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 8/22/2022 I conducted an unannounced onsite inspection at West Midland Family Center. Program Director Tangelyn Oswald was spoken with regarding the complaint. She was not present for the incident, but child care staff member Leigha McLaughlin was there. Ms. McLaughlin oversees the school age programs at West Midland Family Center. Ms. McLaughlin was spoken with. On the day of the incident, some staff members called in sick. The classrooms were still in ratio including the school age classroom (age 5-12) which had nine children and one child care staff member (CCSM1). CCSM1 was lining the children up to go to the gym. She stood at the door and counted the children. She then walked out the door and the line of children followed her, except for the two children at the back of the line who were not paying attention and continued talking with each other. Ms. McLaughlin, whose office is located in the classroom, was still present at her desk, but she did not immediately notice the two children who stayed in the room. CCSM1 counted the children and immediately realized she was missing two children. She told the seven children they would need to hurry back to the classroom to retrieve the other two children. CCSM1 then rushed out of the gym to go back to the classroom, but only three of the seven children in the gym followed her. She made it back to the classroom and retrieved the two children who were still there, but then realized she was missing the four children who stayed in the gym. She gathered the five children she had with her and hurried back down to the gym where the other four children were still present. She counted and confirmed she had all nine children with her again. The four children left alone in the gym were without supervision for approximately 75 seconds. Ms. McLaughlin contacted the parents of the four children and told them what had happened. None expressed any concerns. CCSM1 panicked when she realized she was missing the two children and should have ensured that all seven children returned to the classroom with her. A meeting with all child care staff was recently conducted regarding supervision of children. Video camera footage of the incident was watched. It was confirmed that Ms. McLaughlin was present in the classroom at her desk where the two children were initially left. It was also confirmed that four children were left in the gym for approximately 75 seconds. CCSM1 was spoken with regarding the incident. She has worked at the center for six months in the school age classroom. The day of the incident was the first day for several of the children and they were not familiar with the routine or rules for the classroom. She was certain she counted the children lined up in the classroom and then led the line down the hallway without looking back to ensure all nine children were with her. Once in the gym, she realized she had left the two children in the classroom, she panicked and hurried back to the classroom without making sure she had the seven remaining children with her. Directly after the incident she had a talk with the nine children about safety and listening to the instructions given by adults at the center. It was also confirmed that normally there are two staff members present 3 in the classroom, but they were short staffed that day. CCSM1 accepted responsibility for the error and learned a valuable lesson from the experience. An exit conference was conducted at West Midland Family Center with program director Marcy Young. Ms. Young confirmed that the incident should not have happened and continued discussions would be had with staff at the child care center regarding supervision and the importance of being mindful of the number of children in a given group.

Open Not marked corrected in the state record

Category: supervision. Open / not marked corrected.

R 400.8182 · 1 R 400.8182 Ratio and group size requirements (7) If there are children of mixed ages in the same room or well-defined space, then the ratio and group size is determined by the age of the youngest child, unless each group of children is clearly separated and the appropriate child care staff member-to-child ratios and group sizes, if applicable, for each age group are maintained.

On 7/29/2022 I conducted an unannounced onsite visit at West Midland Family Center. I spoke with Program Director Tangelyn Oswald. She was not present on 7/27/2022 but Jillian Westphal was here and in charge that day. She called Ms. Westphal and put her on speaker phone. That afternoon there were two children and one child care staff member in the infant room, five children and two child care staff members in the toddler room, and 18 children and two staff members in the preschool room. The infants and toddlers went outside and were in the early childhood playground making it seven children (ages birth-36 months) and three staff members. The preschoolers then came outside. Eight of the preschool aged children (ages 3-5) went into the early childhood playground along with one staff member. Ten of the preschoolers (age 3-5) went into the main playground with one staff member. The children in the main playground did not use any equipment rated age 5-12, but rather the open spaces. A few minutes later, 18 school aged children (age 5-12) and two staff members came outside to the large playground where the 10 preschool aged children were playing. The infant teacher recognized that there were too many children in the early childhood portion, so she took her two infants, put them in the stroller and walked around the outside of the early childhood playground. This allowed her to remain in the vicinity in case something happened but separated her two infants from the rest of the children. This left 13 toddler and preschool aged children and three staff members in the early childhood playground. Some of the children played on the climber and others played near the fence with push toys, which created two groups of children, each in a defined space. There was 2 at least one child care staff member in each area. After a few minutes outside, children started to get picked up and the number of children began to decrease. A staff member raised a concern about the numbers so yesterday there was a meeting with Ms. Westphal and four of the child care staff present. Attendance records were viewed. The numbers Ms. Westphal provided were accurate according to attendance around 4:00PM that day. A discussion was had with Ms. Oswald and Ms. Westphal about how maximum group size and ratios could be followed on the massive outdoor play area at West Midland Family Center. Ms. Oswald also recommended that one of the classrooms play in the gym instead of outside if they are short staffed late in the day in the future. Child care staff members Alicia McGill, Taylor Ellison, and Nicole Coan were interviewed outside on the playground while they were caring for children. The three child care staff members all corroborated what Ms. Westphal and Ms. Oswald stated. They also confirmed the meeting occurred on 7/28/2022 about different options they had in order to ensure maximum group size and ratios are followed. They all felt as if the issue was due to being short staffed on 7/27/2022. Ms. Peters being present walking the parameter while still interacting with the early childhood children helped them stay in ratio and the children separating into groups helped them stay under the maximum group size. On 8/3/2022 I spoke with child care staff members Chloe Finney and Shadow Peters on the telephone. The two child care staff members corroborated what the other staff reported. They are conscious of maximum group size and ratios and were very short staffed on 7/27/22 due to a couple of staff members being sick. On 8/3/2022 I spoke to the referral source. RS was not present on the playground when the staff were allegedly out of ratio. RS was also unaware that a meeting had taken place the following day between the staff involved and Ms. Westphal. RS had heard about the issue from another staff member and felt it needed to be reported. RS did not feel this was an ongoing or frequent issue. On 8/22/2022 I conducted an exit conference with Program Director Marcy Young. Ms.

