Stepanski Preschool Child Care

R 400.8213(1)(a) · R 400.8213(1)(a) Staff; volunteer (1) All staff and volunteers present at the center shall: (a) Provide appropriate care and supervision of children at all t imes.

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R 400.8213(1)(a) · R 400.8213(1)(a) Staff; volunteer (1) All staff and volunteers present at the center shall: (a) Provide appropriate care and supervision o f children at all times.

The center provided appropriate care and supervision to Child A when Child A ran outside the building.

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R 400.8213(1)(a) · R 400.8213(1)(a) Staff; volunteer (1) All staff and volunteers present at the center shall: (a) Provide appropriate care and supervision o f children at all times.

Based on the interviews that were conducted and the video footage that was reviewed, there is evidence to support that Teacher 1 and Teacher 2 did not provide appropriate care and supervision for Child C on 07/21/2025, when Child C was left unsupervised sitting in a wagon in the hallway by the Child Care classroom for one minute and fifty-five seconds. Teacher 1 and Teacher 2 did not follow the child care center’s supervision policy which states that during transitions, staff account for all children with name-to-face recognition by visually identifying each child and counting the children.

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722.115p(1) Child care center, group child care home, or family child care home; potential or current child care staff member convicted of crime. 3 LANDMARK BUILDING • 105 W. ALLEGAN STREET • LANSING, MICHIGAN 48933 Michigan.gov/MiLEAP (1) Except as provided in section 5n (14) and (15), a child care center, group child care home, or family child care home shall not allow an individual to be a child care staff member without requesting a criminal h istory check as required by section 5n. Bureau

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R 400.8121(1)(b) · R 400.8121(1)(b) Indoor space. (1) The required square footage of indoor space per child must be at least the following: (b) Thirty-five square feet for preschoolers and s chool-aged.

During the interviews with Teacher 3, Teacher 4, Teacher 5, Child Care Coordinator and Licensee Designee, it was established that the child care room had more than twenty-five children in the room on many occasions, especially during lunchtime. The room is licensed for only 25 children. New Rule Number: 8121(1)(b)

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R 400.8112a(1) · 2 LANDMARK BUILDING • 105 W. ALLEGAN STREET • LANSING, MICHIGAN 48933 Michigan.gov/MiLEAP PR19-R 400.8112a(1) Center records The center shall maintain accurate records detailing daily arrival and departure times for each staff member, volunteers, therapeutic professionals, and i ndependent service providers.

The center did not maintain accurate attendance records for teachers. The arrival and departure times for teachers were not documented for 1/17/25, 4/25/25, 5/2/25 and 5/9/25. New Rule Number: R 4 00.8112a(1)

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R 400.8112(10) · R 400.8112(10) Children's records. (10) A center shall keep on file at the center an accurate record of daily attendance at the center that includes each child's first and last name and each c hild's arrival and departure time.

The center did not maintain accurate attendance records for children in the child care room. There were either no check-in times or check-out times for some children on 1/17/25, 4/25/25, 5/2/25 and 5/9/25. New Rule Number: R 400.8112 (10)

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R 400.8213(1)(a) · R 400.8213(1)(a) Staff; volunteer (1) All staff and volunteers present at the center shall: (a) Provide appropriate care and supervision o f children at all times. 4 LANDMARK BUILDING • 105 W. ALLEGAN STREET • LANSING, MICHIGAN 48933 Michigan.gov/MiLEAP

The Teachers in the Child Care Room did not provide appropriate care and supervision to Child A when he was left unattended in the outdoor play area for about thirty -five minutes.

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R 400.8222(4)(c) · R 400.8222(4)(c) Capacity; ratio and group size requirements (4) In each room or well-defined space, the maximum group size and ratio of child care staff members to children, including children related to a staff member or the licensee, must be as shown in Table 1: (c) Preschoolers, 3 years of age until 4 years of age, child care staff member to child ratio of 1 to 1 0, maximum group size of 30.

According to the Teachers' and children's attendance record review, the child care room was out of ratio on 1/23/25 between 4 pm and 5 pm. and on 2/28/25 from 12:30pm to 3pm. New Rule Number: R 400.8222(4)(c)

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R 400.8140(2)(a) · R 400.8140(2)(a) Discipline. Hitting, spanking, shaking, biting, pinching, or inflicting other forms of corporal punishment.

