• Violation

  R 400.1910 · 1 R 400.1910 Ratio of personnel to children. (1) The ratio of personnel to children present in the home at any 1 time must be not less than 1 member of the personnel to 6 children. The ratio must include all children in care who are not related to any personnel and any of the following children who are less than 6 years of age: (a) Children of the licensee. (b) Children of a child care staff member or child care assistant. (c) Children related to any member of the household by blood, marriage, or adoption.

  On 10/27/2021 I received a text message from Sarah Singler stating she closed her child care the previous two days due to a child contracting hand, foot, mouth disease. She also reported a parent was very upset with her for how she is handling the situation and would likely call in a complaint against her. On 10/28/2021 I received a text message from Mrs. Singler stating she had sent a letter of termination to the parent who was upset with her due to her being disrespectful on the telephone towards her. On 10/28/2021 I spoke with Sarah Singer on the telephone. She terminated Child M (2 year old male) because Child M's mother was out of control. She would not let Child M come back to the child care this week because Child M had contracted hand, foot, mouth over the weekend. Child M's mother threatened to sue Ms. Singler for lost wages and had a history of being disrespectful and cursing at the provider when decisions were made that Child M's mother disagreed with. She has known 2 Child M's mother for a long time and a change was needed in this situation. A copy of the termination letter was forwarded to me. On 11/3/2021 I spoke with Child M's mother. Child M was diagnosed with Hand Foot Mouth Disease on Saturday 10/16. He stayed home the whole next week. On Tuesday 10/26 she called Mrs. Singler and asked if Child M could return since he had been fever free for 72 hours. She was told that Child M had to remain home the rest of the week. She asked Mrs. Singler for a letter stating this so she could give it to her employers and claim lost wages. Mrs. Singler "freaked out" and sent her a termination notice. She was not planning on sending Child M back anyways but was upset about how the situation was handled. She also indicated she was at the child care home a couple of times when there were more than six children present and only one caregiver. She could not remember any dates but thought one instance was back in September. She indicated Mr. Singler was there with two infants and several other children but Mrs. Singler did not appear to be home at all. On 11/3/2021 I completed an onsite inspection at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Singler. They were both present along with 8 children (4 infants, 2 toddlers, and 2 preschool aged children). I reviewed a series of text messages from 10/25-10/28 between Child M's mother and Mrs. Singler. In the series of text messages Child M's mother indicates she was not unhappy with the care Child M was receiving until after she was given a termination letter. She was actually arguing for Child M to return as soon as possible to child care. A review of attendance records for children and staff showed no time where the child care home was out of ratio. Mr. and Mrs. Singler denied ever being out of ratio in September or any other month that they can recall. On 11/29/2021 I spoke with Child A's (3 year old male) mother, Child C's (3 year old male) mother, Child D (2 year old male) and E's (8 year old female) mother, and Child F (3 year old female) and G's (16 month old female) mother. All four women were extremely happy with the care their children receive with Mr. and Mrs. Singler. None of them have ever noticed any issue with ratio and felt Mr. and Mrs. Singler have gone above and beyond in their duties as child care providers. Two of the women even note that they were denied drop in opportunities at the child care due to the child care being full and Mrs. Singler not wanting to be out of ratio. On 12/10/2021 I completed an exit conference via telephone with Mrs. Singler.

The group home is out of ratio on a regular basis The home has three large dogs who run around in the back yard play area with the children.

Disposition: Substantiated