Bambi's Little Dears

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

On 3/29/2023, I called Child A's Mother, there was no answer. On 3/29/2023, I sent an email to Child A's Mother requesting a call back. On 3/30/2023, I attempted to make an onsite inspection at the child care home and Ms. Dakin was closed for spring break. On 4/05/2023, I emailed Child A's Mother requesting a call back. On 4/28/2023, I completed an onsite inspection at the child care home. Ms. Dakin stated that she was not surprised to see someone from the department. She reported that Child A's Mother wrote a Facebook post that she had contacted licensing and made allegations that Ms. Dakin was not a good provider because she allowed Child A to cry in the corner all day. Ms. Dakin stated that Child A started on 3/07/2023 and her last day was on 4/10/2023. Child A attended the child care two days per week and there was never a routine established where Child A got comfortable around her or the other children in care. Child A would cry as soon as her parents left and would not stop crying until they picked her up. Ms. Dakin stated that she tried consoling her by attempting to rub her back and trying to talk to her, however that just seemed to make Child A cry louder. Child care children also attempted to include her, and that would also make her cry louder. Ms. Dakin provided text messages between her and Child A's parents about her concerns with Child A's nonstop crying. Ms. Dakin also took a picture of Child A crying in the corner and asked Child A's parents if there was anything she could do help. Ms. Dakin suggested that it may help if Child A had attended fulltime to help establish a routine and relationships. Child A's parents agreed, but they ended up pulling her from child care before fulltime care started. Ms. Dakin added that this was the first time Child A had ever attended child care and due to COVID had not had time away from her parents or interaction with other children. Ms. Dakin also suggested to Child A's parents play groups at Grand Rapids Community College so Child A could get exposure to other children and adults.

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R 400.1931 · R 400.1931 Food preparation and service. .............................. (1) A licensee shall ensure that all of the following requirements are met: (a) Each child shall be provided with nutritional and sufficient food pursuant to the minimum meal requirements of the child care food program, as administered by the Michigan department of education. These minimum meal requirements are based on the dietary guidelines for Americans made by the National Academy of Medicine, which are available at https://www.fns.usda . ov/cacf /meals-and-snacks.

During my onsite inspection, Ms. Dakin denied that she only fed children in care Cheerios and water. Ms. Dakin reported that she typically provides cereal, milk and fruit. At lunch, Ms. Dakin reported that her typical meal would consist of a protein, such as a quesadilla, fruit, vegetable, milk, and cheese stick or yogurt. Ms. Dakin stated that Child A was offered meals and snacks, but she refused to eat. Ms. Dakin stated that she belongs to the food program and follows their guidelines. Note: On 3/16/2023, I completed an interim inspection at the child care home. Child care children were eating lunch upon my arrival. They were eating chicken nuggets, a vegetable, banana, milk, and a piece of cheese.

