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 11/04/2022, Department of Health and Human Services worker Kristal McNally and I completed an unannounced on-site inspection. We interviewed CCSM 1 about the allegation. CCSM 1 stated she usually works in the Infant 2 classroom but also works in the 2's and Toddler classrooms. When asked if she ever handled children rough, CCSM 1 stated, "I don't know, I never handled a kid rough." She denied that anyone has ever talked to her about how she handles the children. She denied having any disciplinary action. She did not remember what classroom she worked in on 11/01/2022. She described her working in the toddler room as picking up toys, diapering and helping with nap time. During nap time, she gently pats the backs of children who do not want to lay on their cots. She was asked how the children respond and answered, "ok" and if they do not respond ok, she would tend to switch spots to a different CCSM. She denied that any other CCSMs or the director have said anything to her about the care she provides the children. She said that she was terminated from the center she worked at previously because they said that she was not supervising the children. She said that she pats the backs of the children, has maybe patted too hard and agreed that she could see herself getting too frustrated. I asked her if she had patted children too hard and she answered not intentionally. I asked her if that meant yes or no, she said "no." She was asked if there are any CCSMs or children that frustrate her. She explained a situation with another CCSM that she reported to the director who handled it. She was asked how she felt about the allegations, she replied, "I don't understand where they are coming from." She said that there have been no changes this week regarding what rooms she works in. She is a floater, so she works in whatever classroom the director puts her in and she finds out which classroom in the morning. Ms. McNally and I interviewed CCSM 2 who said that she saw CCSM 1 "aggressively pushing" Child B's head down and patting her back. CCSM 2 said that when it happened, she had eye contact with CCSM 3, and they talked about what they saw later when they were on break. CCSM 2 said that about a month or two ago, Child E had a bruise on her forehead, and she asked CCSM 1 what happened. CCSM 1 told her that she must have laid on her cot wrong. CCSM 2 said that she does not like working with CCSM 1 because she is "lazy", just watches the children and doesn't do anything when they are crying. Ms. McNally and I interviewed CCSM 5 who reported that this week, Ms. Deters told her that they were taking CCSM 1 out of the Infant 2 classroom because of a complaint. She thinks that CCSM 1's demeanor is not friendly. On 11/23/2022, Ms. McNally and I completed an unannounced on-site inspection and interviewed Ms. Deters about the allegation. Ms. Deters reported that she 3 became aware of the allegations on the Monday (11/07/2022) after we had the initial contact with the center. She said that no one had told her about their concerns before. She was asked why she moved CCSM 1 then, and she explained that CCSM 1 does not get along with the lead caregiver CCSM 3. She said that she moved three other CCSMs too due to the "very mean girl-ess, cattiness" culture at the center. Ms. Deters said that CCSM 5 and other CCSMs have told her about it. She said that her only concern with CCSM 1 was an incident where a diaper change did not happen when CCSM 1 went on break and there was a miscommunication about it. She said that no one had reported concerns about CCSM 1 being rough with children to her. If that had happened, the center's protocol would have been to report to the district manager and then to do an investigation. Ms. Deters denied that she moved CCSM 1 to another classroom due to a concern being reported to her. Ms. Deters said that she has had no concerns about CCSM 1 and has asked the lead caregivers CCSM 6 and CCSM 7 if they had concerns, and they did n

Open Not marked corrected in the state record

Category: supervision. Open / not marked corrected.

MCL 722.120 Investigation, inspection, and examination of conditions, books, records, and reports; access by department, bureau of fire services, or local authorities; records; report; forms; confidentiality; disclosure of information; availability of confidential records; child information cards to be provided to department; failure of licensee to cooperate with investigation, inspection, or examination. (1) The department may investigate, inspect, and examine conditions of a child care organization and may investigate and examine the books and records of the licensee. The licensee shall cooperate with the department's investigation, inspection, and examination by doing all of the following: (c) Providing accurate and truthful information to the department. and encouraaina witnesses, such as staff and household members, to provide accurate and truthful information to the department.

Ms. Deters did not provide accurate and honest information during her interview. She denied knowing about the allegations, but it had been reported to her.

Open Not marked corrected in the state record

Category: recordkeeping. Open / not marked corrected.

