R 400.8335 · R 400.8335 Food services and nutrition; provided by center. (1) Food and beverages provided by a center must be of sufficient quantity and nutritional quality to provide for the dietary needs of each child according to the minimum meal requirements of the child and adult care food program... C~

JThere is no evidence to support the allegation that the center does not serve nutritious meals and/or snacks.

Open Not marked corrected in the state record

Category: nutrition. 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 11/16/2021, the department received a written allegation stating that CCSM 3 and CCSM 4 have pushed Child A down while saying, "Go away, you're annoying." CCSM 3 and CCSM 4 laughed when they did this. The complaint also alleges that children are forced to stay on their nap mats for several hours if they wake up before the other children. On 11/16/2021, I left a voicemail for the Complainant requesting a return call. On 11/17/2021, I completed an on-site inspection. I interviewed CCSM 1, CCSM 2, CCSM 3, CCSM 5, CCSM 6, and CCSM 7. CCSM 1, CCSM 3, CCSM 5, CCSM 6, and CCSM 7 stated they are completely shocked by the allegations. CCSM 1, CCSM 5, CCSM 6, and CCSM 7 stated they have no knowledge of CCSM 3 or CCSM 4 pushing any child down. CCSM 2 stated she has witnessed CCSM 3 and CCSM 4 tell Child A to go away and that he is annoying, but she has never witnessed either of them push Child A down. CCSM 3 stated the allegation regarding Child A being pushed down is "absolutely not true." CCSM 3 stated she would never push a child down or say anything hurtful to a child. CCSM 3 expressed extreme hurt over the allegation. I asked CCSM 3 if any of her interactions with Child A could have been taken out of context. CCSM 3 described Child A as being very interested in the outlet safety covers lately. Child A frequently and repeatedly tries to remove the safety covers from the outlets, which can be annoying at times. CCSM 3 has used a stern tone to redirect Child A away from the outlets and may have even said, "You need to go away." CCSM 3 believes it is possible that she has expressed frustration with Child A's persistent interest with the outlets to a coworker. CCSM 3 believes it is possible that she may have said something about Child A's behavior being annoying. CCSM 3 insisted that she never told Child A that he was annoying. Regarding children napping, CCSM 1 stated that the children are welcome to join the adults at the table when they wake from their nap. CCSM 3 stated that the children are allowed to get up as soon as they wake up. CCSM 7 and CCSM 2 stated that children are never forced to stay on their mats. CCSM 5 stated that children who do not nap are given a quiet activity either on their mat or at a table. CCSM 6 stated that if a preschooler wakes up early, he or she must stay on his or her mat until another child wakes up. Child care staff members wake everyone up once the second child wakes up. Children are not given anything to do while on their mats. CCSM 6 does not feel like the children are "forced" to stay on their mats. Children who do not sleep or who wake up early typically roll around on their mat, but they never get up. A child who is awake remains on his or her mat for no more than ten minutes. 3 On 11/18/2021, I separately interviewed Ms. Hannah Isenhart and CCSM 4 by telephone. Ms. Isenhart stated she has no knowledge of children being pushed down or told to go away because they were annoying. Ms. Isenhart and CCSM 4 stated they have no knowledge of children being forced to stay on their nap mat for any length of time. CCSM 4 adamantly denied pushing Child A down or telling him to go away because he was annoying. On 11/30/2021, I left a voicemail for the Complainant requesting a return call. I have not received a return call from the Complainant as of the date of this report.

Open Not marked corrected in the state record

Category: supervision. Open / not marked corrected.

