KinderCare Learning Center-HO2

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; Providing accurate and truthful information to the department, and encouraging witnesses, such as staff and household members, to provide accurate and truthful information to the department.

Program Administrator did not stop teachers from providing information during this investigation. She stated she was nervous and did not want teachers to over share information. She encourages teachers to provide truthful and accurate information.

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Staff; volunteer (1) All staff and volunteers present at the center shall: (a) Provide appropriate care and supervision of children at all times.

Appropriate care and supervision were provided for Child A on 1/2/2026. Teacher 1 did not work with Child A on 1/2/2026 and did not poke him.

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Staff; volunteer (1) All staff and volunteers present at the center shall: (b) Act in a manner that is conducive to the welfare of children.

Based on our findings, investigation, and review - which includes considering the investigation and findings of MDHHS - CCLB determines Teacher 1 is conducive to the welfare of children and is eligible to be associated with a child care organization.

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R 400.8254(6) · R 400.8254(6) Diapering; toileting (6) Diapers and training pants must be checked frequently and changed when wet or soiled.

On 1/2/2026, Child A's diaper was not checked and changed at the end of the day.

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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.

On 01/05/2023, I completed an on-site inspection. I interviewed program director Emily Dobias. She stated that Child Care Staff Member 1 (CCSM 1) left the children in the preschool classroom unattended for approximately one minute when she stepped into the Pre K classroom on 12/19/2022 to address the noise level. Child Care Staff Member 2 (CCSM 2) told her that saw CCSM 1 move 2 Child A from a standing position to a sitting position on her cot in an unkind manner when she stepped into the Pre K classroom. She noted that there were no marks left on Child A. She stated that she had a conversation with CCSM 1 early on regarding her tone with the children. She noted that CCSM 1 was open to the feedback. She has never seen CCSM 1 have an intention to harm a child. She saw an improvement with the tone CCSM 1 used with the children; however, she cannot condone her leaving the children in the preschool classroom unattended. On 07/03/2023, CCSM 2 stated that the majority of the staff members were mean to the children. They told her that she did not understand the tone they used with the children because she was not a mother. She recalled a time when CCSM 1 pulled a child from a standing to a sitting position on her cot in an unkind manner. Another parent was present at the time, and she recalled the parent looking at her in shock. She recalled an older staff member who forced the children to lay down at rest time. She described this staff person as "very aggressive." She did not feel very welcomed at the center. She left employment at the center because she did not like how the staff members treated the children and she did not want the children to be afraid of her. She had no knowledge of CCSM 1 leaving children unattended. On 07/03/2023, Child A's Mother stated that she was told that another parent was upset about the way CCSM 1 spoke to Child A and about the manner in which she moved Child A from a standing to a sitting position on her cot. Child A's Mother stated that she did not notice any marks under Child A's armpits or otherwise. She was told that CCSM 1 would be disciplined for the incident. She has never heard staff speak to the children inappropriately. She has never had concerns with the way staff handled to children. She noted that staff seem to be good with the children. She had no knowledge of CCSM 1 leaving children unattended. On 07/03/2023, CCSM 3 stated that CCSM 1 sometimes had a stern tone with the children, but it was not concerning to her. The incident with Child A occurred when she was on her break, so she was not present at the time. She was told by staff that CCSM 1 spoke to Child A in a very stern manner and moved her in an inappropriate manner. She had never seen CCSM 1 handle children inappropriately. She had no knowledge of CCSM 1 leaving children unattended. On 07/03/2023, Child B's Mother stated that she had absolutely no concerns with the care and supervision provided by staff. She has never heard staff speak in a harsh manner to children. She has never seen staff handle children inappropriately. She noted that the program director has handled her concerns in a timely fashion. She has never worried about her children's safety while at the center. The center has provided care to her family for over six years. She had no knowledge of CCSM 1 leaving children unattended. On 07/03/2023, Child C's Mother stated that her child only attended the center for four months. She pulled her child because he was constantly sick. She stated that the two ladies who run the center are "awesome." She noted that there were a lot of 3 new faces, with some of them not as warm and welcoming as others. She never witnessed any concerning tones or handling of children. However, she did notice a marked change in her child's demeanor at drop off. She stated that her child used to skip down the hallway to his classroom, but towards the end he started crying on his way to the classroom. She had no knowledge of CCSM 1 leaving children

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R 400.8182 · R 400.8182 Ratio and group size requirements. (3) In each room or well-defined space, the maximum group size and ratio of caregivers to children, including children related to a staff member or the licensee, shall be the following: (d) For preschoolers 4 years of age until school-age, there shall be 1 caregiver for 12 children.