R 400.8122 · R 400.8122 Lead caregiver;qualifications; responsibilities. (5) Lead caregivers shall meet I of the following qualifications shown in Table 3: TABLE: 3 Lead Cregiver Qualifications Education Coursework in -s rly How o Childhood Education, Experlt n r Child Development, or a Chiki-Related Field (a) B chelor's degree or higher in early childhood edtiication. child development, or a child- related Geld (b) ;Motile ssori Cmdential 480 hour, with (C) Associate's degree or higher in early childhood education or child development (d) Valid child 480 hours de4elopmen1 associate Credential with-t• (e) Nigh school diploma or € 2 semester hours 960 hairs GED with (f) }i)gh school diploina or 12 semester hours. 18 1,920 hours GED with CEl3s. or a combination to ---- ► equal l R0 clock hours with (9) Nigh school diploma or 6 seme ter hours. 9 3:140 hours (iyl) with CE:l3s, or a combination to equal 90 clock hours with y 7 • • toddler classrai r • r • -s .s `r • • • A • !' • s • -r 111' • -rr • • •-• 1 kL r• r -•:r -• 1 r i r •~ r .• • . ■'' . •.:': • or r i s -. •'. IV.

Open Not marked corrected in the state record

Open / not marked corrected.

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. I

On 03/30/2022 I contacted Child A's Mother. She stated she was contacted right away about Child A being left in the classroom alone. She stated she spoke with staff, and they are hoping this will not happen again. Child A continues to attend the child care center and she has not had any previous concerns. On 04/19/2022 I completed an unannounced visit to Tutor Time. I met with Program Director Jill Meurer. Ms. Meurer stated she was told by staff that on 03/28/2022 Child A was left in the classroom while the rest of the class was heading outside to the playground. Ms. Meurer stated she was not sure exactly how long Child A was left alone and unsupervised. She stated another staff member, Ms. Kron, found Child A in the classroom and brought him outside with the rest of his class. Ms. Meurer stated this incident happened during a transition. 2 I interviewed staff member Sam Haan. Ms. Haan stated she is the lead in the preschool room. On 03/28/2022 she was getting the class ready to go outside on the playground. As she walked outside, she noticed that Child A was not with her. While she was outside, another staff member, Ashley Kron, was outside on the playground walking back into the building. She asked Ms. Kron if she could go back into the room and look. Ms. Kron stated she would go see if she could find Child A. Ms. Kron found Child A in the classroom alone. Ms. Haan stated Child A was in the classroom for no more than 5 minutes. She stated it could have been a lot less because she was not keeping track of time. Ms. Haan stated she has been trained on a new name to face sheet process. She is also working with management to make sure she is always counting out loud and always keeping track of her children. I interviewed staff member Ashley Kron. Ms. Kron stated on 03/28/2022 she had noticed Ms. Haan was outside and Child A was not with the class. She was not working with Ms. Haan, but because she has worked at this child care center for a long time, she is aware that certain children are in certain rooms throughout the day. Ms. Kron knew that Child A was in attendance for the day. Ms. Kron said to Ms. Haan that she would go inside and get Child A from the classroom. Ms. Kron then went into the classroom and Child A was there alone and unsupervised. She stated she brought Child A outside and with the rest of his classroom. She does not feel that Child A was left alone for more than a couple of minutes. She does not have any concerns regarding Ms. Haan. Staff have all been trained in a new name to face procedure. Everyone is making sure they count out loud and always keep track of children. I spoke with Ms. Meurer again. She showed me the new and updated name to face sheet and process all staff are doing. While I was in her office, I was able to overhear staff using the new sheet and process. I also verified that Ms. Haan signed and acknowledged the training sheet. Ms. Meurer stated Ms. Haan has taken this incident seriously and has shown she is making efforts to continue to learn and grow as a child care provider. On 04/20/2022 I contacted Child B's Mother. Child B's Mother stated she does not have any concerns with staff members providing supervision. She stated staff in the room seem to do a great job with her children. She has not had any direct issues. Upon review of the file, I discovered that the center has had three previous violations for providing appropriate care and supervision; however, none of the occasions involved a child left unattended.

Open Not marked corrected in the state record

Category: supervision. Open / not marked corrected.

