• Violation

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

  On December 10, 2020 Program Director, Jamie Middaugh, called to self-report an incident that occurred on December 9, 2020. Ms. Middaugh explained that the fire alarm sounded at approximately 4:00PM on the afternoon of December 9, 2020. This was not a scheduled drill so she and Assistant Program Director, Nakia Kroph, immediately left their office to conduct a safety check around the building and find the cause of the alarm. She stated that within minutes Ms. Kroph had let her know that she had Child A with her (Ms. Kroph) and was taking her outside to be with her class. Ms. Middaugh continued to check the building. After conducting a final safety check Ms. Middaugh exited the building. She spoke with arriving emergency personal about a false alarm and had the children and staff re-enter the building. She then received a full explanation from Ms. Kroph about what had happened with Child A. Ms. Middaugh stated she was told by Ms. Kroph that Ms. Kroph was checking each room after the children and staff had left. When Ms. Kroph entered the Toddler 1 room she found Child A playing with no adult present. Ms. Kroph stated that was when she let Ms. Middaugh know what happened during the actual event itself. She then left the building to take Child A to rejoin her class. Ms. Kroph explained that when she took Child A to meet her class the three assistant child care staff members, Ayanna Webster, Amber Brown, and Cynthia Rapala had not known Child A was missing from their group of children. Ms. Middaugh stated it was under five minutes from the time the alarm sounded to when Ms. Kroph alerted her that she had Child A. During her observations everyone was out of the building in under three minutes. It was only the Toddler 1 room that 3 did not have an accurate count when the outside safety check was completed by her and Ms. Kroph. Ms. Middaugh stated that she informed Child A's Mother of the incident that same day. She explained that she told Child A's Mother that she would be discussing the incident with owner/Licensee Designee Alison Ludwig and would get back with her regarding a follow-up action. On December 10, 2020 I interviewed Ms. Ludwig over the telephone. Ms. Ludwig stated that she was not on-site during the incident and had been informed by Ms. Middaugh what happened shortly thereafter. We discussed not only the lack of supervision and appropriate care but the lack of primary caregiving in the room, if none of the caregivers child care staff were assigned to Child A. Ms. Ludwig stated she understood and was working on an action plan with Ms. Middaugh. On December 10, 2020 I interviewed Child A's Mother over the telephone. She stated that she was told when picking up Child A up from child care about what had happened. Ms. Middaugh explained the fire alarm sounding, and how Child A had been left alone for approximately three to four minutes in the toddler room before Ms. Kroph found her playing. Child A's mother stated that she was happy she was told and that it was a false alarm. Ms. Middaugh told Child A's mother that they would be looking at all policies and procedures to ensure that this did not happen again. Child A's Mother stated that she had no concerns previously. On December 16, 2020 I spoke with Ms. Middaugh for follow up information and staff schedules. Ms. Middaugh explained that Ms. Kroph was on a leave and was unavailable unless I urgently needed to speak with her about the incident. Ms. Rapala and Ms. Webster were on-site during naptime. Due to circumstances and length of Ms. Webster's employment it was decided by Ms. Middaugh and Ms. Ludwig to terminate Ms. Webster's employment. Ms. Middaugh stated that she had reviewed the incident statements and policies/procedures. She explained she will be starting with new staff training sessions on emergency procedures, current staff training on emergency procedures, increasing emergency drills done at different times of the day, and re-assigning child care staff to differ

On December 9, 2020, the building fire alarm sounded, and three child care staff members exited the building leaving Child A (1 year-old female) in a room alone.

Disposition: Substantiated