Cozy Corner Child Care Center daycare inspections in Kimball, MI

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

On 08/05/2021, I privately spoke with licensee designee/program director, Chris VanBuskirk, who reported that she had previously been out of town and upon her return was view video footage of the center. During her review of video footage, she noticed an interaction between Child A and child care staff member, Laura Chase. On 08/02/2021, Child A arrived at the center at 8:00 AM and came in crying. Ms. Chase was the only child care staff member in the room at the 2 time and was preparing to take the children outside. At 8:03 AM, the video shows Ms. Chase standing near the cubicles with Child A. Child A appears to be upset and while Ms. Chase is talking to her, she appears to have done something to Ms. Chase. Ms. Chase then reacted and appears to have pushed Child A who then fell to her bottom. Ms. Chase then pulled Child A up by her arm in a rough manner. Ms. VanBuskirk indicated that she spoke with Ms. Chase regarding what she observed in the video and Ms. Chase explained that Child A had pulled herself back and she tried to catch her, which is why it looked as though she pulled her up. Ms. VanBuskirk feels as though Ms. Chase could have handled the situation differently by sitting down on the floor at Child A's level if she was upset. Ms. VanBuskirk did "write up" Ms. Chase for the incident and found additional training for her to complete on MiRegistry called Relax Alternatives to Anger for Parents and Caregivers. Ms. VanBuskirk is also going to schedule an additional child care staff member to work in the room with Ms. Chase in the morning for a bit. Ms. Chase currently works from 7:30 AM to 2:30 PM. Ms. VanBuskirk did not have any previous concerns with regards to Ms. Chase's interaction with the children, nor have any parents or other child care staff members come to her expressing concern. Ms. Chase has been employed by the center since January 2021. Ms. VanBuskirk described Ms. Chase as a good employee who is dedicated and currently enrolled to obtain her CDA credential. I completed an unannounced, on-site inspection to the center on 08/06/2021 and arrived at the center at 10:00 AM. I first privately spoke with Ms. VanBuskirk and observed the video footage from 08/02/2021. In the video, with Ms. VanBuskirk's narrative, I observed Ms. Chase to help Child A with putting her shoes on because she came into the center without any on and they were getting ready to go outside. I see Ms. Chase bend down and help Child A to put shoes on. Then Ms. Chase is observed to stand up with Child A while holding Child A's wrist area and walk over to the cubicle. In the video, while Ms. Chase is still holding Child A, she does fall back. Ms. Chase then does pull Child A up in a rough manner. The videotaping/playback is not in real time motion and is somewhat faster. When Ms. Chase pulls Child A up, it does appear as if she is yanking her up in a rough and inappropriate manner. Ms. VanBuskirk's guidance to child care staff members in these situations is to let go of the child's hand and get down on the floor with them. Ms. VanBuskirk reiterated that Ms. Chase is a good child care staff member and she feels as though she made a mistake because she was frustrated. Ms. VanBuskirk showed Ms. Chase the video, who admitted that it "looks bad" and that it was not her intention to hurt Child A. Ms. VanBuskirk's concern with the interaction between Ms. Chase and Child A is that it does seem abrupt and not as gentle as she would like. However, she is not sure because the video playback is faster than real time. Ms. VanBuskirk has requested Ms. Chase take Ms. VanBuskirk did speak with Child A's Mother regarding the incident who shared that Child A does fall back and throw herself down. Ms. VanBuskirk indicated that 3 Child A's Mother voiced some concerns with Child A and temper tantrums lately and that she did not have any concerns regarding Ms. Chase and her interactions with Child A. Child A remains enrolled at the center and was present during my o