CCSM 1 used prohibited means of punishment by dragging Child A on the floor for a distance of 80 feet.

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R 400.8140(1) · R 400.8140(1) Discipline. Positive methods of discipline that encourage self-control, self-direction, self-esteem, and cooperation must be used.

Positive methods of discipline that encourage self-control, self-direction, self-esteem, and cooperation were used at the center. Based on the interviews, there is no sufficient evidence that CCSM 1 pushed Child A’s face to make her wash her hands.

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R 400.8140(1) · R 400.8140(1) Discipline. Positive methods of discipline that encourage self-control, self-direction, self-esteem, and cooperation must be used.

Positive methods of discipline that encourage self-control, self-direction, self-esteem, and cooperation were used at the center. There is not sufficient evidence that Lead Caregiver 2 was rough with the children, losing her temper and threatening children.

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R 400.8140 · R 400.8140 Discipline. (2) All of the following means of punishment are prohibited: (a) Hitting, spanking, shaking, biting, pinching, or inflicting other forms of corporal punishment.

On 3/17/22, the department received a complaint stating that on 3/14/22, Child A received a scratch and fingerprint marks on her arm pit area while she was in child care at the center. On 3/17/22, 1 interviewed Child A's mother who stated that Child A's father picked up Child A on 3/14/22 at about 2 pm. The staff member at the child care center indicated that Child A was sleeping at the time of pick up and they had to wake her up. Child A's father was surprised that Child A had slept because she had just woken up at 10 am and attended child care after that. Child A's father brought Child A home and she was playing outside with her siblings. At about 6:30 pm Child A's mother helped her to change into a dress and noticed scratches and fih marks in the arm pit area. Child A's mother said that this was Child A's child care room. Child A's mother said that Child A attends Child A's mother said that Child A and she repeats everything that she hears. Child A had been making statements such as, "Lay down now", "don't be careless", and "take a nap now" which were new. Child A made these statements aggressively, imitating the person who made the statements. The scratch was red and was going up into the arm pit area and the fingerprints looked as if Child A was grabbed from behind by the armpit. There were two nail marks up in the armpit. Child A's mother said that Child A was probably forced to take a nap because she would not nap in the afternoon since she woke up at 10 am. Child A's mother took pictures of the injuries and sent them to the program director, Ms. Bratton. Ms. Bratton apologized and said that the pictures look like Child A was grabbed and she will find out more the next day when she is in the center. Child A's mother did not take Child A for a medical assessment. Child A's mother said that Child A refused to go to school the next day and she had never done that before. However, when she attended class the next day, she was fine. Child A's mother said that she was"nosstating at anything happened intentionally, but a staff member could have grabbed Child A unknowingly, but nobody was able to explain anything to her. 611 W. OTTAWA. P.O. BOX 30664 • LANSING, MICHIGAN 48009 www.mkhigangovIIar '51T -335-19B0 Ms. Bratton called Child A's mother the next day and told her that there was only one staff member in the classroom at the time and she was a long- standing employee with good credentials. Child A's mother said that she needed accountability for what happened to her daughter. On 3/17/22, I received 3 pictures of the injury. I could see redness around the arm pit area but could not identify the fingerprint marks or the nail marks from the pictures. It appeared vaguely as if somebody had grabbed Child A from behind from under the armpit, based on Child A's mother's explanation. On 3/18/22, I conducted an onsite visit at the center. I inspected the child care room and did not see anything that was consistent with any equipment that could have caused the injury. On 3/18/22, I interviewed Ms. Bratton who said that Child A's mother appeared to be very upset about the fact that Child A could not attend the head start classroom on 3/14/22 more than the injury itself. Ms. Bratton said that she could see the redness in the picture but was not sure about the fingerprints or the nail marks. Ms. Bratton said that she spoke to Ms. Davidson who was the only staff member present in the classroom and asked her about the injuries. Ms. Davidson said that she had no physical contact with Child A except when she had to walk Child A up and down the hallway. Ms. Bratton said that Ms. Davidson has worked in child care for the past 23 years and has not had any incidents of physical punishment with children. Ms. Bratton said that Child A's mother indicated that she knew that nothing was intentional and did not want to get anybody in trouble. Ms. Bratton said that she accommodated Child A into child care for that day since there was paperwork missin

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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.

Ms. Davidson explained Child A's activities and knew whereabouts of Child A consistently during the time that Child A was in care. The center provided appropriate care and supervision to Child A.