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

On 11/16/2021, I left a voicemail for the Complainant requesting a return call. On 11/17/2021, I completed an on-site inspection. I interviewed CCSM 1, CCSM 2, CCSM 3, CCSM 5, CCSM 6, and CCSM 7. CCSM 1, CCSM 2, CCSM 5, CCSM 6, and CCSM 7 stated they have no knowledge of CCSM 3 slapping children on the mouth, hand, or otherwise. They adamantly denied corporal punishment of any kind being used at the center by themselves or anyone else. CCSM 3 was initially at a loss for words when I read her the allegation regarding her slapping children on the mouth or hand. She stated that she has never hit a child on the mouth, hand, or otherwise. She has held a child's hand to prevent him or her from hitting. She has put her arm in front of a child to prevent him or her from biting. CCSM 1, CCSM 2, CCSM3, CCSM 5, and CCSM 7 stated that CCSM 6 raises her voice from time to time to get the attention of the preschool children when they are 4

Open Not marked corrected in the state record

Category: ratio. Open / not marked corrected.

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 11/16/2021, the department received a written complaint alleging that the center routinely serves "Little Debbies and chips" and does not typically serve nutritious foods. On 11/16/2021, I left a voicemail for the Complainant requesting a return call. On 11/17/2021, I completed an on-site inspection. I interviewed CCSM 1, CCSM 2, CCSM3, CCSM 5, CCSM 6, and CCSM 7. CCSM 1, CCSM 2, CCSM3, CCSM 5, CCSM 6, and CCSM 7 stated the center routinely serves nutritious snacks, with an occasional sweet treat for birthday and holiday celebrations. They also stated that sweet treats are always served with healthy choices. Parents provide lunch for their children. On 11/18/2021, I separately interviewed Ms. Hannah Isenhart and CCSM 4 by telephone. They stated that the center routinely serves nutritious snacks, with an occasional sweet treat for birthday and holiday celebrations. On 11/18/2021, I received snack menus dated 10/04/2021 to 10/29/2021 from CCSM 3 via email. The menus contain a variety of nutritious foods, including, but not limited to mini pancakes, bananas, mini muffins, oranges, yogurt, apple slices, cheese stick, ritz crackers with peanut butter, applesauce, blueberries, French toast sticks, peaches, pears, granola bar, graham crackers, sun chips, and strawberries. There are no snack cakes listed on the menus. On 11/30/2021, I left a voicemail for the Complainant requesting a return call. I have not received a return call from the Complainant as of the date of this report.

Open Not marked corrected in the state record

Category: ratio. Open / not marked corrected.

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

On 09/14/2021, I made an unannounced visit to the Down by the Creek Center, and I interviewed child care staff members Megan Myas and Elizabeth Newland. Ms. Myas stated that she was in the outdoor play area with Ms. Newland, Child A, Child B, and Child C. Ms. Myas assisted Child B and Child C during outdoor play and when she looked up, she could not locate Child A. She opened the door to the center and asked child care staff member Jacqueline Send if Child A had walked back into the building. Ms. Send indicated that Child A was not in the building. Ms. Myas returned outside and found Child A in a hole dug below a plastic play house. Ms. Myas stated that the metal row boat had been moved and a child had moved a plastic playhouse to where the row boat used to be located. The plastic playhouse did not have a floor or base, so Ms. Myas could not see Child A in standing up in the hole during outdoor play. The incident occurred in July 2021, sometime after the fourth, and between 4:30 PM — 5:00 PM. She could not locate Child A for about a minute. Ms. Myas reported the incident to Child A's Father during pickup. Ms. Myas denied completing an incident report or notifying licensing about there being a lost child. Ms. Newland stated that she does not remember a lot of details about the incident involving Child A. She believes this incident happened sometime in July in the late afternoon. She had been outside with Ms. Myas, when Ms. Myas reported not being able to locate Child A. She assisted Ms. Myas with looking for Child A. The incident 3 happened very fast and Child A was only missing for 30 seconds. Child A was located in a hole in the outdoor play area where the steel row boat had been. A plastic play house was over the hole, which is why they could not find Child A. Ms. Newland could not remember which children were present for the incident and she could not identify any other child care staff members being present. She denied ever witnessing or knowing about any other children being lost at the center. She did not know that an incident report should have been completed and that licensing should have been notified. She reported not knowing if any other child care staff members had completed an incident report regarding this incident. On 09/14/20214, I interviewed the licensee designee Hannah Isenhart. Ms. Isenhart reported that she was not aware of the incident involving Child A being lost during outdoor play in July 2021. She is not aware of child care staff members completing an incident report or notifying the department. Since she was not aware of the incident occurring, Ms. Isenhart could not provide additional information regarding the allegations. On 09/14/2021, I interviewed Child A's Father. He acknowledged being informed by Ms. Myas during pick up about child care staff members being unable to locate Child A, but he was under the impression that Child A was hiding behind a bush, not in a hole in the outdoor play area. I explained the incident to him, and he stated that he was not aware of all the details on this incident. Ms. Myas only informed him that Child A was hiding behind a bush during outdoor play and staff could not find Child A for a moment. He denied having any concerns regarding child care staff members providing proper care and supervision of Child A before the incident or now. He denied having any other concerns related to the center. On 09/14/2021, I conducted a follow up interview with Megan Myas. She denied there being a separate incident involving Child A hiding in a bush. She stated that she was very clear with Child A's Father about Child A being in a hole in the outdoor play area when she could not locate him in July 2021. On 09/14/2021, I interviewed Child B and C's Mother, Child D's Mother, Child E's Mother, Child F's Mother, and Child G's Mother. They all reported having no concerns regarding child care staff members' ability to provide care or supervision of their children. They all denied child