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

On 8/5/2021, I received a complaint stating that Child A has returned home from Ms. Dakin's child care with bruises on his legs that were not there when Child A was dropped off. It should be noted that Michigan Department of Health and Human Services declined to investigate this allegation. Nobody at the child care had notified the parents of how he obtained bruises while he was there. On 8/9/2021, I spoke to Child A's Mother. She stated that rows of bruises would appear on Child A's legs in the same location every week since around January 2021. She explained that at first, she and Child A's Father thought that it was possible that staffwere holding his legs inappropriately when changing Child A's diaper at home as he always kicked his legs while being changed; so, they reformed the way they changed Child A's diaper when he was at home. They began to distract Child A during diaper changes instead so that they did not have to hold his legs down. However, Child A still kept coming home from Ms. Dakin's child care with the same rows of bruising. Child A's Mother described the bruising as three or four finger shaped bruises in a row, which would be where the tips of fingers would make marks on the lower inner side of the leg, about halfway between Child A's knee and ankle. Child A's Mother stated that every week since around January 2021 Child A would come home with the same bruising around the middle of the week and then the bruising would begin to fade over the weekend/beginning of the following week. Then they would appear again on Child A's leg around the middle of the week when 3 Child A was attending Ms. Dakin's child care. This pattern continued each week until Child A stopped attending the child care home the week of July 30th, 2021. Child A's Mother explained that on July 28th or 29th, Child A's last week in care, the leg 30th, bruising became visible again and was still visible on his last day in care, July 2021. Child A's Mother explained that on July 30th, 2021, she and Child A's Father took Child A to Helen DeVos Children's Hospital emergency department to be evaluated for suspected child abuse based on the bruising on his legs. He was seen by Dr. Felt, Dr. Schwartz, and the hospital social worker. The after-visit summary supplied to me by Child A's Mother states that the diagnosis is "suspected child abuse" and has the instructions of "Child protective services can be reached at 855-444-3911 should you feel a need to report any specific concerns about your child's daycare." Child A's Mother also supplied the provider notes written by the medical provider from the 7/30/2021 hospital visit. Under "Medical decision making" and "history of present illness", the notes say "[Child A] is a 2-year-old previously healthy male presenting for suspected child abuse. Parents stated that over the last few months he has had scattered bruises on his bilateral lower extremities. Over the last 1-2 weeks, the patient has been screaming and crying prior to going to daycare. They continued to notice bruises on his lower extremities and so brought him in for evaluation. Vital signs stable on arrival to emergency department. Physical exam significant for scattered bruises overlying the bilateral shins. Bruises overlying bony prominences are nonspecific. There are no specific findings of abuse on exam. Medical social worker met with the parents. He provided them with the contact information for CPS. Patient was discharged home in stable condition.....P arents stated that he started having accidents outside of his diaper around this time as well. They are concerned that the daycare workers have been physically aggressive with him due to this. They believe that he has bruises on his legs caused by hands. He has been returning from daycare with very wet diapers and they are concern for neglect. The patent has been very clingy towards parents and not wanting to interact with strangers." Child A's Mother explained that the doctors who examined

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R 400.1903 · R 400.1903 Licensee responsibilities. Responsibilities. (1) A licensee shall be responsible for all of the following provisions: (g) Report to the department within, 3 business days, any changes in the household composition or when any new or existing member of the household or child care personnel has any of the following: (i) An arrest. (ii) A conviction. (iii) An arraignment for an offense that if convicted would lead to that individual's ineligibility to be connected with a child care home. (iv) Is being investigated by the state department of health and human services for an allegation of child abuse or neglect. (v) Is under court supervised parole or probation. (vi) Has been admitted to, or released from, a correctional facility. 10 (vii) Has been admitted to or released from a health facility or agency that was providing mental health or substance use disorder treatment services to the individual.