Based on my interview with the program director, CCSM 1 left the preschool classroom unattended for approximately one minute on 12/19/2022.

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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 9/9/2022, I contacted Child A's Mother and was unable to leave a message. On 9/14/2022, I spoke to Child A's Father. He reported that Child A had only been attending care at the facility for a month. On 8/30/2022, he picked up Child A from the facility. Mr. Clyde Antione was in the classroom upon his arrival. He asked Child A who Mr. Antione was, and Child A responded, "He spanks me." Child A's Father than asked Child A if Mr. Antione was mean. Child A said "no, he's nice and he brings us food." Child A's Father stated he let it go and did not ask Child A anymore questions since Child A is only 3 years old. On 9/1/2022, Child A's Mother was taking her to child care and Child A repeated the story to her regarding Mr. Antione spanking her. Child A also stated that Mr. Antione is nice and brings them food. Child A's Father reported that they have not seen many marks or bruises on Child A, Child A is not afraid to go to the facility and she does not appear to be 2 afraid of Mr. Antione. Child A's Father stated he contacted the facility and left a message for program director, Emily Dubias. Ms. Dubias called him back later in the day and stated that she had spoken to Mr. Antione, he denied spanking any children in care, and she did not feel the allegations were true. Child A's Father reported that due to unrelated circumstances, Child A no longer attends care at the facility. A new center opened that they had intended to send Child A to before the allegations occurred. On 9/14/202022, I completed an unannounced inspection at the facility. During my onsite inspection, I interviewed program director, Emily Dobias. She reported on 9/1/2022, Child A's Father contacted her and told her that Child A disclosed that Mr. Antione spanked her. Due to the allegations, Mr. Antione was placed on administrative leave and has since resigned from his position. Mr. Antione had been working at the facility for over two years as the cook. He would deliver breakfast, lunch and snacks to classrooms and would occasionally cover breaks. Mr. Antione was never left alone with children; there would always be another staff member in the classroom with him. Ms. Dubias stated that she does not believe the allegations were true. The children "love him and are always excited to see him." Mr. Antione does not have any disciplinary actions and had nothing in his file regarding any discipline taken against him. Ms. Dubias provided a copy of their discipline policy, which emphasizes using positive methods of discipline and redirection. She stated that Mr. Antione has never needed to discipline any child because he would have limited interactions with the children and there would be a second staff member in the classroom who would address any discipline necessary. On 9/14/2022, I interviewed lead staff member, Bynzee Gruppen. She stated that she has worked at the facility for approximately 14 months and has interacted with Mr. Antione daily when he would deliver breakfast, lunch, and snacks. Ms. Gruppen reported the children were always excited to see him. She referred to Mr. Antione as the "most chill guy ever," and denied ever seeing him spank a child. She added that Child A was not afraid of him and was always excited to see him. Ms. Gruppen reported that Mr. Antione would work in the classroom on a rare occasion to cover someone's break if they were short staffed, however there was always another staff member in the classroom. She is unsure why Child A made the allegations and added that Child A had only been attending care for about a month. Ms. Gruppen reported when Mr. Antione was in the classroom, he never disciplined a child, the other staff member would do the disciplining. On 9/14/2022, I interviewed staff member, Erika Nycape. She stated that she has worked at the facility for two months, the entire duration that Child A was receiving care at the facility. Ms. Nycape reported that Mr. Antione was the cook and would deliver meals to the classroom. She ad

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R 400.8158 · R 400.8158 Incident, accident, injury, illness, death, fire reporting. (2) A licensee, licensee designee, or program director shall report to the child's parent and the department, directly or via phone, fax, or email, within 24 hours of the occurrence of any of the following: (b) An incident involving an allegation of inappropriate contact. 4

Ms. Dubias did not contact the department within 24 hours regarding the allegations of Mr. Antione spanking Child A.

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R 400.8131 · R 400.8131 Professional development requirements. (10) All child care staff members who work directly which children are required to be trained in first aid and pediatric, child, and adult cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) within 90 days of being hired. Prior to issuing a license to operate a child care center, and prior to the renewal of a license, the department shall verify that at least 50% of the child care staff members who work directly with children are currently certified in first aid and pediatric, child, and adult CPR. Each of these child care staff member's first aid and CPR certificates must be valid and retained on file in the center.

