• Violation

  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.

  On 12/19/2022 I spoke with Child A's mother on the telephone. Child A has been attending Pinconning ECC for 2 years. Child care staff member Torie Vollmer is a problem in the classroom. She has yelled at Child A and other children before and she has made complaints to the licensee (Northeast Michigan Community Service Agency) before. In the most recent incident, Child A was left in the bathroom by himself and got feces on his hand. He began wiping the feces on the wall of the bathroom stall and on his clothes. Ms. Vollmer went into the stall and saw what Child A had one. She began yelling at Child A and called him disgusting and said he was bad. Child A is mostly non-verbal and has some challenges. This information was reported to her by child care staff member Stephanie Foor. On 12/20/2022 I spoke with licensee designee Brenda Bradbury on the telephone. She spoke with her child care licensing consultant about this matter yesterday. Child A's mother and Ms. Vollmer do not like each other and there is a history of animosity between the two women. Child A's mother has posted about this incident and possibly others on social media mentioning Ms. Vollmer by name and then later by initials. The program is currently closed for the holidays early and may not open back up until this situation is remedied. She will forward all relevant information and telephone numbers to the consultant for review. She was unaware if there was an Individual Education Plan (IEP) for Child A that discussed bathroom supervision but would forward one if it was found. An email was sent to Ms. Bradbury requesting any and all documentation related to this matter. On 12/20/2022 Ms. Bradbury sent several emails containing staff phone numbers, staff member statements, a history of the complaints lodged by Child A's mother, and copies of text messages and social media posts relating to the incident. On 12/21/2022 I spoke with program director Amanda Ross via telephone. Ms. Ross is currently out on medical leave and was not present for the incident. Ms. Ross has worked for 17 years for NEMSCA and 11 years of that has been at Pinconning ECC. Child A is a wonderful child who is mostly non-verbal, but has shown tremendous growth. Child A listens well for Ms. Foor but does not listen at all to Ms. Vollmer. Bathroom time has been a challenge for Child A but he has been doing well with potty training. Typically, one of the staff members will assist Child A with toileting because he cannot wipe himself and will play around in the stall. Ms. Foor is amazing with the children and talks very kindly to them. In her seven years at Pinconning ECC, Ms. Foor has not had a parent complaint. Ms. Vollmer has only been with the program for a year. Ms. Vollmer's adjustment to the classroom has been difficult. She speaks quite a bit harsher towards the children and as a consequence, the children don't respond very well to her. She has witnessed Child A crying when the only seat 3 left at snack time is at Ms. Vollmer's table. Child A's mother and Ms. Vollmer have a turbulent history and they obviously do not like each other. On 12/22/2022 I spoke with child care staff member Stephanie Foor via telephone. She has worked at Pinconning ECC for eight years. On the day of the incident, she was told by Ms. Vollmer and Ms. Borton to go eat lunch. She eats lunch in an office across from the bathrooms. After a few minutes, she heard Child A crying and Ms. Vollmer yelling at him. Ms. Vollmer was heard saying, "Oh my God. This is disgusting. You are disgusting. This is gross." She went into the bathroom to check on Ms, Vollmer and Child A and found Child A standing in his underwear at the sink while Ms. Vollmer was cleaning up. She modeled how to talk with Child A about what happened. Ms. Vollmer is not skilled at talking with kids in a kind way. Child A's mother found out about the incident later that day and she told Child A's mother everything she remembered, but did not tell her that Ms. Voll

Child A was left alone in the bathroom and then called disgusting after he wiped feces on himself and the wall of the bathroom.

Disposition: Substantiated