On 8/5/2021 I received a complaint stating that in April of 2021 Law Enforcement was observed in the home of Bambi's Little Dears. Bambi reported they were there due to her son refusing to go to school. There are concerns Bambi still allowed children to attend her daycare that day. On 8/9/2021 I spoke to Child A's Mother. She stated that on 4/14/2021, during morning drop off at approximately 8 AM, she pulled up to the child care home and observed a police officer get out a police car and go to the door. She then saw Ms. Bambi Dakin open the door and the officer walked inside. This was at the side door and not at the main child care door. Child A's Mother then observed a second police car pull up. Child A's Mother went to the front door where Ms. Dakin's daughter, Grace Dakin, who is a staff member, opened the door. Child A's Mother reported that she asked Ms. Grace Dakin what was going on with the police and Ms. Grace Dakin stated something like "it's okay, you don't need to worry about it, we're still accepting kids". Child A's Parents decided not to have Child A attend that day due to concerns about the police being present. Child A's Mother stated that Ms. Bambi Dakin later sent her a text message stating that the reason the police were present was because her teenage son (MHM 1) wouldn't go to school. Child A's Mother noted that she would send screen shots of her text messages between Ms. Dakin and herself from 4/14/2021 regarding the incident. She is unsure if the police visit resulted in criminal charges for MHM 1. Child A's Mother indicated that she feared at the time that the police visit may be a result of something more serious, such as MHM 1 being barricaded in the basement with weapons, because she remembers seeing on the child in care statement that there are weapons in the home. Child A's Mother also does not believe that it was a "resource officer" at the home because the police car was clearly marked "Sherriff'. Ms. Dakin reported to her via text that the police were only present because MHM 1's teacher didn't show up for virtual school, which did not make sense to Child A's Mother. On 8/9/2021, I received screen shots of the text messages from Child A's Mother from 4/14/2021 between her and Ms. Dakin. According to the screen shot, Ms. Dakin writes "Sorry police came to check on my son from missing school. He's welcome to come." Child A's Mother writes "so it's just from not going to school?" to which Ms. Dakin states "Yeah. The resource officer will come check on kids if they miss school". Child A's Mother then asked if they are both ok and Ms. Dakin states "Oh yeah. They just come and tell him to make sure he gets on his computer for school. Sometimes the teacher doesn't log in on time, so it shows the student late too." On 8/10/2021 Bambi Dakin that on 4/14/2021, she called the Rockford Police Department and asked if someone could come talk to her son because he was "giving her a hard time" and wouldn't log into virtual school. She stated that her daughter and staff member, Grace Dakin, was caring for the child care children as well when she went downstairs to get MHM 1 up for school. She reported that MHM 7 1 was standing in front of her on the stairs between the basement and main floor and was trying to stop her from coming up the stairs. She stated she does not recall all of the details but that while she was on the stairs, she felt like she was falling either forward or backwards and she "accidently" bit MHM 1 as she was losing her balance. This was prior to the police being called. She noted this incident did not take place in front of child care children as they were in the main living room and she and her son were on the stairway which is located off of the kitchen. Ms. Dakin stated that she called the police and they showed up a few minutes later and asked MHM 1 if he was ok but also spoke to him about going to school, and he agreed to attend school without any more issues. Ms. Dakin indicated that t

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

On 8/9/2021, I spoke to Child A's Mother. She stated that between March and July 2021, Child A came home from Ms. Dakin's care with food on his face and clothing on at least two occasions. Child A's Mother also stated that on 3/26/2021, Ms. Dakin sent her a text message regarding a mark on Child A's bottom and asked her to come look at it. Child A's Mother arrived to the child care around 9:50 AM on 3/26/2021 to look at the marks, but they were gone by the time she arrived. Ms. Dakin thought they must have disappeared. Child A's Mother noted that she was "rushed" through the living room, where the children were located and was taken to 11 the front room where the changing table was located. Child A's Mother stated that upon her arrival to the child care home, there were approximately 8-12 children in the living room and she observed that they were all were crying. She does not know who the children were that were present. There was one staff member present besides Ms. Dakin but she did not recall who the staff was. The children's cries were not being tended to by either Ms. Dakin or the other staff member. The children ranged in age from infant to age 4. The children were observed to be sitting and standing in the living room crying simultaneously. There was at least one infant in a walker as well. The children were not speaking or saying what was wrong; they were just "screaming and crying" and it was extremely loud. Child A's Mother noted that she was in and out of the child care home "within one minute". On 8/10/2021 I completed an unannounced on-site inspection at the child care group home. I interviewed Bambi Dakin about the allegations. She stated that during certain times of the year the children go outside from around 3 PM until the end of the day, because it tends to be warmer most of the year toward the end of the day. Ms. Dakin acknowledged that children may get their faces and clothes dirty while playing outside. There are times they also have snack while outdoors, so there may be occasions when they have gotten food on themselves prior to having a chance to go inside and change before going home. She does not recall a specific time when Child A came home dirty but acknowledged it does happen when the children play outdoors at the end of the day. She keeps wipes and a hose outside that are usually used to clean the children off prior to going home. During the day, if children get dirty faces, her and her staff wash the children's faces and will change their clothes if they are wet or "really dirty". They do not typically change children's clothes if they only get a little bit of dirt on them. Ms. Dakin was asked about the incident on 3/26/2021. She stated that after morning snack, around 9:30 AM, she was changing Child A and noticed the sides of his bottom were red. She didn't know what caused the marks, so she sent a text message with a photo to Child A's Mother to come take a look and she agreed to stop by. By the time Child A's Mother stopped by, the red marks on Child A's bottom were gone. She noted she realized later that they were probably caused by the sides of the booster chair and went away shortly after being taken out of the seat. Ms. Dakin explained that after snack, one staff will change diapers and bring the children to the living room once completed and the other staff member will clean up after snack. Ms. Dakin did not recall all the children in the living room crying when Child A's Mother arrived on 3/26/2021. She noted that children would have been transitioning from snack to diaper change to the living room and that if they were crying, it would have been while waiting for the next activity to begin. Ms. Dakin checked her records and noted that MHM 1 was the staff working on 3/26/2021, and that he does not do diaper changes so she concluded that she must have been the staff completing the diaper changes while MHM 1 was cleaning up after snack. She had 10 children in her care on 3/26/2021, accordi

