• Violation

  R 400.1913 · R 400.1913 Discipline; child handling. (3) Personnel shall not do any of the following: (a) Hit, spank, shake, bite, pinch, or inflict other forms of corporal punishment. 5

  On September 24, 2021, I made an unscheduled inspection to the child care home and spoke to Licensee, Shannon Armstrong, and Adult Household Member and Child Care Staff Member, Alan Armstrong, about the allegation. Ms. Armstrong said that Child A (male, age 6) has not attended her child care home since August 13, 2019. She stated that Child A's family left on good terms, and she was confused why these allegations would come up now. Ms. Armstrong denied ever spanking Child A or any other child in care. She does not believe in corporal punishment and never even spanked her own child growing up. Ms. Armstrong produced a copy of her current discipline policy that stated "Physical punishment will NEVER BE USED at our daycare for example (we will NEVER spank, shake, shame, or withhold food, etc.)" Ms. Armstrong's policy stated that she will remove children from the situation and redirect their attention to something else. If that does not work, she would use time-out to help them calm down. She said time-out would only be used with children four years and older and would not last longer than one minute per year of the child's age. She stated that she also encourages communication and expression of feelings. She will give them opportunities to problem-solve and learn from situations and model appropriate behaviors. Ms. Armstrong denied ever spanking Child B (female, age 8) but admitted that she did "tap" Child B on the tops of her hands "a few times" when she misbehaved in front of the other children in care. Ms. Armstrong explained that Child B is her granddaughter and has not attended the child care home regularly in over a year. Child B was adopted and had some severe abandonment issues and would demonstrate some very extreme behaviors where Mr. Armstrong would have to physically remove her from the child care room. Child B's Mother had asked Ms. Armstrong to lightly tap her on the hands when she misbehaved as a consequence for misbehavior because she would not respond to verbal direction. Ms. Armstrong said she was not comfortable with it but agreed to try it since it was what Child B's Mother had requested. She tapped Child B on the hands a couple times and the next day, Child A's Mother approached her and said that Child A came home and mentioned that Ms. Armstrong was slapping all of the children on their hands. Ms. Armstrong denied slapping any children in care on the hands and explained that she had tapped Child B on the hands a couple times but said she would stop doing that if it bothered Child A. Ms. Armstrong said she spoke to Child B's Mother and told her that she was not going to do that anymore. I provided technical assistance to Ms. Armstrong and explained that she could not use or threaten to use any physical discipline with related children in front of children in care because it could be a perceived threat to the unrelated children. Ms. Armstrong said she understood and 3 had not used any physical discipline with Child B since Child A's Mother had spoken with her about the concern two years ago. Mr. Armstrong denied that Ms. Armstrong has ever spanked any children in care, including Child A and Child B. He said that he can only remember ever spanking their own daughter one time when she was growing up because they do not believe it is an effective way to discipline a child. He said that Ms. Armstrong did "tap" Child B on the hands a couple times but said she never did it in front of the children in care. She only tapped her on the hands because Child B's Mother had asked Ms. Armstrong to discipline her that way when she was having behavioral issues after Child A was adopted. Mr. Armstrong said that Ms. Armstrong uses redirection and time-out for all discipline with the children in care. On September 24, 2021, I spoke to Child A's Mother and Child B's Mother by telephone about the allegation. Child A's Mother stated that Child A stopped attending the child care home in 2019. She had not planned to report it, but Ch

Child A (male, age 6) said he was frequently spanked by Shannon Armstrong while in care. One time he was spanked for having a bowel movement in his pants. He said that other children in care were also spanked. Ms. Armstrong admitted that she spanked Child B (female, age 8). Child A was forced to watch a television show that Child A was not permitted to watch at home. Ms. Armstrong moved his head to face the television and made him watch it.

Disposition: Substantiated