Immanuel Lutheran Preschool daycare inspections in Saint Clair, MI

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

On 05/16/2023, I spoke with Child A's Mother who reported that she informed child care staff member 4 (ccsm4) that on the evening of 05/11/2023, Child A told her that it hurt to go to the bathroom. Child A's Mother looked and noticed that Child A's vaginal area looked red. When she asked Child A about it, Child A told her that Child B sat on her lap and touched her "ooey." Child A's Mother questioned further asking if Child B was trying to tickle her. Child A then reported that Child B sat on her lap, put her hands behind her back, touched her and said, "Child A's name, you are such a good girl." Child A's Mother stressed that she was not accusing the center of anything but was notifying them out of concern as to who is watching the children and why are they sitting on each other's laps. Child A's Mother described Child A to be very verbal and that she told child care staff member 1 (ccsml) multiple times that she does not like to be touched. Child A's mother expressed frustration that staff should be paying attention to the children and what is being said and then nothing is done to fix it. She described there to be high staff turnover and switching of staff in the rooms, making it difficult to keep up with all the changes. I asked Child A's Mother if Child A was taken to the doctor and she reported that she was not. Child A has bad allergies and was red from toilet paper. Child A's Mother believes that Child B meant to tickle Child A's stomach. The children's clothes were on. On 05/16/2023, I spoke with Child B's Mother who confirmed that she received a telephone call from ccsm4 regarding the incident and then met with ccsm4 on 05/15/2023. Child B's Mother spoke with Child B who did not show any signs of knowing the alleged incident could have occurred. She described that they focus on privacy in their family and Child B does not even watch her infant sibling have a diaper change. Child B's Mother asked Child B generic questions, such as if anything happened at school, was anyone sitting on your lap, did you sit on anyone's lap. Asked generic questions about hugging and kissing and Child B responded, "no, only mommy and daddy." Child B's Mother expressed concern that the center did not gather details before contact. The center cannot tell her where or when it happened, the age of the other child, etc. Child B's Mother felt her child was targeted and concerned about what happens if this child says something like this in the future and is it on Child B's record that she did something. Child B's Mother felt it was pushed onto her child without getting any facts. She does not even know who the other parent is, and they are judging her and her child. No one has apologized to her and feel Child B is being victimized and blamed. Child B's Mother feels as she and Child B do not have any privacy, but the other child and parent do. The center has not expressed any concerns or behavioral concerns before, which is why Child B's Mother feels blind sited. Child B's Mother would want to keep the children separate, however does not know who the other child is so can't prevent it. Child B's Mother questioned what actions she can take to protect her child. On 05/19/2023, I spoke with licensee designee, Monique Cunningham, and ccsm4. They confirmed that ccsml was in the room as the lead caregiver, and ccsm2 and ccsm3 were assistants. Ms. Cunningham and ccsm4 want the situation to remain as 4 confidential as possible and the entire staff are not aware of the allegation. They described Child A and Child B to be friends who are often together so them being close to each other is not a red flag. Child A and Child B are described to both be very well-behaved girls with no concerns. Both sets of parents have been met with and additional follow ups will be made by ccsm4 to see how things are going. I completed an on-site inspection on 05/22/2023, arriving at the center at 10:45 AM. I spoke with ccsml who has worked at the center since January 2023. S

R 400.8125 Staff; volunteer; requirements. (1) All staff and volunteers shall provide appropriate care and su ervision of children at all times. 7

