated it had happened. On October 13, 2021, I interviewed Child A's Mother via telephone. She was very upset and at times hard to understand. She recalled that approximately two weeks ago (she is not sure which date) Child A had come home from the center and told her that her teacher, Ms. Laura, had cut her hair because she would not lay down for a nap. Child A had her hair in braids at that time and there was a tuft of hair (part of a braid) that was sticking out of her head. She did not take her hair down at that time. She immediately believed her, because she had no other explanation for why the piece of hair was separated from her head. The next morning, she confronted child care staff member Dawn Wirgau when dropping Child A off at the center. Ms. Wirgau was unaware of any incident that had happened with Child A but told her that she would let program director Aimee Ferris know about it. Later that day Ms. Ferris called her and said that Ms. Justice denied cutting her hair and no one had any idea what could have happened to her hair. Additionally, they had talked to Child A and she had shown them a toy camera that could have snagged her hair. Child A's Mother indicated that there is no way a toy camera would have been able to pull out a whole braid. Ms. Ferris offered for her to come watch the video footage from the classroom that day. She returned to the center that afternoon to discuss the concerns and view the tape. The worker could not get the tape to pull up and kept forwarding and backing up. She ended up leaving the center in frustration and never viewed the video footage. She sent Child A back to the center a couple times after the alleged incident because she did not have any other child care secured. She did not take Child A for any medical treatment or assessment of her hair or head. It wasn't until days later when she was taking Child A's hair down that a piece of hair came off the braid and into her hand. It looked like it had just been stuck to the braid and not her head. At that point, she became further upset and went back to the center to demand answers. She confronted Ms. Justice and she still denied cutting her hair. Child A has not returned to the center since that time. On October 15, 2021, Child A's Mother provided me with photo of her holding a piece of hair in her hand. The picture showed what appeared to be a clump of loose hair approximately one inch long; it was not braided. There was also a video of Child A's Mother taking her hair down. The video showed her grabbing approximately a one-inch piece of hair from an existing braid on her head and pulling it away from her head. On October 19, 2021, I conducted a face-to-face interview with Child A and Child A's Mother in their home. Child A was present and observed. I observed her to be clean and dressed in appropriate clothing. She had her hair in braids and I did not see any 3 visible place where there was a missing piece of hair. Child A's Mother stated that she does her hair and she has since had it redone and re-braided. I attempted to forensically interview Child A but was unable to establish forensic interviewing protocol with her. Child A was shown the picture of the hair and asked to talk about it. She did not elaborate on what the picture meant or whose hair it was. After the interview was over, Child A's Mother asked Child A, "what happened to your hair?" and she replied, "Ms. Laura cut it off because I would not go to sleep." I

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