Open Not marked corrected in the state record

Category: supervision. Open / not marked corrected.

R 400.8158 · 1 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.

Ms. Isenhart did not ensure that the licensee designee or the program director reported to the department within 24 hours a child being lost or left unsupervised. The department was not notified when Child A was missing in July 2021.

Open Not marked corrected in the state record

Category: supervision. Open / not marked corrected.

R 400.8158 · R 400.8158 Incident, accident, injury, illness, death, fire reporting. ................................ (4) A licensee, licensee designee, or program director shall submit a written report to the department of the occurrences outlined in subrules (1), (2), and (3) of this rule, in a format provided by the department, within 72 hours of the verbal report to the department.

Ms. Isenhart did not ensure that the licensee designee or program director submitted a written report to the department regarding Child A being lost during outdoor play. A written report was not submitted to the department after Child A went missing in July 2021.

Open Not marked corrected in the state record

Category: health medication. Open / not marked corrected.

R 400.8137 · R 400.8137 Diapering; toileting. (6) Diapers and training pants must be checked frequently and changed when wet or soiled.

On 05/20/2021, I conducted an unannounced onsite inspection at Down by the Creek. I discussed the allegations with licensee designee and center owner Ms. Hannah Isenhart. Program director Ms. Allison Millar was not present at the center because she had to leave early for an appointment. Ms. Isenhart stated that diapers are changed every one-and-a-half to two hours and as needed when children appear wet or soiled. No parents have complained to her about children not having diapers changed often enough. On 05/20/2021, I conducted interviews with Child Care Staff Member (CCSM) 1, CCSM 2, CCSM 3, and CCSM 4. CCSM 1, CCSM 3, and CCSM 4 stated that children's diapers are changed right away when they have bowel movements. If children's diapers appear soggy, staff will change their diapers. All of the child care staff members reported that they check children's diapers approximately every two hours and change them if needed. None of the parents have spoken to any of the staff members about concerns that their children did not have their diapers changed often enough. CCSM 1 stated that all of the staff members log information for different children in Brightwheel. She did not have any children on her primary caregiving list because she only works a few days a week. Today, she was filling in for Ms. Millar who had to leave early. CCSM 3 and CCSM 4 reported that they are assigned to the older toddler classroom. They indicated that the last time Ms. Isenhart discussed diaper changes was at a staff meeting about two weeks or a month prior. No other staff members have spoken with them about diaper changing concerns. CCSM 2 stated that she mostly works in the young toddler room. She thought that other staff may not change children's diapers as often as they should. On one occasion, when Child A (two-year- old, male) was transitioning between the younger and older toddler classrooms, CCSM 2 noticed that his diaper was overly saturated. Child A had a diaper change logged in the Brighwheel parent communication app, but it did not seem like he had actually been changed. On 05/18/2021, CCSM 2 went into the bathroom used by the older toddler classroom around 10:30 AM and noticed that the trash can liner for the diaper can was still draped over the side of the can from the night before when it was cleaned. There were no diapers in any other bathroom trash cans either. This led CCSM 2 to believe that none of the older toddlers' diapers had been changed as of 10:30 AM that day. CCSM 2 recently spoke with Ms. Isenhart and with program director Ms. Allison Millar about concerns related to children's diapers not being changed often enough. She also told them about the issue with the trash cans in the bathroom being empty on 05/18/2021. CCSM 2 did not know if Ms. Isenhart communicated these concerns to other child care staff members. 