On March 16, 2023, program director Monique Cunningham self- reported an incident that occurred at Lutheran Immanuel on March 13, 2023. During late afternoon on March 13, 2023, Child Care Staff Members (CCSM) can be seen taking children back and forth to the bathroom on surveillance footage. At around 4:15pm, CCSM 3 is seen taking Child B to the bathroom. While CCSM 3 is still in the bathroom, CCSM 1 brings Child A to the bathroom but never goes into the bathroom, and then leaves to go back to the gym. CCSM 3 comes out of the bathroom leaving both Child A and Child B alone to retrieve a set of clothing for 2 Child B. CCSM 3 gets the clothing from Child B's Father, who has come to pick Child B up. CCSM 3 re-enters the bathroom and then is seen exiting with Child B. Child B and her father leave the building and CCSM 3 never re-enters the bathroom. Child A is alone and unsupervised. On the video footage, Child A's Mother is seen passing CCSM 3 in the hallway as she is walking toward the gym and CCSM 3 is walking away from the bathroom to a class room. Child A's Mother enters the gym, exits the gym, and heads towards the bathroom. Child A's Mother comes out of the bathroom and goes back to the gym. During this period CCSM 1 was seen leaving the gym with another group of children going to the bathroom passing Child A's Mother. Child A's Mother goes back to the bathroom and this time finds Child A. Ms. Cunningham wrote in the incident report that the video documentation shows that Child A was not left alone in the bathroom for more than a minute between CCSM 3 leaving and CCSM 1 coming in with more children. CCSM 1 was in the bathroom when Child A's Mother went to check the first time. The timeline of events that was documented and provided to Licensing by Ms. Cunningham was not correct. The clocked time on the video was off by more than 10 minutes. Numerous attempts were made to receive and save the video footage. None were successful so the footage is not saved in the file. On March 17, 2023, I interviewed Child A's Mother over the telephone. She stated that on March 13, 2023, she arrived at the center and originally went in Child A's classroom. When she arrived, the room was empty. She removed Child A's things, signed Child A out on the attendance system at 4:19PM, and headed towards the gym. On her way she had passed CCSM 3 in the hallway. Child A's Mother went to the gym. When she entered, she saw three CCSMs (CCSM 2, CCSM 4, and CCSM 5) sitting together on the floor against the wall on one side of the gym. When she asked where Child A was, the CCSMs called out Child A's name with no response. None of them seemed to have any idea where Child A could be nor were any of them making any attempt at first to get up off the floor and look or check with CCSM 1. CCSM 1 said, Child A was in the bathroom with CCSM 3 but Child A's Mother had passed CCSM 3 and she did not have Child A with her in the hallway. She went to the bathroom, called out Child A's name and looked under the stall doors. She did not see Child A. She went back to the gym, and someone again told her that Child A was in the bathroom. This time she found Child A in the last stall. Child A's Mother stated that none of the staff seemed to know what to do when a child could not be found. None of them made any attempt to help her at first. Then they got up and looked around the gym. The gym is an open room. You can see 3 from one side to the other. There was a frustration that the CCSMs did not know right away where Child A was in the building. On the way home that evening Child A told her mother that she yelled out for help, but no one answered. So, Child A knew she was alone in the bathroom. From past experience Child A's Mother knew that the year before, CCSMs had left a child out on the playground alone and new policies and procedures had been implemented. Including increased counts and taking children to the bathroom in groups. On March 20, 2023, I conducted an unannoun

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

On 11/15/2021, I privately spoke with Child A's Mother who reported that Child A attends the center on a full-time basis, Monday to Friday, from 6:30 AM to 4:15 PM. Child A has been enrolled in the center for one year. Regarding the incident involving Child A, I asked Child A's Mother what information she was provided with from the center. The center informed her that while they were outside additional children were dropped off by their parents so when it was time to go inside, they miss counted. It was another preschool classroom and child care staff member, Trudy Rapier, who found Child A sitting outside by the door. Child A's Mother received the incident report from the center which indicated that the class came in around 10:15 AM. The time on the incident report was 11:10 AM, so she is guessing that Child A was alone and unsupervised for almost one hour. Child A's Mother expressed great frustration and disappointment with the fact that Child A's own regular caregivers did not realize she was missing. Child A's Mother was grateful that the weather was decent for mid-November and was 50 degrees. When Child A was picked up by her father, all she told him was that she was alone at day care and does not fully understand what happened. Child A's Mother took Child A back today and spoke with the program director, Nicole Talerico, about what steps she would like the center to take to make her feel more comfortable for Child A to remain enrolled. Child A's Mother did not voice any previous concerns with her daughter's care at the center. Child A's main caregivers are child care staff members, Katy Chitwood and Christine Allen. Currently, Child A remains enrolled in the center. On 11/15/2021, I privately spoke with child care staff member Katie Chitwood. Ms. Chitwood has worked at the center for the last five years with a typical schedule of 6:15 AM to 1:30 PM. On 11/12/2021, the day of the incident involving Child A, Ms. Chitwood indicated that they took the children outside at 9:40 AM. The child care staff members present were herself, Christine Allen, and Selina Schweihofer. Ms. Chitwood was unsure as to the exact number of children that were present at that time. Ms. Chitwood indicated that she came in with one child at 10:00 AM to change a diaper and did not return outside because the rest of the children, along with Ms. Allen and Ms. Schweihofer were going to be coming back inside around 10:15 AM. It was then Trudy Rapier who went outside with her class and found Child A. Ms. Rapier brough Child A inside to the child care room. Ms. Chitwood described Child A to be "upset" and that she stated she "hates Ms. A." Ms. Chitwood estimated that Child A was outside, alone, and unsupervised for "close to an hour." 3 I asked Ms. Chitwood to explain the center's transition of children policy and procedure. Ms. Chitwood described the following "we take the kids out and play with them and talk with each other." Ms. Chitwood explained that when it is time to come in, the children line up, sometimes they count the children and then go inside, but this time they did not count. When asked who provides the training to child care staff members on the transition policy and procedures, Ms. Chitwood responded "we just do it." Ms. Chitwood confirmed that Child A was present at the center today. On 11/15/2021, I privately spoke with child care staff member, Christine Allen, who was very emotional and upset regarding the incident. She expressed great remorse. Ms. Allen has been working at the center since June 2021 and while she works various shifts, she most typically works 6:15 AM to 1:30 PM. Ms. Allen indicated on the day of the incident involving Child A, she was working alongside child care staff members Katie Chitwood and Selena Schweihofer. She recalls there being nine children present between the three of them when they all went outside around 9:45 AM. While they were outside, Ms. Chitwood came inside to change a child's diaper and then two mo

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

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R 400.8125 Staff; volunteer; requirements. (1) All staff and volunteers shall provide appropriate care and su ervision of children at all times. 7

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