R 400.8110 · R 400.8110 Applicant; licensee; licensee designee; requirements. (13) Smoking and vaping must not occur in or during both of the following: (a) In the child care center or on real property that is under the control of the center and upon which the center is located.

On 04/010/2023 I completed an onsite inspection at the center. I arrived at 1:30 PM as the daily schedule shows that children nap and rest between 1:00 PM and 3:00 PM. When I arrived at the center the lights were off and there was soft music playing. There were eight children sleeping on cots with blankets located throughout the main room. There is a kitchen adjacent to the main room and there were six additional children seated at a table coloring with child care staff member (CCSM) 4. Nicole Ericson denied that children under school age who are in attendance for five continuous hours are deprived of a nap. She said the center had recently changed the nap time to 1:15 PM to 2:45 PM. School agers are only there for before and after school care except in the summer. In the summer months, school agers can nap if they choose, and older kids play outside or do a quiet activity while the younger children nap. Children bring in a blanket from home for their individual cots that they take home weekly to wash. If children do not have a blanket the center provides one that can be returned. A new daily schedule was ready to hang on the parent board. CCSM 1 denied that children are deprived of a rest time, even if they ask for it. All preschoolers nap every day. CCSM 2 denied ever hearing a child say they wanted to take a nap and be deprived of it. CCSM 3 believes the center is not following rules for napping and resting as he has witnessed children ask to rest and then deprived of a nap. When asked when, CCSM 3 did not have a specific time frame. CCSM 3 did not provide examples and could not pin point the last time that he witnessed a child be deprived of rest time. CCSM 4 confirmed that children nap in the afternoon. Children participating in Young 5's participate in a quiet activity like art, coloring, puzzles, or books. CCSM 4 has never heard a child ask to take a nap and they were not allowed to. CCSM 5, 6 and 7 all confirmed that children are offered rest time daily.

Open Not marked corrected in the state record

Category: physical safety. Open / not marked corrected.

R 400.8113 · R 400.8113 Program director qualifications; responsibilities. ....... ..... (1) Before hiring a new program director, a licensee or licensee designee shall submit a completed BCHS-CC 001 form, titled Child Care Licensing Information Request, and the credentials of the proposed program director to the department for review and approval.

During the onsite visit on 04/10/2023 I interviewed all the staff members present at the center. Child Care staff member (CCSM) 1 has seen two staff members, CCSM 6 and CCSM 7, vaping on the property. CCSM 1 brought up child care staff members 4, 6, and 7 vaping on the property. CCSM 2 had heard about it but has never seen anyone smoking or vaping on the property. CCSM 3 has seen CCSM 5 vape on the property. It was addressed with both involved staff members by talking to them in the office. CCSM 3 has not seen anyone vaping on the property since it was addressed. I asked CCSM 4 if she is aware of anyone smoking or vaping on the property. She acknowledged that she was addressed by CCSM 3 and Ms. Ericson and placed on 90-day probation. CCSM 4 said she was vaping in a personal car off the clock and did not realize vaping was not allowed on the property until she was given notice and placed on probation. I interviewed CCSM 5 who also acknowledged that she had vaped and been addressed. I also reviewed a written disciplinary notation in CCSM 5 `s employee record.

Open Not marked corrected in the state record

Category: recordkeeping. Open / not marked corrected.

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.

Upon review of the electronic file for the facility and the onsite paper employee file there was no completed BCHS-CC 001 form for Nicole Ericson. Nicole Ericson denied being aware that she needed to complete this form.

Open Not marked corrected in the state record

Category: ratio. Open / not marked corrected.

