KinderCare Learning Center-New Hudson

R 400.8280(1) · R 400.8280(1) Discipline (1) Positive methods of discipline that encourage self-control, self- direction, self-esteem, and c ooperation must be used.

Licensee Designee, Teacher 2, Teacher 3, Teacher 4, and Teacher 5 have never seen Teacher 1 handle a child inappropriately. Teacher 1 denies ever grabbing children by the arms or kneeing them in the back.

R 400.8152(5) · R 400.8152(5) Medication; administrative procedures. A child care staff member shall keep all medication out of the reach of children and shall return it to the child's parent or destroy it when the parent determines it is no longer needed or it has expired.

In Toddler 1 room, one child’s epi-pen expired in August 2024, and one child's epi-pen expired in November 2024.

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

On 08124/2021 1 received an incident report from Kindercare Learning Center in New Hudson. The incident report indicated that Child A and Child B's mother contacted the program director, Ms. Peruzzi, and notified her that Child A and Child B were involved in an incident on the playground. Child A and Child B's Mother stated that Child A and Child B were asked to Child C's while inside a yellow tunnel on the playground. Child A, Chi , and Child C had their pants off inside the tunnel. Child A and Child B's Mother stated that when Child A and Child B declined to Child C's ,Child C said, "That's not how we play the game." Child A and ild B's mother is concerned about the incident and wanted to make sure that the center was aware of the incident. The incident occurred on 0812012021. On 08/2512021 l conducted an unannounced inspection. I interviewed child care staff members Renee Cottone (assistant program director), Gabrielle Billingslea (lead school age staff), and Emily Brandreth (floater staff). Program Director Katrina Peruzzi was not available for an interview. She was on vacation on the date of the inspection. I interviewed Ms. Cottone. She was aware of the incident but was not working with the School-age children on 08/20/2021. She stated the center does not have cameras, but photographs were taken on the playground on the date the incident occurred. She stated she reviewed the photograph's but did not observe anything unusual in them. She emailed me a set of five photos. Photos 1, 3, and 5 show children lying in the grass, playing on the slide; and playing next to one another. Photos 2 and 4 show children playing in and around the tunnel. Children A, B, C, and D are seen in these photographs; however, inappropriate contact was not seen in any of these photographs. Ms. Cottone provided child information records. I received Child Information Records for Children A, B, C, and D. I interviewed Ms. Bellingslea. She has worked as the lead school age staff member for two months. She said she played with children outside on the day of the incident. Ms. Bellingslea said she always observes all children in the group, even if she is playing with one child specifically. She remembered playing with bubbles on 0812012021 and playing soccer with a group of children on the day of the incident. She said she stepped away from observing children to put the center tablet away. She said she turned her back away from the children for just a few minutes. She recalled hearing that children threw socks over the fence, however, she did not observe children taking off their shoes and socks or taking their pants off or pulling their pants down inside the tunnel. Ms. Billingslea said she worked alone that day and had 11 children outside on the playground. She said generally if the children are having an issue, they will come to her and tell her about the problem. No child C] approached her with any issue or incident that occurred on this day. She stated she did not observe any unusual behavior. I interviewed Ms. Brandreth who works three days a week as a floater for the center and has been employed for six weeks. She stated that she was outside on the playground with the school age class in the afternoon on the date of the incident. Ms. Brandreth stated that Ms. Bellingslea was not present, she was on break from 3:30 pm to 4:10 pm. Ms. Brandreth stated she provided coverage for Ms. Belligslea's break. She worked alone. She did not observe children taking their pants off but did see children going in and out the tunnel and throwing socks over the fence. She said she retrieved the socks for the children and helped them put their shoes and socks back on. She recalled Child C standing at the fence talking to another child frequently throughout outdoor time. She did not indicate how many children she had in the classroom. According to the face to name sheet she had 11 children on the playground outside be herself. She stated she worked with a group of chil

R 400.8155 · R 400.8155 Child accidents and incidents; child and staff illness. (5) A center shall have a written policy detailing when children, staff, and volunteers will be excluded from the center due to illness.

