R 400.8113 Program director qualifications; responsibilities. (2) A program director shall be present in the center in the following manner: (b) At least 50% of the time children are in care but not less than a total of 6 hours per day for programs operating 6 or more continuous hours.
It was alleged during the investigation that the center did not follow their policy about exclusion for illness when HFMD broke out at the center. Children had to stay home for a week, even though they were not diagnosed with the disease. On 8/2/23, Child A and C's father stated that when there was a breakout of Hand Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD) at the center (he did not know the exact dates), Ms. Groves told them that they could not bring Child A back to the center for a week even though child A was not diagnosed with HFMD. Child A and C's father said that Child A had a small pimple which was not HFMD (the pimples never blistered), and he had to continue to keep Child A at home leaving work. Child A and C's father said that he brought this matter with Ms. Groves the following week and asked her to refund the tuition payment, but Ms. Groves said that Ms. Saleh was the one to 10 answer that question, and he asked for Ms. Saleh to call him about it. Child A and C's father said that he never heard from Ms. Saleh about this matter. On 8/7/23 I interviewed Ms. Saleh who said that she was aware of the HFMD at the center, but she did not know anything about Child A and C's father asking for a tuition repayment or having a conversation about Child A not returning to child care for a week. Ms. Saleh said that Child A and C's father had contacted her on email several times before and knew her phone number. She never got an email or a phone call from Child A and C's father regarding the HFMD situation. Ms. Saleh said that she had not heard about it from Ms. Groves either. Ms. Saleh said that the center's policy has been that if the disease has not progressed or the doctor is able to clear the child to attend child care, they can return with a doctor's note or free of symptoms for 24 hours without medication. On 8/7/23, I reviewed the exclusion for illness policy in the parent handbook that states that children can return to day care when their fever goes away, and their sores have healed or with a doctor's note clearing them. On 8/7/23, I reviewed the attendance records for Child A during the week when HFMD broke out at the center during the week of 5/15/23. According to the records, Child A was signed in at 8:54 am and signed out at 11 am. Child A did not attend on 5/17/23 and 5/18/23. Child A's file at the center did not contain a doctor's note for returning to child care. On 8/7/23, I interviewed Ms. Groves who said that she recalls a conversation with Child A and C's father about HFMD for Child A. She said that she does not recall all details about the conversation since it was a few months ago and she had talked to many parents about the disease. However, she had told all parents that if the disease progresses in terms of blisters or fever, they need to keep the child home. If the disease has not progressed and the doctor has said that it is not HFMD, the child can return with a doctor's note. Ms. Groves said that she could not remember Child A having any blisters and was not sure why Child A did not return within the week if the doctor had cleared Child A from HFMD. Ms. Groves said that she never told Child A and C's father not to bring Child A to the center if it was not HFMD or the disease did not progress. Ms. Groves said that the family could have returned if there was a doctor's note. Ms. Groves agreed that she told them that just to air on the side of caution, they can wait for 24 hours to make sure that the spots don't turn into blisters. On 8/7/23, I interviewed CCSM 6 who said that she recalled Child A having a couple of spots on her hand and on the buttocks. CCSM 6 recalled that Child A and C's mother came to pick up Child A. At the time of pick up, CCSM 3 was at the office, and she heard CCSM 3 say to Child A and C's mother that HFMD was a highly contagious disease. If the doctor said that this was not HFMD, or contagious anymore, they could bring back Child A to the center. CCSM 6 said that she heard 11 CCSM 7 telling
R 400.8113 · Correction status not published