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

On 10/19/2021, Dawnita Diaz, child care licensing consultant received an incident report from Rebecca Nowak, program director. The incident report indicated that Child B's Mother called after witnessing Mr. David [Fowler] handle Child B a little too rough. Child B's Father stated he loves Mr. David [Fowler] and would never want to see him fired but to coach him on the situation. On October 20, 2021, I made an unannounced on-site inspection at the child care center. I spoke with the assistant director Allison Quinn, program director, program director Rebecca Novak, and staff members Faithlyn Sinclair, David Fowler, Katherine Hermes, Halima Maddy, and Shahnaz Hayat. Allison Quinn stated that on October 18, 2021, she received a call from Child B's Mother stating that she had witnessed David Fowler "take Child B by the arm and sit her down aggressively." Ms. Quinn stated that she put Child B's Mother on hold and transferred the call to program director Rebecca Novak. Ms. Quinn informed me that Mr. Fowler was by himself with the children in the Pre-K room on October 18, 2021. She stated that she has not worked with Mr. Fowler recently. Ms. Quinn stated that there have been no recent concerns from staff or parents about Mr. Fowler's interactions with children. She said there was a concern approximately a year ago. Ms. Quinn could not remember the specifics of the concern or the staff member who brought it to her attention. I asked Ms. Quinn for specific documents concerning children, staff, and scheduling. I received the documents via email before I left the center. Program director, Rebecca Novak stated that on October 18, 2021, she took a call from Child B's Mother stating that while watching the live feed on the "Watch Me Grow" application available to parents, she witnessed Mr. Fowler "handling Child B roughly." Ms. Novak stated that Child B's Mother asked her to "look into it" and make sure that Child B had not been misbehaving. Ms. Novak said she had Child B come into the office and she checked Child B for any bruises on her arms, back, and torso. She did this with the center's district manager and licensee designee, Kathleen Miller, as a witness. She said there were no bruises found. Ms. Novak said she asked Child B if she had gotten hurt that day. She said Child B told her she had tripped on the playground. She asked Child B if she was mad or angry with Mr. Fowler. She said Child B told her she wasn't. She said Child B did not mention being grabbed by Mr. Fowler. Ms. Novak stated that she and Ms. Miller spoke with Mr. Fowler at 3:00pm on October 18, 2021, and placed him on administrative leave until further notice. I asked Ms. Novak if Mr. Fowler had any written warnings on file. Ms. Novak provided a "Performance Improvement Plan" (PIP) dated May 5, 2021. Mr. Fowler had received a written warning for tipping children off their mats (violation cited in special investigation 2021D0614009). The PIP stated that a verbal 3 discussion and retraining on positive discipline and redirection was completed. The PIP stated that "any other violation of company policy or procedure or any FURTHER performance concerns will result in discipline up to and including separation of employment." The PIP did not mention the citation of rule R 400.8140(1) that was found in special investigation 2021D 0614009 where video footage showed Mr. Fowler grabbing a child by the bicep and moving him quickly. I have included a copy of the PIP on file with this special investigation report. Ms. Novak stated that Ms. Miller had requested video footage for the day of the allegation and that it would be available in a few days. Ms. Novak and I made an appointment to view video at a later date. I asked Ms. Novak if Mr. Fowler could come to the center for an interview. She let me know she could call Mr. Fowler and ask him to come to the center. Faithlyn Sinclair stated she is a staff member in the Pre-K room and has worked "on and off' with Mr. Fowler since Septemb

Open Not marked corrected in the state record

Category: supervision. Open / not marked corrected.

R 400.8140(1) · R 400.8140(1) Discipline. (1) Positive methods of discipline that encourage self-control, self-direction, self-esteem, and cooperation must be used. 7

Mr. Fowler did not use positive methods of discipline with Child B on October 18, 2021, when he roughly handled her while moving her to a chair.

Open Not marked corrected in the state record

Category: ratio. Open / not marked corrected.

R 400.8125 · 1 R 400.8125 Staff; volunteer; requirements. (1) All staff and volunteers shall provide appropriate care and supervision of children at all times. 4