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R 400.1911 · 1 R 400.1911 Care; supervision; children. (1) A licensee shall ensure appropriate care and supervision of children at all times. 13

On 8/5/2021, I received a complaint stating that there have been times that Child A has returned home from Bambi's little dears in a very soiled diaper with urine leaking out the sides. The complaint noted that since attending the child care, Child A no longer likes to be undressed by anyone and does not like to wear any of the clothes he wears to Bambi's little dears. Since attending the child care, Child A's behaviors have changed in that he is clingier, and does not want to go to Bambi's and states "no, no, no..." when he is dropped off there. On 8/9/2021, I spoke to Child A's Mother. She stated that Child A began urinating out the top of his diaper and through his clothes during naptime while at the child care home around June of 2021. She explained that Ms. Dakin was "frustrated" by this and worked with the family on finding a way to prevent this problem by having Child A try a size up in diapers, having him wear overnight diapers during nap, and ultimately having Child A wear footie pajamas at naptime. She stated that wearing footie pajamas solved the issue, but noted that this was also around the same time that Child A was showing signs of not wanting to attend the child care and not wanting to wear any clothes associated with the child care. Child A's Mother explained that she became worried that Ms. Dakin was punishing Child A or being rough with Child A out of frustration for urinating through his clothing. Prior to June 2021, Child A would cry a little bit about having to attend the child care, but then around July 2021, he seemed to become "really afraid" and would cry hard and say "no". She noted that Child A did not have a negative reaction to the main assistant, Grace Dakin, but that his negative reaction seemed to be specific to Bambi Dakin. Child A's Mother stated that the first day of Child A having a leaky diaper upon pick up was the same day that Child A came home with the scratch on his forehead on 3/25/2021. She noted that on that day, it seemed that all of the parents were picking up their children at the same time, so Ms. Dakin was truly busy, but that on at least 5 other occasions, from the end of March 2021-the end of July 2021, Child A came home with a leaky diaper, despite Ms. Dakin having ample opportunity to change him. She explained that Child A's diaper would be so "soaked" that anything touching 14 it such as his clothes and car seat would also be wet. Child A's Mother noted that there were a couple times that Ms. Dakin would send her a text messaged noting that she "forgot" or "got really busy" at the end of that day and would apologize for not having a chance to change Child A prior to departing for the day. On 8/10/2021, Ms. Dakin stated that there was one occasion that Child A came home with a leaky diaper. The routine at the end of the day is that parents send Ms. Dakin a text message indicating they will be arriving around 5 minutes prior to pick up and then Ms. Dakin will change that child's diaper upon receiving that message, so the child is freshly changed. Ms. Dakin stated on the one occasion she forgot to change Child A's diaper prior to sending Child A home, she noticed a fresh diaper sitting by the diapering station after he left and she realized she forgot to change him. Ms. Dakin looked in her text messages and sent a screen shot of the message she sent to Child A's Mother on the one occasion she mentioned. On 2/23/21 at 5:15 PM, Ms. Dakin sent a message to Child A's Mother stating "Sorry [Child A's Mother], [Child A] was next for a diaper change and everyone left at the same time, I turned around when [Child A's Father] left and realized he didn't get changed. My apologies!" Child A's Mother responded saying that she will change him, and Ms. Dakin told her he was changed last at 4:00 PM. Ms. Dakin explained that she and her staff change diapers upon smelling anything or upon being soiled, but also after children eat, before and after they nap, and right before the children leave

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R 400.1923 · R 400.1923 Diapering and toilet learning. (3) Diapers or training pants must be changed when wet or soiled. ...............