3 During the onsite inspection on 05/20/2021, I conducted a follow up interview with Ms. Isenhart. She asserted that no staff members have said anything to her about children going for long periods without diaper changes. She has never been concerned about staff not changing children's diapers often enough, nor has she spoken with staff about issues surrounding diaper changes. On 05/20/2021, Ms. Isenhart sent electronic records of Brightwheel daily reports for 19 enrolled toddlers for the dates of 05/10/2021 through 05/20/2021. On 05/21/2021, I reviewed Brightwheel daily report records for Child A, Child B (two- year-old, female), Child C (two-year-old, male) and Child D (two-year-old, male), and Child G (one-year-old, female). Child A was checked into the young toddler classroom at 7:14 AM on 05/10/2021 and out at 4:56 PM. Five diaper changes were logged during his time in care. On 05/11/2021, the young toddler classroom logged four diaper changes for Child A between 7:17 AM and 4:55 AM. On 05/14/2021, Child A was checked in to the older toddler classroom at 9:05 AM, and out at 4:02 PM. During the seven hours he was in the

Open Not marked corrected in the state record

Category: recordkeeping. Open / not marked corrected.

R 400.8185 · ........... .... R 400.8185 Primary care. (2) The center shall implement a primary care system so that each infant and toddler has a primary caregiver.

During the onsite inspection on 05/20/2021, Ms. Isenhart, CCSM 3, and CCSM 4 stated that appropriate staff member to child ratios are followed at the center. If someone has an appointment, Ms. Isenhart will step in to make sure ratios are followed. Staff members will also stay later if needed. Staff schedules are made based on children's scheduled times to make sure they are able to meet ratio requirements. On 05/20/2021, CCSM 1 and CCSM 2 stated that staff member to child ratios are not always followed. One time within the past month, Ms. Millar had to leave early for an appointment, and the young toddler room was over ratio for about half-an-hour before Ms. Isenhart was able to step in. On 05/21/2021, 05/24/2021, and 06/21/2021, Child A's Mother, Child B's Mother, Child C's Mother, Child D's Mother, Child E's Mother, Child F's Mother, and Child G's Mother reported no concerns about staff member-to-child-ratios at the center. Child C's Mother stated that she has never noticed more than four children with one staff member in the morning when she drops off. In the evenings when she picks up, there are usually four or five staff members present at the center. On 05/21/2021, I reviewed staff member and child Brightwheel attendance records provided by Ms. Isenhart via during the onsite inspection. Records show that between 2:06 and 2:43 PM on 05/10/2021, there were five older toddlers with one staff member, and eight younger toddlers with one staff member. On 05/13/2021, there were six younger toddlers with one staff member from 1:30 until 4:08 PM, and eight older toddlers with two staff members. During a follow-up inspection on 06/10/2021, CCSM 3 revised her previous statements about staff-to-child ratios. One day about two weeks prior, CCSM 3 was by herself with more than four toddlers. On 06/10/2021, CCSM 4 reported that center management did not always schedule enough staff in the mornings to properly maintain staff-to-child ratios. Recently, she spoke to Ms. Isenhart about not following proper ratios, and the problem was fixed. On 06/10/2021, CCSM 2 stated that there were times when proper staff-to-child ratios were not met because they have been too lenient with staff scheduling and holding parents to their scheduled arrival and pick-up times. Because parents pay a daily rate for care no matter how many hours their children are present, some of them feel like they should be able to drop their children off or pick them up whenever they want. This causes an issue because staff are scheduled based on parent's requested arrival and pick- up times. On 06/10/2021 and 06/21/2021, I spoke with Ms. Millar about staff-to-child ratio concerns. She stated that center management needs to be stricter with parents about their scheduled drop off and pick-up times so they can schedule staff appropriately and meet staff-to-child ratio requirements.