On 04/23/21 I received a telephone call from Kathleen Conroy, designee, she reported to me there was an incident at the child care facility where Megan Gardner, child care staff member (CCSM) roughly handled Child A, male age 2. Ms. Conroy stated she would send an incident report as required and had requested the video footage. She stated Ms. Gardner was no longer employed at the facility. On 04/26/21 I left a message for Megan Gardner by telephone. On 04/26/21 I spoke with Child A's Mother by telephone. She expressed concern and frustration about the incident as she had brought concerns about Ms. Gardner's conduct to several people including the program director. She said there have been two prior incidents to this current one. The first incident was on or about 3/15/21 where she watched over the live feed Ms. Gardner "grab her son by the arm and set him down hard." She brought this to the attention of a person at the front desk who said she would let the program director know. She did not receive any response from her concerns. The next incident took place approximately a week later where she watched Ms. Gardner grab another child in the classroom and set her down roughly. She reported this concern and then Ms. Gardner was out of the classroom for approximately one week. This last incident, she was watching the video and Ms. Gardner took Child A and she grabbed him and pulled him by his leg to pull him towards her where his head hit the cot. She then picked him up and "slammed him down hard twice." She was concerned with her actions, so she called the customer service line for Tutor Time and reported her concerns. She felt previous reports had not been addressed and was seriously concerned about what she was witnessing from Ms. Gardner. She was also concerned as other CCSM's have been in the classroom for each incident and she has never seen them stop this behavior. On 04/27/21 I conducted an announced on-site inspection to the facility. I met with Becky Novak, program director, and Kathleen Conroy, licensee designee. Ms. Novak explained the order of events with Ms. Gardner. She said the first incident she was informed by Child A's Mother that Ms. Gardner was being rough with Child A. She provided her "consultation" on behaviors and responding to children in care. Following the second incident she took Ms. Gardner out of the toddler B classroom for a week. She did not provide any formal training or discipline stating, "It was all verbal." After a week Ms. Gardner asked to be placed back in her classroom. Ms. Novak felt this was fine as she had not seen any of the concerning behaviors from her. When this last incident happened, Ms. Novak was working in a classroom. Ms. Conroy arrived at the center and informed her of the incident. They viewed the video together and saw Ms. Gardner being rough with Child A and another child, pushing a child, and then grabbing Child A dropping him on his cot, picking him up by his arm and leg and aggressively placing him down and patting his back. They both stated 3 her actions were a violation of Tutor Time's policies of how to care for and interact with children in care. Ms. Gardner was brought in to discuss the incident and viewed the video. She was defensive and did not believe her actions were inappropriate or in violation of any policies or procedures. She refused to continue the discussion and left the facility. Ms. Conroy said Ms. Gardner was then terminated from her employment. I watched the video of the reported incident that took place on 4/22/21 with Ms. Novak and Ms. Conroy. Ms. Gardner is seen pushing a child, handling Child A roughly, and placing him on his cot in an aggressive manner. I then interviewed Krista Hole, CCSM, outside the presence of others. Ms. Hole said she has been employed since August 2020 and had worked consistently with Ms. Gardner. One the day of the incident she said she was the assistant in the classroom working with her. Ms. Gardner "was not in a great moo

Open Not marked corrected in the state record

Category: supervision. Open / not marked corrected.

R 400.8140 · 1 R 400.8140 Discipline. (1) Positive methods of discipline that encourage self-control, self-direction, self-esteem, and cooperation must be used.

Megan Gardner did not use positive methods of discipline with Child A. Rebecca Novak did not assure that Megan Gardner was using positive methods of discipline with children in care following repeated complaints from parents about her interactions with children. I

Open Not marked corrected in the state record

Category: ratio. Open / not marked corrected.

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 03/23/2021 I made an unannounced onsite inspection. I spoke with program director, Rebecca Novak. She stated Mr. Fowler is a team lead and a pre- kindergarten lead child care staff member working with 4-to-5-year-olds. She explained Mr. Fowler has been at this center around four years but has been with Tutor Time for roughly seven years. She explained she has been a program director for this location since October/November of 2020 and there have been no complaints made against Mr. Fowler since she has been here. She reported a parent just called the center about 10-15 minutes ago to report that Mr. Fowler appears to be dumping children off their cots while they are sleeping via livestream and asked Ms. Novak to watch out for this over the next few days to monitor this. Ms. Novak stated no one has ever complained about this previously and she just heard about this happening today when the parent informed her. She explained this would not be considered a normal practice for the center or an appropriate way to wake up children. She stated the parent reported this was happening roughly between the times of 2:30pm and 2:45pm. Currently, Allison Hansen is the staff member that works with Mr. Fowler. Ms. Novak agreed to review the file for Mr. Fowler for any past disciplinary action as well as child information cards for children in that classroom. I spoke with Allison Hansen, child care staff member in the pre-kindergarten classroom. She stated she has been at this center sine August of 2020 and works with Mr. Fowler, who is the classroom lead. She explained if there is a child having a hard time waking up, Mr. Fowler will grab the top of the cot and lift the cot up while a child is laying down, asleep and child will slide down off of the cot. She explained no one has been injured as a result and they do not scream or cry "they just wake up." I asked her if this looked appropriate and she confirmed that this method does not look appropriate. She explained Mr. Fowler has been doing this since she has worked with him starting in August of 2020. She said this happens roughly once or twice a week. She explained she did not think to discuss this with Mr. Fowler or with the program director and assistant program director. A discussion was held 3 regarding reporting any gesture that appears inappropriate to child care children. Ms. Hansen stated there is nothing else that Mr. Fowler does that is inappropriate. She stated she has no other concerns for any other staff members and no concerns for the center. I spoke with David Fowler, child care staff member lead in the pre-kindergarten classroom. He stated he works with 4-5-year-olds. He stated he has been with Tutor Time for roughly 8 years. He explained he occasionally will wake the child care children up by lifting the top of the cot up resulting in the children sliding off the cot. He stated this helps the children to "wake up and laugh." He stated when he starts to lift the cots up, the children are usually starting to wake up already, however it is possible that there may have been a time he has done this while a child was still sleeping, but he cannot specifically recall a time this has happened. He explained his intent was to wake up the child care children in a fun way and he has never had anyone complain about this nor has any child been hurt or cried after this has happened. He stated this can be fun for them. He explained he uses this wake-up method roughly once or twice per week and repeated that he would never do anything to hurt a child. He recently took a new position within the center where he helps to train new employees and once the center is fully staffed, he can begin the training. Mr. Fowler agreed to stop lifting cots as a wake-up method for child care children. On 03/24/2021 I spoke with regional manager to Tutor Time, Kathleen Conroy. I requested video footage during napping hours for 3/18/21, 3/19/21 and 3/22/21. Ms. Conroy stated she would submit the request for