On 08/23/2021 I called the complainant and left a voice mail message. I contacted the complainant a second time on this date via text message. I have not received a call or message back from the complainant. On 08/25/2021 I conducted an unannounced inspection at KinderCare Learning Center in New Hudson. I interviewed child care staff members Renee Cottone, Caroline Gaylord, Nicole Hardwood, Christine Magee, and Caitlyn Scarbrough. Ms. Cottone is the assistant director, Ms. Gaylord works in the infant 2 classroom as a child care assistant, Ms. Hardwood is a lead PreK staff member, Ms. Magee works as an infant child care assistant, and Ms. Scarbrough floats as an infant and toddler child care assistant. These individuals were interviewed because they were listed by the complainant as individuals who had knowledge of the allegations. Program Director Katrina Peruzzi was not interviewed. She was not present on the day of the onsite inspection. She was on vacation. I interviewed Ms. Cottone. She stated that Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) effected some children in the center. She said several children fell ill in the infant room with the virus between June and July this year. Children with RSV had a dry cough, runny nose, fever, and green mucus from their noses. She said children that presented two or more of these symptoms were excluded from care and were not allowed to return to the center without a doctor's note. Additionally, the center required children to be fully symptom free for at least 24 hours. Ms. Cottone said most children were out for five or more days as they recovered from RSV. Some children were out longer, and some were out a shorter time, but five days was the average. Children that presented one symptom, such as a runny nose, were allowed to remain in care. All children with a severe cough were excluded. She was not aware that any child was allowed to remain in care. She said parents were notified on four different occasions by email of confirmed RSV cases. The letter included symptoms to watch for and measures the center is taking to keep a healthy and safe environment. I interviewed Ms. Gaylord. She said RSV was present in the infant, toddler, and preschool classrooms during June and July. All children that were ill have returned to care. Ms. Gaylord said that she was instructed by management to contact them if she observed any symptom consistent with RSV. She said no children were allowed to stay when they were sick or had symptoms. Families were asked to bring in a doctor's note in order to return to care. I interviewed Ms. Harwood. She said that there have not been any cases of RSV in the PreK classroom, but she was aware of RSV cases in the center. She said all staff received training on how to detect illness and take care of children that were ill. 3 She stated that it is center policy that children are excluded when RSV symptoms are present. I interviewed Ms. Magee. She stated that about 8 infants had RSV a month or two ago. She said all children that were sick were required to stay at home. However, children that already had RSV and had a doctor's note stating they were no longer contagious could remain in care even if they had a symptom of RSV, especially since an RSV cough can last for weeks. She stated that all children have returned to care and no other children have gotten ill since contracting RSV. I interviewed Ms. Scarbrough. She stated she has worked at the center for about one month. She said she was unaware children had RSV in June and July. On 08/25/2021 I received a copy of letters sent to families notifying them of the confirmed cases of RSV at the center. Parents were notified via email on 06/29/2021, 06/30/2021, 07/07/2021, and 07/16/2021. The letter stated children that are diagnosed with RSV will not return to the center until cleared by a physician and symptom free. Information was provided on what RSV is, what symptoms to look for, what the center is doing to prevent spread, steps

R 400.8380 · R 400.8380 Maintenance of premises. ............... ....... (2) The premises must be maintained so as to eliminate and prevent rodent and insect harborage.

On 08/25/2021 I interviewed Ms. Cottone, Ms. Magee, and Ms. Harwood. All three staff indicated that there were small black bugs described as beetles, located in the Infant Room behind the cribs. Ms. Magee and Ms. Harwood both said the bugs were present during the month of June. Both stated when they observed bugs, they swept them up and threw them away and let management know about the bugs. The pest management company came to the center promptly to treat the bugs. All interviewed staff stated the bugs were not on or near children and that the bugs are no longer an issue. Ms. Cottone said that a work order was submitted to exterminate the bugs on the same day that she became aware the bugs were present. A specific date was not provided, but it was sometime in June. 5 On 08/25/2021 I received a copy of the service inspection report. The report indicated that Griffin Pest Control treated the bugs on 06/07/2021. The bugs were identified as clove mite and an application of Syngenta Advion WDG was provided on an exterior perimeter of the building. The report noted that interior pest management could not be applied due to children in the building. The exterior application included a disclaimer to keep children and pets away form the treated areas until the solution dried. Ms. Cottone stated the pesticide application was documented in the pest-management book that is provided to families. On 10/01/2021 I spoke to Ms. Peruzzi. She said there is not a bug infestation at the center. There were bugs in the infant room in June, but that issue has been resolved. She said she has told staff if they observe bugs or any other building problems to let her know so that a work order can be submitted.

