• Violation

  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 03/06/2023 I completed an on-site inspection to the center and interviewed licensee designee Rosita Gabriel regarding the complaint allegation. Ms. Gabriel stated Child A's Mother does Child A's hair every weekend, and on Monday 02/27/2023 Child A came to the center with braids in her hair. Ms. Gabriel stated Child A's Mother called her Wednesday (03/01/2023) evening stating another child must have "snatched out" some of Child A's hair, and Child A's Mother sent Ms. Gabriel a picture of the top of Child A's head. Ms. Gabriel stated Child A is in the Tiny Tots infant classroom. Child A is one of the first children that arrives at the center around 6:30am, and Child A is in the Toddler classroom with opening Staff 3 for a short time. On 03/01/2023 Staff 2 arrived at approximately 7:30am, and Child A went with Staff 2 to the Tiny Tots infant classroom. Staff 1, who is Child A's primary caregiver and the lead caregiver for the Tiny Tots classroom, arrived around 9:00am. Child A and seven other infants and toddlers were with Staff 1 and program director Ms. Sharon Cousins for the rest of the day in the Tiny Tots classroom. On 03/01/2023 Ms. Gabriel worked in the Tiny Tots classroom when she gave a break to Staff 1 and Ms. Cousins while the children were napping. While she was in the classroom, the children woke up from their naps and then were playing. Ms. Gabriel did not see anything happen to Child A or notice Child A had any hair missing during this time. Ms. Gabriel stated she spoke with all the staff that cared for Child A on 03/01/2023 and no one noticed anything happen to Child A. There were no fights between any of the children in the classrooms, except in the Toddler classroom with Staff 3, there was a brief "tussle" between Child A and another child 3 over a toy, but neither child touched each other; they were just tugging on the same toy. All the staff stated Child A did not cry that day, and after she spoke with the staff, she texted Child A's Mother back on 03/02/2023 and 03/03/2023 and included some pictures of Child A from 03/01/2023 showing Child A sitting at a table playing with Kinetic sand and another picture of Child A with the other children sitting on a rug during story time to show Child A's Mother some of the things Child A was doing on 03/01/2023. Ms. Gabriel stated she has not heard back from Child A's Mother, and Child A has not returned to the center since 03/01/2023. I asked Ms. Gabriel if the center had cameras in the classrooms and she stated they do; however, she stated she is locked out of the system, so she has reached out to the camera company to gain access. Ms. Gabriel stated once she has access, she plans on reviewing the video footage from 03/01/2023. I interviewed Staff 1. She stated she has worked at the center for 11 years and works daily 9:00am to 6:00pm in the infant room with Ms. Sharon Cousins. Staff 1 stated Child A is already in the classroom when she arrives at the center. On 03/01/2023, Staff 2 was in the classroom when Staff 1 arrived. Staff 2 then left and went to another classroom. Staff 1 stated she did not see or notice anything wrong with Child A's hair that day. Child A's hair was braided and had barrettes on the end of the braids. Child A did not cry out about anything that day. Staff 1 stated the week before, Child A pulled out a barrette, but on 03/01/2023 Child A did not pull out any of her barrettes. Staff 1 stated in the past Child A has had beads in her hair and Child A would often pull out the beads. I interviewed Staff 2. She stated she has worked at the center for 2 years and works daily from 7:30am to 6:00pm. When she arrives at 7:30am she works in the infant room until 9:00am and then goes to the GSRP room. On 03/01/2023 she arrived and took Child A and another child from Staff 3 in the toddler room and went with them to the infant room. Staff 2 stated she gave the children breakfast and did diaper changes while she was working in the infant room. Staff 2 state

On 03/01/2023 Child A (2 years old) came home from child care with a patch of hair missing.

Disposition: Substantiated