• Violation

  R 400.1911 · R 400.1911 Care; supervision; children. (1) A licensee shall ensure appropriate care and supervision of children at all times.

  Child A was forced to eat food•did not want to eat. On at least one occasion a child care staff member put their hands on Child A's face to get ■ to open ■ mouth so that would eat.

  Open Not marked corrected in the state record

  Category: supervision. Open / not marked corrected.

• Violation

  R 400.1908 · R 400.1908 Capacity. (1) The licensee shall ensure that the actual number of unrelated children in care at any 1 time does not exceed the number of children for which the child care home is licensed, not more than 6 children for a family child care home and not more than 12 children for a group child care home.

  It was alleged that there are sometimes 18 to 21 children in care. During both unannounced on-site inspections, there were 12 children in care. Ms. Powless provided me with her daily attendance. I reviewed the attendance for April 2020 and July 2020. At no point during either of those months were there close to 12 children in care. Ms. Powless stated that there are usually 12 children in care, but sometimes there are 10 or 11. When the COVID-19 pandemic first started, she provided care to essential worker parents, and there were approximately four to six children in care daily. Things started to pick up over the summer and into the fall until she was at her capacity of 12 children. She never exceeds 12 children in care. Ms. DePue stated that there are never more than 12 children in care at one time. Usually there are 12 children present during the day, but sometimes there are 10 or 11 present. Ms. Meyer stated that she has never witnessed more than 12 children in care at one time. She stated that sometimes the of children in care will come to visit, but their parents are always there with them. Child G's Mother stated that there are usually four children present in the morning when she drops Child G off for care. There are usually five children present in the afternoon when she picks up. She has never witnessed more than that number of children at the child care. rj Child H and I's Father stated that the most children he has witnessed in care at one time was approximately 10. He denied ever seeing more than 12 children in care at one time.

The child care staff members at the child care home force-feed the children in care. They pinch the cheeks of Child A to make eat. An unannounced on-site inspection was conducted b and me. Ms. Powless denied force-feeding Child A or squeezing cheeks o force to eat. 11 She stated that is a very picky eater. At the child care they have the no thank you bite" rule in which a child has to try one bite of something before they say that they don't like it. Ms. Powless stated that if a child refuses to take the "no thank you bite" she lets it go. Ms. Powless stated that Child A had approximately five foods would eat. Most of the time she would make a peanut butter and jelly sandwic . M Child A likes anything withsugar in it. If Chil iked the food was served' would eat quickly. Child A When Child A leftcares was eating more of a variety of oo Ms. Powless stated that Child A never choked, made gagging noises, or vomited while eating at her home. Ms. Powless stated that when COVID-1 9 started and the schools closed down, she let Child B start coming to the child care as well. She had to in because Child B was stealing things and always had to be directly supervised. One day Child B took Child A, B, and C's Father's work tablet from home and brought it to the child care without permission and was looking up things online with it. Ms. Powless found Child B on the tablet when wasn't supposed to be on a device. Child B refused to give the tablet to Ms. Pow ess. That is when Ms. Powless made the decision to Child B. Child A care after Child B was Ms. Barbara DePuer child care staff member, stated that Child A only wanted to eat junk food while was at the child care. Sometimes to get to food she eati would put fin er on chin to make mouth open. S e would then tell to leave the food in mouth. Sometimes tld A would cry when this ha ene because ■ didn' t e to eat many foods. would spit the food out if didn't like it. This was only done to get Child A to try "no thank you bite." Ms. ePue denied 4 force-feeding Child A or squeezing cheeks to get to eat. Ms. DePue was asked if they have ever done this be avior with any o er child in care. She replied that they don't have to. All of the other children are good eaters. Ms. DePue stated that Child A used to be a better eater, but got picky around of age. She has not witnessed Child A gag or voml . During this conversation Ms. Powless was agreeing with Ms. DePue about putting a finger on Child A's mouth to encourages to open. mouth. She indicated that this was not done in a forceful way. Child F's Mother stated that Child F started attending Ms. Powless' child care at the . She was not aware of nor has she witnessed any child being forced to eat food or physically touched in an effort to force them to eat at the child care. She had also not heard of this behavior occurring from Child F. Child F's Mother stated that she asks Child F how day was every day and Child F has never reported any concerning behavior. ild F's Mother added that she is ve happy with the care that Ms. Powless provides. Child F has learned a lot since started attending there. Child F is normally very shy, but ■ has come out of shell some since attending the child care. Child F's Mother gave permission for hill F to be interviewed. Child G's Mother stated that she is not aware of any force-feeding occurring at the home. Child G has never mentioned anything like that happening. loves attending the child care. Her understanding is that Child G eats wha likes and doesn't eat what doesn't like. She had no concerns regarding the c ild care. Child G's Mother gave permission for Child G to be interviewed. Child H and I's Father stated that Child H has been in care with Ms. Powless for■ years. He has never had any concerns regarding the care that Ms. Powless or her assistants provide. He had no knowledge of any child care staff member putting their hands on a child to force them to eat. Child H's Father gave permission for Child H to be inte There are 18 to 21 children in care at one time. The back of children's shirts are grabbed and squished to direct the child to where the child care staff member wants them to go. Infants and toddlers are left in pack-n-plays while crying.