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.

I spoke with assistant child care staff member, Sydney Sollitto. She explained roughly a year and a half or two years ago, Mr. Fowler and herself worked in the preschool classroom and he would tell the child care children to "turn on your listening ears". If the child care children did not, Mr. Fowler would grab the children's ears, twist them to "turn them on" and their ears would turn red. Most of the time, the child care children would cry afterwards. She stated Mr. Fowler twisted her ears and confirmed that this did hurt, which it likely then hurt the children as well. She stated this would happen multiple times a day, every day. Ms. Sollitto reported this to someone, but she cannot remember who, however "nothing ever happened." She explained this did not leave marks, bruises, or scratches, but their ears were red afterwards and then it would go away. Ms. Sollitto reported while Mr. Fowler was also in the preschool classroom, roughly a year and half to two years ago he would pat the child care children down hard. She remembers one child, Child C who no longer attends the center, would cry after Mr. Fowler patted him. She stated this did not leave any marks or bruises as a result, but Mr. Fowler used an open hand, extremely hard that "you could hear it and could see their body sort of go up and down because the pressure was so hard". She stated Mr. Fowler is a very aggressive person, can be impatient, "snappy" and rude to the children. She reported no other concerns for Mr. Fowler or for the center. On 04/23/2021 I spoke with Child A and B's Mother and Father together on the telephone. Child A and B's Mother explained during nap time one day, when it was time for the child care children to wake up and eat snack, Mr. Fowler "kind of kicked" the side of Child A's cot. Child A and B's Mother explained this did not seem appropriate and she wanted to keep an eye on how things were going during nap time. They have not observed this happening before. I asked if Child A attended preschool with Mr. Fowler in the past. Child A and B's Mother stated he did for a brief period of time as a new child care staff member was becoming the preschool staff member and Mr. Fowler was transitioning out of the classroom. I asked if Child A ever mentioned Mr. Fowler asking him to turn on his listening ears. She explained Child A has talked about turning on his listening ears but has never mentioned Mr. Fowler touching his ears in order to turn them on. Child A and B's Mother and Father both explained that it can be difficult to see what is happening on the live feed as there is no audio and sometimes the angle can make it difficult to see what is happening. On 04/26/2021 I spoke with Mr. Fowler regarding the new allegations. He stated he worked in the preschool classroom roughly a year and a half to two years ago and will currently begin his morning shift in the preschool classroom due to required staff to child ratios. He stated he would say to the children, "turn on your listening ears" and would then "tickle" their ears. He described this as taking one finger and place it on their ear, then stroke/rub their ear. He stated he would make this "funny" for them by tickling their ears to help them listen and he has not done this since leaving the preschool classroom. Mr. Fowler stated he never pinched the child care children's ears and stated, "I wouldn't consciously do that." When asked if he would unconsciously do this, he stated no. He said the child care children never cried after getting their ears tickled, he never turned their ears red and he never demonstrated rubbing an ear to another child care staff member. He stated a child has never said or acted like this hurt them and no one has come to him complaining about this. He explained he only used one finger to rub their ear and did not use two fingers, which he did it this way so it would not hurt the child care children.

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. M

Positive methods of discipline were not used when Mr. Fowler grabbed a child by the arm and quickly moved him.

Open Not marked corrected in the state record

Category: ratio. Open / not marked corrected.