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R 400.8140 · R 400.8140 Discipline. (2) All of the following means of punishment are prohibited: (a) Hitting, spanking, shaking, biting, pinching, or inflicting other forms of corporal punishment. 611 W. OTTAWA. P.O. BOX 30664. LANSING, MICHIGAN 48909 www.michigan.gov/lara . 517-335-1980

On 10/12/20, I received an incident report from the licensee designee Ms. Lemarbe stating that Ms. Fuller witnessed Ms. Gates spanking Child A on the bottom in the classroom on 10/6/20. The incident report also stated that Ms. Gates was terminated from her services for this incident and does not work in the child care anymore. On 10/14/20, I interviewed Ms. Fuller who said that on 10/6/20, between 10 am and 11 am, Child A was playing with Magna tiles and she had a problem with sharing with her sister in the classroom. Both the sisters are in child care and have a history of fighting with each other in various situations. Ms. Fuller said that Ms. Gates was around the area with Child A and her sister, and she continued to work with other children with the easel. When she turned around, she saw Ms. Gates spank Child A on the bottom with an open hand and was getting ready with raised hand to spank her again. Ms. Gates said that she could not hear the noise of the spanking. Child A did not scream or cry or make any noise. Ms. Fuller interjected at this time and told Ms. Gates to stop spanking. Ms. Gates put her hand down and walked away. Ms. Fuller said that she was so shaken by the incident since she had not seen anything like this before in child care. Ms. Fuller said that she had heard a couple of times Ms. Gates threatening Child A stating that you better be good, or you will get a spank on your butt, or you know what happens if you don't behave. Ms. Fuller said that she had told Ms. Gates not to talk like that but to redirect the children. Ms. Fuller said that Ms. Davidson was also present in the classroom when the incident occurred. Ms. Fuller said that she did not report the incident to anybody that day, nor did she contact the parents right away. Ms. Fuller said that she did not realize that she had to let the licensee designee or the program director know about this. She was too nervous and scared. Ms. Gates continued to work in child care that day. On 10/7/20, she let Ms. Lemarbe know about the incident and she was not sure what happened after that. On 10/7/20, Ms. Fuller saw Ms. LeMarbe talk to Ms. Gates and came to know that Ms. Gates was terminated from her services. Ms. Fuller said that she is aware that she is a mandated reporter for abuse and neglect but did not report the incident to children's protective services. She said that she would make the call today. Ms. Fuller stated that she was aware that Ms. Gates was a caregiver for Child A and her sister outside of child care. Ms. Fuller said that Ms. Gates was a close friend of 611 W. OTTAWA. P.O. BOX 30664. LANSING, MICHIGAN 48909 www.michigan.gov/lara . 517-335-1980 the family and had a very close relationship with Child A and her sister. Ms. Fuller said that it was probably this fact that stopped her from reporting the incident in a timely manner. On 10/14/20, I interviewed Ms. Davidson who said that on 10/6/20, between 10 am and 11 am, Child A was playing with her sister. Child A did not listen to put her toys away after playing. The group was getting ready to go outside and Child A was not getting into the line to leave. Ms. Davidson said that she saw Ms. Gates pick up Child A and carry her around. Child A resisted and was screaming. Ms. Gates put her down, held her by her waist and steered her towards the line. Child A continued to resist. At this time, Ms. Davidson saw Ms. Gates spank Child A on her bottom. She said that she heard the noise of spanking. Ms. Davidson said that it was not an open hand full blown spank but was not a nudging on the bottom either. She heard Ms. Fuller saying that they cannot spank any children here and stopped her from doing anything further. However, Ms. Davidson did not see Ms. Gates getting ready to spank her again. Ms. Davidson said that she did not report this incident to anybody inside the organization nor did she call the parents. She said that she was aware that she was a mandated reporter and stated that she was sorry tha

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R 400.8140 · R 400.8140 Discipline. (2) All of the following means of punishment are prohibited: (d) Inflicting mental or emotional punishment such as humiliating, shaming, or threatening a child.

