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 11/04/2121, I completed an unannounced on-site inspection. I interviewed lead caregiver Alicia Loomans about the allegations. Ms. Loomans explained that Laura Campbell, the center's family advocate, emailed Child A's Mother about Child A's poor attendance after Child A's Mother did not respond to 2 Ms. Loomans' attempts to contact her. Ms. Loomans said that Child A's Mother responded to Ms. Campbell's email and said that she was pulling him from the center because Ms. Loomans pinched Child A. Ms. Loomans recalled that last Tuesday, October 26, 2021, was the last day Child A attended. Child A missed a couple weeks of school because he did not have a physical evaluation turned in. She explained that when Child A came back, he was sad, said he did not want to be there and wanted to go home. I asked Ms. Loomans about Child A's behavior and if she recalled any issues or concerns with him. Ms. Loomans did not recall any concerns with his behavior other than some of the children saying that he was pinching them when they were lined up to go outside. Ms. Loomans explained that she tells children to keep their hands to their own body and that they cannot pinch their friends. She will use her hands to move children's arms to their sides. She did not recall pinching Child A and said that if he was pinched by her, it was not intentional. Ms. Loomans did not recall holding Child A's hand, holding his arms by his side or moving his arms. Ms. Loomans said that she has not had a regular child care staff member in the classroom with her until last week so things have been chaotic and commented that transitions "are a little crazy." The children have struggled with lining up and getting ready to go. I asked Ms. Loomans if she pinched Child A and she responded, "I want to say no because I did not pinch him but I don't know if anything accidental happened." Ms. Loomans said that Child A did not cry or say that she pinched him but she said he did cry throughout the day and kept saying that he wanted to go home. Her classroom is a full day preschool class. I interviewed child care staff member Cynthia Mclain who stated she started working with Ms. Loomans last week but has over 20 years of experience with Head Start. Ms. Mclain said that nothing that happened with Child A last week stands out to her. He did not say anything about being pinched or seem upset about Ms. Loomans. She has never seen Ms. Loomans raise her voice and has only see her be kind and very calm with the children. Ms. Mclain said that she "finds it hard to believe that it happened." I spoke with Child A's Mother via telephone. She explained that while she was getting Child A ready for school, he started crying. She asked him why he was crying and he said that his teacher was mean to him. She said she asked him "what did she do" and he demonstrated pinching himself on the arm. I asked her if he said anything and she told me that he said "she pinched me." I asked if Child A said anything else, Child A's Mother stated that he did not say anything else. She said that she does not know when it happened. She said that he has never liked going to school and that her mom is his child care provider. I requested that Child A's Mother schedule a time for me to complete a forensic interview with Child A but she declined. I explained that the school had camera's but without knowing a time of when this happened, it would probably be impossible to find it as watching hours of footage was not feasible and the interview could help narrow it down. I asked Child A's Mother to think about it and call me back if she changed her mind. 3 Ms. Loomans forwarded the emails from Child A's Mother. Child A's Mother wrote in the email, "Yes I pulled [Child A] from school because he's frightened of his teacher Alicia. He told me the other day after school that she had PINCHD him. I want to report this incident. He is scared to return and I think its best he goes to another class or school." On 11/09/21, I s

Open Not marked corrected in the state record

Category: supervision. Open / not marked corrected.

R 400.8140 · R 400.8140 Discipline. ......................... ...................... .................... (2) All of the following means of punishment are prohibited: (a) Hitting, spanking, shaking, biting, pinching, or inflicting other forms of corporal punishment.

Prohibited means of punishment were not used by the center. There is no indication that Child A was pinched.

Open Not marked corrected in the state record

Open / not marked corrected.

R 400.8140 · R 400.8140 Discipline. (2) All of the following means of punishment are prohibited: (a) Hitting, spanking, shaking, biting, pinching, or inflicting other forms of corporal punishment.

On 10/15/2021, I received an incident report stating that Child A had reported to her family that "Ms. Becca", a staff member in her classroom, had spanked her. The description of the report was authored by the center's program director, Benjamin Cannon. His description states "I spoke with [Child A's Mother] after our meeting, and she disclosed the two following scenarios in which suspected abuse took place. Mom stated that [Child A] told her grandma three different times Rebecca Burkett and Nicole Harris have spanked her. Mom described two instances specifically to me. The first being one where she pooped her pants and needed to be changed. Ms. Becca found this outside and spanked her, and then Ms. Nicole came in and cleaned her up. The second instance was during free choice when [Child A] said she painted on another child in the classroom. This led to the teachers spanking her. I informed mom that we are all mandated reporters, and it would be against the law for any of our staff to see this and not report it immediately to CPS. I will be connecting with Paul, our ECBS who provided support to this classroom, and the teachers in room 19 who share the playground time with room 20. I shared these specific allegations with both Rebecca and Nicole. I have not watched the film yet, but they cited that the child has not had an accident all year and did not use paint in the last two weeks. I will be looking to confirm that via video footage. Mom also 3 stated that she did notice that the same clothes sent as extras were still in her backpack and unused. I think it should also be noted that leading questions were asked to the child. "Who spanked you?" "Why did they spank you?" mom stated that these were the question she asked her child. Mom asked for a meeting and would not be sending her child back until this issue is situated...." On 10/19/2021 I completed an unannounced on-site inspection at the center. I interviewed program director Benjamin Cannon. He stated that on 10/14/2021, he spoke to Child A's Mother over the phone. Child A's Mother described two instances where Child A reported she was spanked while at the center. One occasion Child A described to her grandmother was when she had an accident while outdoors and one was after she painted on another child. He noted that school started on 09/07/21 and that to his knowledge, Child A's extra clothes had not been used as they would be if she had an accident while at school. Mr. Cannon stated that Child A is also fully potty trained and that she does not wear pull ups or diapers. She has had no accidents at school that he knows of, but he noted that the classroom staff would know for sure. He indicated that staff have reported that the classroom has not painted in the last two weeks either, and that he checked the classroom on 10/14/21 for paint and there was not any in the classroom. Mr. Cannon reported that Child A did not report a specific time of when this may have taken place, so they are assuming if it did happen, it was more recent, possibly in the past two weeks. I asked about camera footage. He stated that the center does have a camera system which records the classroom, and that the past two weeks would be available to view. The system automatically deletes after the two-week time frame, so 10/08/21 — 10/19/21 is available to view. The center is focusing on footage from the week that the child reported the incident, the week of the 10/11/21. Mr. Cannon reported that the center is doing an internal investigation into the matter, and that they have already spoken to the staff involved. He met with both Rebecca Burkett and Nicole Harris on 10/14/2021, and both denied the allegations. Head Start plans on getting written statements from all of the staff and he noted he will be getting those statements to child care licensing once received. I asked Mr. Cannon if either staff has had any disciplinary action in the past or allegations of anything inappropriate with child handl

Open Not marked corrected in the state record

Category: recordkeeping. Open / not marked corrected.