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

On March 22, 2023, program director Jennifer Moody self-reported that earlier that day, a child had been left unattended outside of the building. I made an onsite inspection on March 24, 2023, and interviewed Ms. Mooney. At the time of the incident, she was working in the office and heard a caregiver say "she's not in here" approximately five minutes after the preschool classroom had come back in the building after being outside on the playground. When she exited the office, she saw that child care staff member 3 (CCSM3) was in the classroom with the children and CCSM1 was in the hallway looking for a child. She immediately opened the door adjacent to the playground but did not see a child, so she helped look for the missing child in the building. She went back outside approximately 30 seconds later to take a better look a Child A was standing against the wall near the door and was crying. She estimated that Child A was a few feet from the door. Child A told her that she had been 2 playing "hide and seek" with another child. Ms. Mooney was upset that this had happened because she feels that they have a good system in place in terms of keeping track of children during transitions. She said that this has never happened before. She acknowledged that there are three children in the program with challenging behaviors that they are working with community partners for possible placement in a more appropriate program than the Great Start Readiness Program (GSRP) that they currently operate. While on site I observed the playground area. The entrance to the playground is located approximately 20 feet from the door that is used exclusively for the GSRP program. The area outside of the fenced playground area is also usually fenced but the fence separating the parking lot from the entrance to the center had broken. Ms. Mooney showed me that a replacement fence had been ordered and was at the center but had not yet been installed. Normally, the area by the door in which Child A was found would be fully fenced from the parking lot. It should be noted that this is located behind the building and the only traffic in this part of the parking lot would be the center staff and parent drop off and pick up. While at the center, I interviewed child care staff member 1 (CCSM1), who confirmed the incident happened between 11:30am and 12:30am on March 22, 2023. She and CCSM2 and CCSM3 had lined up to come back into the building after being outside on the adjacent playground. CCSM1 was the last caregiver in the door. She did not recall counting the children and was not sure if CCSM2 or CCSM3 had. She took a final look at the playground before coming inside and did not see any children. When in the building, they started taking the children's coats off and CCSM2 was taking the girls to the girl's bathroom, and she was taking the boys to the boy's bathroom. Both restrooms are across from the classroom. After heading back to the classroom, she took a headcount and realized Child A was missing. She looked in the classroom and Child A was not in there. She told Ms. Mooney this and Ms. Mooney went to look for Child A. She estimated that it was approximately five minutes from the time Ms. Mooney was notified until she located Child A. I interviewed CCSM2 while I was onsite at the center. She estimated that the class had been inside for approximately five to ten minutes when CCSM1 noticed Child A was missing. She did not recall doing a count of the children after coming in from the playground that day. Usually she is the first caregiver in the building when coming in from the playground. They usually count the children once inside, before taking the children to the bathroom. When they realized Child A was missing, she first looked in the bathrooms for Child A. Ms. Mooney went outside to check and didn't see her but then Ms. Mooney went back outside and found Child A near the door. On the day that this occurred, they had started with 18 children in the morning b

Open Not marked corrected in the state record

Category: supervision. Open / not marked corrected.