On 10/12/20, I received an incident report from Ms. Lemarbe stating that a staff member had seen Ms. Leonard flick Child A in child care. On 10/14/20, I interviewed Ms. Fuller who said that she had not seen or heard about Ms. Leonard flicking Child A. Ms. Fuller said that she had heard Ms. Leonard state before that she had flicked Child A and her sister when they don't listen. Ms. Fuller said that she assumed that it was outside child care because she had not seen anything like that in child care at school. Ms. Fuller said that Ms. Leonard is very close to the children and is like a second mother to them. Ms. Fuller said that Ms. Leonard was listed on the child information cards for both the children and would pick up the children many times. She said that she was aware that Child A and her sister would spend more time with her than with their mother. Ms. Fuller said that Ms. Leonard worked for a couple of months in August and September and left to go to another site. On 10/14/20, I interviewed Ms. Davidson who said that on an unknown date about a couple of months ago, she had heard the sound of flicking with Child A. She said that she could recognize the sound of flicking but did not actually see what she did. Child A did not scream or cry or show any reaction to this. Ms. Davidson said that she did not report this incident right away or tell Ms. Leonard anything about this. She had heard Ms. Leonard say a couple of times; "If you don't stop whatever, I will pop you". Ms. Davidson knows that "pop" according to Ms. Leonard was flicking the child. Ms. Davidson knows that Ms. Leonard was very close with Child A and her family and takes care of them on a regular basis. On 10/30/20, I interviewed Ms. LeMarbe who said that on 10/7/20, she talked to Ms. Leonard about this and she completely denied the allegations. Ms. Leonard said that she had not inappropriately corrected Child A's behaviors at any time in child care. If that happened, it could have occurred outside of child care. Ms. Leonard does not work at the center where Child A and her sister attend child care anymore. Ms. Lemarbe shared an email from Child A's mother who said that Ms. Leonard was like a second mother to her children and they both discipline the children whether it is time out, a tap or a thump. Child A's mother said that Ms. Leonard has her permission to discipline her children how she sees fit and she would back her up 100%. Child A's mother said that if the incident supposedly occurred, it was done unintentionally on Ms. Leonard's behalf. On 10/30/20, I interviewed Ms. Leonard who said that she had Child A and her sister in her care since they were babies. She said that she is a good friend of Child 611 W. OTTAWA. P.O. BOX 30664. LANSING, MICHIGAN 48909 www.michigan.gov/lara . 517-335-1980 A's mother and watches the children regularly every weekend and most evenings. She said that there may be times when she has flicked Child A and her sister, but she had never done it at work. She said that Ms. Davidson was aware of her relationship with the children and she had seen her outside of child care with the children. Ms. Leonard said that Ms. Davidson was assuming that she had flicked Child A at child care. Ms. Leonard said that she had scared Child A and her sister by saying "Do I need to thump you?" outside of child care but never while she was at work with the children. On 10/30/20, I interviewed Child A's mother who said that she completely trusts her children's safety with Ms. Leonard. Child A's mother said that she had not seen Ms. Leonard flick the children or use threatening words at them. Child A's mother said that Child A is a wild child and can be very challenging to manage her. On 11/4/20, I reviewed the document where Ms. Leonard has signed that she would not use offensive language towards children or use conduct that was abusive towards the children.

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R 400.8158 · R 400.8158 Incident, accident, injury, illness, death, fire reporting. ....................................... ........ (2) A licensee, or licensee designee, or program director shall report to the child's parent and the department directly or via phone, fax or e mail, within 24 hours of the occurrence of any of the following: (b) An incident involving an allegation of inappropriate contact.

The licensee designee or the program director did not inform the department within 24 hours of Ms. Gates spanking Child A.

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R 400.8140 · ........................................ I R 400.8140 Discipline. (2) All of the following means of punishment are prohibited: (d) Inflicting mental or emotional punishment such as humiliating, shaming, or threatening a child. I

Ms. Leonard did not use threatening words towards Child A or her sister in child care.

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R 400.8140 · R 400.8140 Discipline. (2) All of the following means of punishment are prohibited: (a) Hitting, spanking, shaking, biting, pinching, or inflicting other forms of corporal punishment.

I Ms. Leonard did not flick Child A in child care.

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R 400.8158 · R 400.8158 Incident, accident, injury, illness, death, fire reporting. (2) A licensee, or licensee designee, or program director shall report to the child's parent and the department directly or via phone, fax or e mail, within 24 hours of the occurrence of any of the following: (b) An incident involving an allegation of inappropriate contact.

The licensee designee or the program director did not inform the department within 24 hours of the allegation that Ms. Leonard flicked Child A.

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