• 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 5/12/22, I made an onsite visit to the center. I spoke with Carol Bickel, assistant director, and Leanne Davis, licensee designee. Neither of them has been dealing directly with the incident of Child A being left outside in the shed. Ms. Dykman, program director, was gone for the day. The child care staff members that were involved are working and I could interview them. I interviewed Libby Redwanz, child care staff member. The Waddler room side A and Side B were both outside during outdoor play time. The room is divided by a half wall and are two well defined spaces. She was outside with Pam Wanless, Mackenzie Talaski, and Ashleigh Garnsey. She is not sure how many children that they had at that time outside. They were transitioning to go back inside to the building. Child A was with her when they started lining up to go inside. Child A slipped off and went by the shed where they keep the bikes and other equipment. She had a few children but there were several children still playing or walking about in the outdoor play area. Once they all made it inside the classroom Ms. Wanless noticed right away that Child A was not with them and went to go look for him. Ms. Wanless returned in a few minutes with Child A and said he was in the shed. I interviewed Ashleigh Garnsey, child care staff member. Ms. Garnsey said that both sides of the waddler room were outside playing. When it was time to come it was a little hectic because some of the children did not want to go inside. She was by the door to go into the building and she had four of the children that were on her side of the room and one from the other side. Ms. Garnsey told the other staff the children she had and proceeded into the building. Ms. Garnsey stated that she technically was out of ratio because she had five children going into the building but she thought it would be better to get some of the children inside so that the other staff could gather the other children. Ms. Garnsey observed that Ms. Redwanz had three children and Ms. Wanless was going after Child A because he likes to "escape". Ms. Wanless was the last one in the building because she was putting toys away in the shed. When she came into the room, she immediately observed that Child A was not present. She asked if he was on the other side of the room. She was told no and she ran out of the room to find him. Ms. Wanless came back into the room a few minutes later with Child A. Ms. Wanless said that Child A was in the shed. Ms. Garnsey said that she did not tell Child A's parents what happened and did not think to ask someone else if they had notified them. The lead caregiver, Sarah Opperman, program director, Andrea Dykman, and assistant director, Carol Bickel were all gone to a conference the day of the incident. I interviewed Pam Wanless. She has been working at the center for about four years now. She currently works three days a week in the afternoons. They were outside with both sides of the waddler room. There were four child care staff members and she did not recall how many children were outside with them. She was by the shed putting away toys. One child tried get into the shed and while she 3 was shuffling him out of the shed Child A snuck in the shed behind her. Ms. Dykman reviewed the video footage and that is how they discovered how Child A got into the shed. When she got into the classroom, she did not see Child A. She thought he may have been on the other side of the class room but when she asked, she was told that he was not there. She ran back outside and heard Child A talking in the shed. He did not appear to be upset and was in the shed for a few minutes. Ms. Wanless left a little before 5:00 p.m. and Child A had not been picked up from the center yet. She would have told the parents what happened but was not there when they came. I interviewed Mackenzie Talaski. That day outdoor play time was normal and the children were playing without any issues. When they told the children it was time

On 5/5/22, Child A (male, 26 months) was left outside on the playground and in a locked shed for about five minutes. The child care staff F did not report to parents or the department until Monday when the program director, Andrea Dykman, was informed of situation.

Disposition: Substantiated