On 9/2/2021, I completed an unannounced on-site inspection at the center. I interviewed acting program director Ashley Delk. She stated that all staff have been trained in CPR, but that some of the certifications have just expired. She noted that she is reaching out to the American Heart Association to schedule a center wide training this month. Ms. Delk also explained that the previous director left the center unexpectedly, and that when she was at the center, she refused to give Ms. Delk the CPR/First Aid cards and would not let her look at staff files, even though at the time she was the assistant program director. She noted the previous director told her that "licensing has checked the files" numerous times when Ms. Delk attempted to verify CPR/First aid training. On 9/7/2021, Ms. Delk reported via email she had scheduled the center for CPR/First Aid certification on 9/21/2021. On 9/13/2021, I received the staffing plan from Ms. Delk. The staffing plan documented the CPR/First Aid trainings were complete for all 10 staff members. On 10/12/2021, I received CPR/First Aid certification cards for six staff from the 9/21/2021 CPR/First Aid certification training; which is more than 50% of the current staff. Ms. Delk did not provide CPR/First Aid certifications with completion dates prior to the 9/21/2021 certification training. On 10/14/2021, I interviewed child care staff member Sharon Beltman via telephone. I asked about CPR and First Aid training She stated that everyone who needed 3 CPR/First Aid training got it last month at the center. She noted that she already had her certification and that her card does not expire until October of 2022. On 10/14/2021, I interviewed child care staff member Mercedes Taylor. She did not know if staff were all CPR/First Aid trained, but stated she got her recertification in September of 2021. On 10/14/2021, I interviewed former child care staff member Brianna Rinas. She stated that when she worked at the center, management never asked her about nor trained her in CPR/First Aid certification. She noted that she did happen to have her certification, but that the director at the time never asked her for the documentation and the center never knew whether she was certified or not.

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R 400.8155 · R 400.8155 Child accidents and incidents; child and staff illness. ........................................................................................ .......... (5) A center shall have a written policy detailing when children, staff, and volunteers will be excluded from the center due to illness. 5

On 9/2/2021 I completed an unannounced on-site inspection at the center. I interviewed acting program director Ashley Delk. She stated that staff and children do not come into the center while ill. I could not interview any other staff in person due to the center not having enough staff to fill in, so that the interviews could be private. Ms. Delk provided me with an extensive illness policy. It is 12 pages long. An excerpt of the policy states "we are committed to keeping children, families, and each other healthy and safe. Part of keeping KCE healthy is helping 4 prevent the spread of illnesses. We will sometimes need to ask a child or employee to stay home and not come to school or work if they are sick... Managers are expected to 1. Be alert to and aware of any signs or symptoms that may indicate a child or employee is ill and train employees to do the same. 2. Communicate your concerns to parents or guardians and explain our criteria for temporarily excluding a child when necessary, as well as the criteria for the child to return. 3. Do not allow employees who are ill to come to work. 4. Report confirmed or suspected diseases to KCE or public health agencies, when required according to the exclusion for illness reference table...". On 10/14/2021, I interviewed child care staff member Sharon Beltman. She stated that the allegation of staff and children coming to the center while sick is "unfounded". She noted that children are always sent home if they are ill or have any kind of a fever. Staff members also do not come into work while sick. She noted that if anyone has something contagious, they are not to come to the center and management enforces this. On 10/14/2021 I spoke to child care staff member Mercedes Taylor. She indicated that staff and children do not come to the center while ill. She stated that acting program director Ashley Delk is very vigilant about this and will send children home for any kind of a fever-even if it is just from teething. She noted that Ms. Delk will also enforce that the rule of being fever free for 48 hours before staff and children can return. Ms. Taylor reported that staff call in sick "all the time" for lots of illnesses, including a cough and that they are allowed to stay home because the center does not want ill staff at the center. On 10/14/2021 I spoke to former child care staff member Brianna Rinas. She stated that "everyone" was sick when she was working at the center. Ms. Rinas recalled one occasion that she was throwing up from anxiety and she called the old program director, (who is no longer there) and told her. Ms. Rinas feels like she was forced to come to the center as the director felt the sickness was temporary. She reported she still didn't feel better so a few hours later she went home. This happened on one occasion but believes this type of thing happened to other staff as well. She noted that sick children being present at the center was not a problem when she was working at the center.