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

On 08/25/2021 I interviewed Ms. Cottone, Ms. Magee, Ms. Harwood, Ms. Gaylord and Caitlyn Scarbrough. These staff were interviewed based on the complainant indicating that these staff members had specific knowledge of incidents were Ms. Weaver abused children. Ms. Weaver works in Toddler 1, Toddler 2, and Toddler 3 classrooms. She is a lead staff member in training for Toddler 1. Ms. Cottone stated that no one has brought to her attention that Ms. Weaver is abusive to children. She has never observed Ms. Weaver act in an inappropriate manner and has no concerns regarding Ms. Weaver's interactions with or around children. She stated she is required to inform KCE Risk Management if any allegations of abuse arise the employee is placed on leave during an investigation. Ms. Magee said she worked with Ms. Weaver from time to time. She said Ms. Weaver works very well with the children in her care. She has never observed Ms. Weaver discipline children or display inappropriate interactions with children. Ms. Magee stated that if she was concerned about Ms. Weaver's behavior around A children, she would contact the Department of Health and Human Services to report it. Ms. Harwood stated she did not work frequently with Ms. Weaver. She works in the PreK classroom. She said she did not have any concerns regarding Ms. Weaver's behavior with children. Ms. Gaylord works with Ms. Weaver on a regular basis. She said Ms. Weaver loves and cares for the children very much. She said she frequently observed Ms. Weaver with children and has never witnessed any concerning behavior or abuse of children by Ms. Weaver. Ms. Gaylord said if she had any thoughts that Ms. Weaver was abusing children, she would report it right away. She said she has never felt that she needed to report Ms. Weaver for abuse. On 10/01/2021 I spoke with Ms. Peruzzi. She stated Ms. Weaver is a hard worker and works well with others. She is the type of staff member that comes in early and stays late. She has no concerns with Ms. Weaver's interactions with children and has never had any allegations brought to her attention regarding Ms. Weaver's interactions with children. She stated that she has trained her staff to notify her or another staff member if they are feeling stressed or need a break from the children. She said staff know they can ask for help. I was unable to reach the complainant for further information regarding the alleged abuse by Ms. Weaver.

R. 400.8161 Emergency procedures. (8) Each child care staff member shall be trained at least twice a year on his or her duties and responsibilities for all emergency procedures referenced in subrule (1) of this rule.

On 08/25/2021 I interviewed Renee Cottone, Caroline Gaylord, Nicole Hardwood, Christine Magee, and Caitlyn Scarbrough. All five staff members stated they do not conduct practice lockdown drills. Ms. Cottone stated there are two different places children go. During a lockdown no one is allowed to enter or leave 7 the building all doors remain locked. If children are unsafe in one location, they will move children to another area of the building. Ms. Harwood said it is difficult to practice lockdown drill. She stated that the New Hudson police department came out to the center and advised them that they would develop a plan for the center for a building lockdown. However, due to COVID-19 the department was not able to complete the task. The center has not had a consistent lock down procedure in place since then. Ms. Magee and Ms. Scarbrough both indicated they have not been trained on emergency procedures for lock down drills. Ms. Gaylord has worked at the center for 6 months and Ms. Scarbrough has worked at the center for 1 month. Both staff said they were trained on fire and tornado emergency procedures, but they were not told what to do when the center has to go on lockdown. On 10/01/2021 I interviewed Ms. Peruzzi. She said she would like to work on the center's lockdown procedure. There is a lock down procedure, however drills have not been completed due to the pandemic. She said currently all children are supposed to go into the gym for lockdown, but due to covid they are not practicing this. Ms. Peruzzi stated all staff are trained on emergency procedures two times a year but has held off on running lockdown drills because of COVID-19 policies. She said when the building opened, the New Hudson Police Department came out to the center and told her they would provide recommendations for a lock down plan that included a secondary route for infants and toddlers. However, the recommendation was never provided due to the pandemic. The center has not completed lockdown drills, but staff are trained on what to do during a lockdown. She stated she discussed emergency procedures and crisis management plans at the last staff meeting and told staff that they are not practicing lockdown drills because of COVID- 19. She reminded staff that the lockdown location is in the gym. Emergency procedures will be discussed at the next staff meeting. On 10/01/2021 I received a meeting agenda, staff sign in sheet, meeting notes. The agenda indicated that on 06/24/2021 Ms. Peruzzi trained staff on emergency procedures. The training included information on lockdown drills and procedures. A second meeting is set for 10/21/2021. Emergency procedures, including lockdown will be covered again. Ms. Peruzzi stated that emergency procedures are gone over monthly with staff.