R 400.8122 · R 400.8122 Lead caregiver; qualifications; responsibilities. (5) Lead caregivers shall meet 1 of the following qualifications shown in Table 3: Education Coursework in Early Hours of Experience Childhood Education, Child development, or a Child-Related Field. a)Bachelor's degree or higher in early childhood development, or a child- related field b)Montessori credential with 480 hours c)Associate's degree or higher in early childhood education or child development d)Valid child development 480 hours 11 credential with -> e)High school diploma or 12 semester hours and->960 hours GED with -> 12 semester hours and -> 1,920 hours f)High school diploma or 12 semester hours, GED 18 CEUs, or a combination to equal 180 clock hours with -> 1,920 hours g)High school diploma or 6 semester hours, GED with -> 9 CEUs, or a combination to eaual 90 clock hours with-> 3,840 hours

On 04/10/2023 I interviewed child care staff member (CCSM) 1 who said there are parents that Ms. Ericson will not talk to; she leaves the room when they arrive. Ms. Ericson does not seem to be aware of the licensing rules. CCSM 1 would like to see leadership get along better. It is hard to work at the center. There is chaos amongst the kids and the children are hard to handle. There were not issues like this at the center before CCSM 3 and Ms. Ericson were in charge. They are not ready to run a center; they 100% know that there are problems, and they will not address them. They claim to get along, but everyone knows that they do not. rj CCSM 2 says Ms. Ericson is scared of certain parents and leaves the center rather than address their concerns or questions. She leaves child care staff members to address parents when she should be doing it herself. CCSM 3 shared multiple concerns about the current assistant program director, Nicole Ericson, and her ability to effectively manage the facility. CCSM 3 says the role of assistant director causes confusion because she says she will do something, and then she does not follow through and it creates animosity between staff and confusion with the kids. She mixes up the schedule, says she will prepare an activity and does not do it . CCSM 3 has taken the concerns to the owner who says it will be taken care of. When Ms. Ericson is grocery shopping, she does not get enough and then the cook has to make substitutions. CCSM 3 brings licensing concerns to Ms. Ericson who does not seem familiar with the licensing rules including training requirements. CCSM 4 shared that CCSM 3 and Ms. Ericson do not get along and go head-to- head over petty things. She does think it impacts the children as they can sense the tension and it affects their mood and contributes to the chaos. The communication between the two of them is terrible She has met with both of them, CCSM 3 thinks they have too much power, more than they really have. CCSM 4 feels that CCSM 3 and Ms. Ericson do not communicate well. They have very different ideas about what the center should look like. CCSM 3 is changing things left and right and wants things to be different (i.e. changed out plastic toys for wooden toys and put things in storage without permission). There is unneeded drama at the center. CCSM 4 sees it trickle down to the children. It is obvious to her that CCSM 3 is in charge. CCSM 3 runs large group activities but does not clean up or help. CCSM 3 changed the curriculum to High Scope and no one knows how to do it. CCSM 3 throws people under the bus. She is just an aid, but from her perspective nothing CCSM 3 has done has helped. The kids just pull things off shelves when there used to be containers at their level. CCSM 6 said that technically Nicole Ericson, who is afraid of confrontation, is in charge. Ms. Ericson puts a lot on the child care staff. When parents have questions Ms. Ericson leaves at 4:30 and is not typically around to address parents who have questions or concerns. The communication is not very good and sometimes child care staff members don't have everything that they need. On 05/24/2023 Ms. Ericson denied the concerns from the collective child care staff members that she was not available to address parents. Ms. Ericson acknowledged that she maintains a fairly set schedule often arriving at 8 and leaving at 4:30. Ms. Ericson agreed to make an effort to change her schedule to be there at opening and closing once a week to engage with parents and address any concerns they may have. 10

Open Not marked corrected in the state record

Category: recordkeeping. Open / not marked corrected.

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. .................

I reviewed child care staff member (CCSM) 1's employee file. I requested that child care staff member and functioning program director submit verification of CCSM 1's qualifications. I received documentation that CCSM 1 is enrolled in child development college courses, however does not currently have the qualifications to function as a lead. INVESTIGATION:

Open Not marked corrected in the state record

Category: supervision. Open / not marked corrected.

R 400.8158 · 1 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: (a) A child is lost or left unsupervised.