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R 400.8182 · R 400.8182 Ratio and group size requirements. (3) In each room or well-defined space, the maximum group size and ratio of child care staff members to children, including children related to a staff member or the licensee, must be as shown in Table 4: (a) For infants and toddlers birth until 30 months of age, there shall be 1 staff member for 4 children and a maximum group size of 12. (b) For preschoolers, 30 months of age until 3 years of age there shall be 1 staff member for 8 children and a maximum group size of 16. (c) For preschoolers 3 years of age until 4 years of age, there shall be 1 staff member for 10 children. (d) For preschoolers 4 years of age until school age, there shall be 1 staff member for 12 children. (e) For school agers there shall be 1 staff member for 18 children.

On 9/1/2021, I received a complaint stating that the center is not in compliance with numbers of children due to be extremely short staffed. The complaint stated that there have been six children to one staff member in the "two- year-old discover room", six children to one staff in another classroom, seven "upper aged" children to one staff member in a different classroom at the center, and "twenty children in one classroom to one teacher before". On 9/3/2021, I received an additional complaint regarding the same allegations of not maintaining the required staff member to child ratio, the toddler 1 classroom being over the maximum group 29th, size with 14 children present, and being short staffed for the week of August 2021. It should be noted that with both complaints, the complaint source was anonymous. On 9/2/2021, I completed an unannounced on-site inspection at the center. I asked for the program director and was led to the infant classroom, where Ashley Delk, explained that the program director had just unexpectedly left the center and that she was the assistant director previously. She noted she is the current acting director at this time. Ms. Delk explained that today she must be assisting in the infant classroom due the center being short staffed. She was currently providing care and supervision to infants and unable to leave the classroom due to ratios. There were no extra staff available to fill in so that Ms. Delk and I could speak privately or so that I speak to other staff privately. Ms. Delk reported that all the center's classrooms are currently maintaining the required staff to child ratio and that they do not operate out of ratio. I asked Ms. Delk what would happen if they did not have enough staff to stay in ratio. She stated they would shut down a classroom if they had to; and noted that on one occasion, they did shut a classroom down due to not having adequate staffing. I asked what the center would do if a staff member did not show up unexpectedly, or if an extra person was needed due to a parent or child care licensing being present, and Ms. Delk stated she does not know what she would do in that situation. I asked what would happen if another child showed up and it was going to put a classroom out of ratio, and Ms. Delk noted they would shout it down the hallway for someone in the office or an extra staff to hear and that they would come assist in the classroom in order to keep the classroom in ratio. Ms. Delk noted there are four classrooms open at the center today. The infant room, the toddler one room, the toddler two or "discovery preschool" room, and the combined preschool/pre-kindergarten classroom. In the infant classroom there were eight children and two staff, so this classroom was in ratio. It should be noted that during my interview with Ms. Delk while she was caring for children in the infant classroom, an additional staff member arrived, and Ms. Delk was able to leave the infant classroom temporarily. I went into the toddler one classroom. I asked staff how old the youngest child was and was told approximately one year. There were eight children in the room and two staff. This classroom was in ratio. I went into the toddler two classroom/discovery preschool room and asked what ages the children were. Staff reported the children are around 2 years old. There were six children observed and two staff. This classroom was in ratio. I went outdoors where the combined preschool/pre-kindergarten children were. I observed 17 children and two staff members present. There was a small child observed outdoors, Child A, (male, age 2), who appeared to be younger than the rest of the children. I asked staff how old that child was. Assistant director Tara Buning, who was acting as a caregiving staff at that time, reported that Child A is two years and ten months old. I later asked Ms. Delk about a permission slip from the child's parent to allow the child into a classroom with a one/ten ratio. She stated th

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R 400.8113 · R 400.8113 Program director qualifications; responsibilities. ................................................... ........................ ...................... .................... .. ........... (3) All program directors are responsible for the general management of the center, including the following minimum responsibilities: (b) Administering day-to-day operations, including being available to address parent, child, and staff issues. 10 ................ ..

Due to the interim program director having to act as a caregiving staff member, she was unable to administer day to day operations. She was unable to provide requested documentation on the day of the investigation on-site.

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