On 8/09/2021, I spoke to Child A's Mother. She stated that Ms. Dakin served Child A breakfast, lunch and two snacks each day, yet Child A was not gaining weight. Child A had a doctor appointment in January of 2021, where he weighed 27 lbs. and at his next doctor appointment on March 29, 2021, he still weighed 27 lbs. Child A's Mother reported that at home, Child A had begun to refuse to eat if he was strapped in his highchair, so they had to get creative in finding ways to get him to eat. She sent me screen shots of the conversation she had with Ms. Dakin on 3/29/2021 via text message. Child A's Mother writes "....They're also concerned about his weight because he hasn't gained anything in the past few months. At home he struggles at meals times as its hit or miss with meals. I wanted to know what sort of things you've noticed he likes to eat to see if we can't get him eating more at home." Ms. Dakin replies "...He's hit or miss too. I don't' really watch too much. We do pb and j, chicken nuggets, grilled cheese, quesadillas, eggs with cheese he seems to like, I can't' remember if he likes French toast sticks.". Child A's Mother stated that she was disappointed that Ms. Dakin could not tell her what Child A liked to eat and noted she just sent her a menu instead. She pointed out that Child A mostly eats at child care so if he is not gaining weight, it could be an indication that he is not eating well there. She reported that Child A also came home hungry everyday from Ms. Dakin's care. I inquired if Child A was put on a special diet by her or the physician in order to gain weight and she stated he was not, but that at home they found ways to get him to eat more so his weight is better now. This is the only conversation she had with Ms. Dakin or any staff about Child A's weight. 16 On 8/10/2021, I asked Ms. Dakin if she recalled Child A being underweight. She did not recall having a conversation with Child A's Mother when she was asked what Child A likes to eat, or where Child A's Mother indicated that Child A is underweight. She stated that Child A ate everything that was on his plate and that Child A's Mother never discussed his eating habits or weight with her. Ms. Dakin indicated that if she thought or noticed that Child A did not eat well or seemed to be underweight, she would have brought it up to Child A's Mother. On 8/10/2021, in the evening I received a text message from Ms. Dakin reporting that she combed through her text messages with Child A's Mother, and she sent me a screen shot of the same conversation with Child A's Mother on 3/29/2021. In the text message, Ms. Dakin stated that this was the only message she could find that was related to feeding, indicating that Child A ate what he was given, and that Grace usually fed him more because she would feed the older children and Bambi would feed the "babies". She also noted that Grace was the usually the one to make lunch when she would work. I interviewed MHM 1. He stated that he wasn't aware of there being concerns about Child A's weight and that the parents never brought it up to him or asked about his food intake. He stated that Child A ate "ok" when he was working, but that he didn't usually eat his entire meal. He noted that Child A would tend to eat about half of his meal and then stop and "stare". On 8/31/2021 I interviewed child care staff member Grace Dakin. She stated that Child A was "one of the best eaters" and that on most days he had seconds, especially for breakfast. He would usually eat multiple bowls of cereal. Ms. Grace Dakin reported that Child A's Parents never talked to her about having concerns with his weight. She stated the menu was documented, but it was not specifically documented what each child ate. She noted her mother Bambi Dakin would bring it up to parents if she had a concern with how much a child was eating. On 8/31/2021 I interviewed former child care staff member Isabel Blouw. She stated that Child A was fed appropriately and that

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R 400.1931 · R 400.1931 Food preparation and service. (1) A licensee shall ensure that all of the following requirements are met: (b) Children shall be offered food at intervals as individually appropriate, but not exceed more than 4 hours unless the child is asleep.

Ms. Dakin ensured that food was offered to child care children every 4 hours, before and after she stopped serving AM snack.

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