Open Not marked corrected in the state record

Category: ratio. 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.

On 9/15/2021, I along with child care licensing consultant Gezelle Myers conducted an unannounced on-site inspection at West Midland Family Center. I met with license designee/program director Trixie Onstott. Ms. Onstott was present at the child care facility at the time of the incident. The incident occurred on 9/13/2021 at approximately 3:11 p.m., and the incident was reported to the department via telephone on 9/14/2021. Ms. Onstott reported this was the first day of classes for the program, and that Child A (male, age three) is new to the program. Ms. Onstott reported she was in the office and was notified a child was at the welcome area, she came out with other staff to speak with Child A and determine where he belonged. Ms. Onstott checked his backpack for his name, however, did not find anything. It was determined he came from the 3-year-old classroom, and she began to walk him down the hallway and met with child care staff who were coming from the classroom looking for Child A. Ms. Onstott reviewed the camera footage from the date and time in question and found Child A was in hallway at 3:11 p.m., he placed his backpack on and walked away from Mr. North and the other children in the hallway. Child A was viewed on video footage to walk toward the front of the building making it to the doors of the welcome center at approximately 3:12 p.m., and was talking with staff members until Ms. Onstott arrived at 3:15 p.m. Meanwhile Ms. Onstott viewed the camera to show Mr. North walking down the hallway looking for Child A, however he turned back down the hallway after not seeing Child A. Ms. Onstott walked Child A back to the three's classroom meeting staff upon the walk back. I then met with Mr. North, who reported he was in the hallway with several of the children gathering their backpacks, he estimated approximately 13 kids were with him in the hallway. Mr. North indicated it was hard to tend to all the children, and that Child A must have walked away without him noticing it. At some point all the teachers and children were in the hallway and they were counting kids so they could walk them out, and they did not have enough children present. Mr. North stated the other staff present were Ms. Julie and Ms. Janette. Mr. North said they counted again, and then he went down the hallway to look while one of the other teachers re- checked the classroom. Mr. North stated Ms. Trixie was walking Child A back down the hallway when he went again to look down the hallway. Mr. North was not able to provide a time frame but did not believe Child A was missing for more than a few minutes. I then spoke with Janette Maples. Ms. Maples reported it was the first day of preschool and it had been a crazy day. Ms. Maples stated she was in the classroom with Ms. Julie doing a large group activity and Mr. North had brought the children out to the hallway to get their backpacks on for dismissal home. When they were all (caregivers and children) in the hallway, Ms. Julie counted and realized they were off 3 by one in numbers. Ms. Maples went back into the classroom to check the classroom and Mr. North took off down the hallway and then Ms. Julie also went down the hallway. Ms. Maples believes Mr. North came out initially with five to six children but that they were releasing the kids from the carpet to go to the hallway to get backpacks on. Ms. Maples is not sure of the time frame but does not believe it was more than a few minutes that Child A was missing. Ms. Maples indicated normally (last school year) they brought the children's backpacks into the classroom and got them ready in there, however they were the only program in the building, so they decided to go to the hallway to get ready. Ms. Maples indicated they have returned to bringing the backpacks into the room at the end of the day and will continue to do so, to prevent another incident from occurring. Ms. Maples indicated this was Mr. North's first day, the kids' first day and it was just a cr

Open Not marked corrected in the state record

Category: supervision. Open / not marked corrected.

R400.8110(6) · R400.8110(6) Applicant; licensee; licensee designee; requirements The licensee or licensee designee shall maintain accurate records detailing daily arrival and departure times for each child care staff member, child care aide, and volunteer.

The attendance sheet for 9/13/2021, does not have a sign-in for Mr. North, as required. The center did not maintain accurate records detailing daily arrival and departure times for each child care staff member, as required.

Open Not marked corrected in the state record

Category: recordkeeping. Open / not marked corrected.

R 400.8158 · 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.

The licensee designee/program director reported the incident timely to the department. The licensee designee/program director contacted her licensing consultant on 9/14/2021 via telephone, to advise them of the incident, and she forwarded an incident report within 24 hours.

Open Not marked corrected in the state record

Category: supervision. Open / not marked corrected.

R 400.8170 · R 400.8170 Outdoor play area. ......................................... ......... ...... ....... (16) The depth of the loose-fill surface material must be restored to its required depth when it has moved or becomes otherwise compromised.

On 10/05/2020, I went to the center and interviewed program director, Trixie Onstott. I informed her of the allegations of the investigation. Ms. Onstott accompanied me to the outdoor play area. I observed two different play areas with play equipment. I observed areas under the swings where the surfacing had been displaced and several weeds were growing in the area. The fall zones around the equipment I observed had displaced surfacing. Ms. Onstott is not aware of the last time they had the surfacing replenished. She used to oversee the purchasing of the surfacing. She would order surfacing twice a year. Ms. Onstott agreed that the surfacing had been displaced and deteriorated and that the playground areas needed more surfacing. On 10/8/2020, Ms. Onstott sent me the invoice from the last time surfacing was purchased for outdoor play area. She stated that 25 yards was purchased on 5/21/2019. She informed me that this is half of what she had ordered in the past. Ms. Onstott stated that surfacing has been ordered and when it is delivered it will be spread on the playground. 2

Open Not marked corrected in the state record

Category: physical safety. Open / not marked corrected.