A review of the file does not reveal an incident report in reference to this incident. I asked what CCSM 1 could tell me about a missing child previously mentioned. In January of 2023. Child A (2 years, 10 months at the time of the incident) was left outside for 20-30 minutes. CCSM 3 and CCSM 4 were outside with the children and when they came in, they left Child A outside. No one knew he was gone until one of their van drivers (CCSM 6) arrived with other children and found Child A outside alone on the back porch. She does believe Child A's parents were informed. CCSM 1 thought Child A being missing was already reported and remembers it was on 01/04/2023. She told Ms. Ericson the incident had to be reported to the State. CCSM 3 acknowledged that CCSM 4 had accidentally left Child A outside on 01/04/2023, for between 20 and 30 minutes and no one knew Child A was missing until CCSM 6 brought Child A inside after returning to the center from picking up children from school. CCSM 3 and 4 were written up for this incident and put on 90 days of probation. CCSM 3 has never had that happen before or since and has been teaching for five years. 12 CCSM 4 acknowledged being aware of Child A being lost outside in January of 2023. CCSM 3 and 4 were outside with 12 children. CCSM 4 counted them but did not look a second time and should have. CCSM 4 believed all the children went through the gate to the porch area on the backside of the building and Child A was not paying attention or got out of line. CCSM 4 notified Child A's father in person at pick up time. CCSM 4 is not aware of whether or not the state was notified of the incident. Things have changed significantly with counting children. They count children in line, at the gate and again coming back through the gate. They recount again on the rug. All staff also now have a list on a clipboard that is carried with them in an apron that everyone wears. They also have an active count on a white board. They used to only have the clipboard and only count once. CCSM 6 says that Child A was left outside in 30-degree weather for 20 or 30 minutes. CCSM 6 remembers looking at the clock and noting that the kids were outside with CCSM 3 and 4 at 4:03 PM and they were starting to round up the kids to go inside. CCSM 6 got back to the center at 4:28 PM and found Child A outside of the back door alone. Child A was outside of the playground, in a separate fenced in area that provides access to the back door of the building. The gates were latched, and Child A cannot reach to unlatch them. CCSM 6 took Child A inside and noted that no one counted the children and waited at the back of the line. CCSM 5 was in the kitchen when CCSM 6 entered the back door with Child A. Ms. Ericson also reports that CCSM 4 informed Child A's father, but there was no incident report written up and submitted to the State or maintained in the file. Ms. Ericson told CCSM 2 that she had informed the State. On 05/09/2023 I interviewed Child A's mother by phone. Her husband typically picks Child A up from child care. She is aware of an incident in January of 2023 where Child A was left outside. She is pretty sure he was going poop because he hides when he is pooping. On 05/16/2023 I interviewed Child A's father. He thinks that it is very likely that Child A was hiding because he does that when he poops. They do not recall if they were informed how much time Child A was outside unsupervised. Child A's parents are aware that the center implemented changes right away to prevent it from happening again. Child A has not been affected by the incident at all and continues to attend child care. Ms. Ericson provided me with a "Stepping Stones Day Care and Preschool Incident Report." The report confirms that on 01/05/2023 the kids were playing outside when CCSM 3 and 4 miscounted and Child A was left outside unsupervised. A thorough file review did not produce an incident report in reference to Child A being unsupervised in January of 2023

Open Not marked corrected in the state record

Category: supervision. Open / not marked corrected.

R 400.8158 · R 400.8158 Incident, accident, injury, illness, death, fire reporting. (4) A licensee, licensee designee, or program director shall submit a written report to the department of the occurrences outlined in subrules (1), (2), and (3) of this rule, in a format provided by the department, within 72 hours of the verbal report to the department.

The licensee, licensee designee and assistant program director failed to submit a written report to the department of Child A being missing for between 20 and 30 minutes on or about 01/04/2023.

Open Not marked corrected in the state record

Category: health medication. Open / not marked corrected.