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

On 07/02/2021, I made an unannounced on-site inspection to the center and arrived at 10:00 AM. I first privately spoke with licensee designee and program director, Chris VanBuskirk. Ms. VanBuskirk had a prepared incident report ready on her desk to provide to this consultant. Ms. VanBuskirk had left this consultant a voice mail message on 06/30/2021 at 10:20 AM at which time she indicated that she was calling to report and incident, that she would be sending over the written report, and if this consultant had any questions to contact her. Ms. VanBuskirk's voice mail did not indicate what type of incident she was reporting. Ms. VanBuskirk stated that she faxed the incident report the same day, however this consultant did not receive it. I then shared with Ms. VanBuskirk that information had been received by the department regarding allegations of an unsupervised child and she confirmed that was the incident that she had been calling to report. The incident occurred on 06/29/2021 around 4:00 PM and Ms. VanBuskirk had left for the day around 3:45 PM. Ms. VanBuskirk received a telephone call around 5:00 PM from child care staff member, Regina Swann, who informed her Child A (11- year-old, female) had been left unsupervised in the school age classroom. Ms. Swann told her that Mr. Gaddis had the children get on the bug rope to go outside. He scanned the room for children and called out sever times "do I have everyone." Mr. Gaddis then went outside and less than a minute noticed that Child A was missing. Mr. Gaddis then ran back to the room with the child care children and was met outside by child care staff member, Jessica Chase, and Child A. Ms. VanBuskirk admitted that there was a period of time that Child A was alone and unsupervised. Mr. Gaddis informed Child A's Mother about the incident when she came to pick up Child A on 06/29/2021. Ms. VanBuskirk has spoken with Mr. Gaddis and reprimanded him with a written corrective action plan, which will include the need to be re-trained on name to face practices and counting children. Mr. Gaddis was already trained by Ms. VanBuskirk on name to face practices and transitions, but Ms. VanBuskirk is looking for additional training on Mi Registry for him. When asked regarding the center's transition policy, Ms. VanBuskirk described that child care staff members are trained as follows: Step 1: scan the room and check all areas to 3 make sure no one is hiding, Step 2: utilize the iPad and conduct a name to face check as the children are lined up, Step 3: count the children before exiting the room, and Step 4: count the children again when get to the destination. The iPad battery was dead and Mr. Gaddis admitted that he was unable to do a name to face check against the center's Tadpole system. Mr. Gaddis was the only child care staff member in the classroom at that time with 9 child care children. Ms. VanBuskirk provided documentation that Mr. Gaddis was formally trained by herself on the center's process of counting children and transitions upon hiring (March 2020) and again on 10/22/2020. Additionally, all staff are trained on a regular basis while working in the classroom with the lead teacher on counting and name to face. Ms. VanBuskirk observes transitions on a daily basis and is always walking around to the classrooms. Ms. VanBuskirk spent time in the school age classroom on Monday, 06/28/2021, when she observed the classroom leaving and coming back from their field trip to the splash pad at Goodells Park. The following child care staff members were also present for the field trip: Regina Swann, Jacob Gaddis, and Jessica Chase. Also, recently implemented at the center, is that child care staff members, Amber Frisbee, and Regina Swann, conduct classroom observations and checks. They go into the classrooms and ask the child care staff members what their count is. Ms. VanBuskirk wants the child care staff members to know their class count right away. When I asked Ms. VanBuskirk why she beli

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

On 11/02/2020, I spoke with the complainant who indicated that on 10/29/2020 they learned that Child A, who is in the Preschool 1 classroom, was left outside on the playground. The complainant stated they learned that the incident happened a week prior, on 10/22/2020. The complainant indicated that they did not witness the incident and did not know specific information regarding where Child A's was found. They did not know if Child A was on the playground, if the gate was latched, or if he was found on the black top in the parking lot. The complainant also did not have information as to who found Child A or know who brought him back to 2 the classroom. The complainant also did not have information as to how long Child A was left unsupervised. The complainant stated that Christina VanBuskirk (licensee/program director) is aware of the incident because on 10/22/2020 there was a staff meeting from 6:30 PM-8:00 PM and she did a demonstration with the bug ropes and had the child care staff members pretend they were the children and had to hold the bug rope. The complainant stated that Ms. VanBuskirk demonstration was to give the child care staff members the perspective of the children with transitions. Although, nothing was mentioned of the incident involving Child A, which had occurred the same day as the staff meeting. The complainant stated that they were also aware that Ms. VanBuskirk had a meeting with Child A's two child care staff members, Selah Bacon, and Jeanne Keene, on 10/23/2020. The complainant did not know the details of that meeting or any outcomes. The complainant was also unaware if the incident was reported to Child A's Mother. I completed an unannounced, on-site inspection to the center on 11/04/2020. I arrived at 9:00 AM and first spoke with Christina VanBuskirk. I asked Ms. VanBuskirk if there was an incident involving a child being left unsupervised outside on the playground. She stated that Child A, who is in Preschool 1, was outside with his class, along with the Preschool 2 and Latchkey children. Ms. VanBuskirk stated that two child care staff members, Selah Bacon, and Jeanne Keene, started to bring the Preschool 1 and Preschool 2 children inside and realized that Child A was not with them. She stated that Child A was still on the playground with the Latchkey classroom and child care staff member, Jordan Curry. Ms. VanBuskirk stated that Child A was never alone. Ms. VanBuskirk denied that Ms. Bacon and Ms. Keene entered the building without Child A and that they realized Child A was not with them prior to entering the building. I asked Ms. VanBuskirk what day the incident happened and she stated that she "did not know, a couple days ago". She then asked child care staff member (and center assistant director), Jessica Ippolito, if she knew. Ms. Ippolito indicated that it was the same day as the staff meeting, which was on 10/22/2020. I asked Ms. VanBuskirk what time the incident occurred and she stated it was at the end of the day because Child A's Mother came around the same time. I then asked to speak with the child care staff members assigned to the Preschool 1 and Preschool 2 classrooms, and Latchkey child care staff member, Jordan Curry. I privately spoke with those identified child care staff members on 11/04/2020. I first privately spoke with child care staff member, Haley Girardeau, who is the Lead Caregiver for the Preschool 1 classroom. I asked Ms. Girardeau about the allegations involving Child A. She stated that the only thing she knew was that it occurred on the date of the staff meeting and at the end of the day, around 4:30 PM. Ms. Girardeau stated that she was not on her shift but was in the building and stayed late to help clean in the toddler room. She stated that she went back into the 3 Preschool 1 classroom when Ms. Bacon came in and said that "she did something horrible and felt so bad". Ms. Girardeau explained that Ms. Bacon told her that the Preschool 1 and Preschool 2 children were l

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

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

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