R 400.8182 · R 400.8182 Ratio and group size requirements. (3) 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 4: (a) Infants and toddlers 12 birth until 30 months of age: 1 to 4.

Ms. Isenhart and Ms. Millar did not ensure that in each room or well-defined space, the ratio of staff member to toddlers was maintained at 1 to 4. CCSM 1, CCSM 2, CCSM 3, and CCSM 4 reported that the center does not always maintain appropriate staff member-to-child ratios. On 05/10/2021 between 2:06 and 2:43 PM, there were five older toddlers with one staff member, and eight younger toddlers with one staff member. On 05/13/2021, there were six younger toddlers with one staff member from 1:30 until 4:08 PM, and eight older toddlers with two staff members. ...........

Open Not marked corrected in the state record

Category: ratio. Open / not marked corrected.

R 400.8143 · R 400.8143 Children's records. (11) A center shall maintain an accurate record of daily attendance at the center that includes each child's first and last name and each child's arrival and departure time. Electronic records may be used. If electronic attendance records are used, then they must be available to the department at the time of an inspection. If the electronic attendance records are not available during an on-site inspection, then the center is in violation of this rule.

Ms. Isenhart, Ms. Millar, and child care staff members do not maintain an accurate record of daily attendance at the center that includes each child's arrival and departure time. On 05/10/2021, Child B, Child C, and Child D were signed out at 6:44 PM, even though the center closed at 5:30 PM. On 05/13/2021, Child F did not have a documented departure time logged. On 05/14/2021, Child A was not signed out with a departure time. On 05/18/2021, Child A had snack and a diaper change prior to being signed in with an arrival time of 12:01 PM.

Open Not marked corrected in the state record

Category: recordkeeping. Open / not marked corrected.

R 400.8122 · R 400.8122 Lead caregiver; qualifications; responsibilities. (7) Lead caregivers for infants and toddlers shall have 3 semester hours, 4.5 CEUs, or 45 hours of MiRegistry approved infant and toddler development and care practices within 6 months of hire. These semester hours or CEUs may satisfy a portion of the requirements of subrule (6) of this rule.

On 03/03/2021, I conducted an unannounced visit at the Down by the Creek center. I interviewed program director Cary Walter, child care staff member Elizabeth Gallagher, child care staff member Shantel Potter, and licensee designee Hannah Isenhart. Ms. Cary Walter reported that the center consists of three classrooms: the preschool classroom, the 2-year-old toddler classroom, and the 1-year-old toddler classroom. Ms. Walter identified herself as the lead caregiver in the preschool classroom. She identified Ms. Gallagher and Ms. Potter as the lead caregivers in the 2-year-old 2 toddler classroom, and Ms. Megan Myas as the lead caregiver in the 1-year-old toddler classroom. I reviewed child care staff member transcripts for Ms. Gallagher, Ms. Potter, Ms. Myas, and Ms. Walter. Ms. Walter qualifies as the program director and as an infant and toddler lead caregiver. Ms. Gallagher, Ms. Potter, and Ms. Myas do not qualify as lead infant/toddler caregivers. Ms. Elizabeth Gallagher reported that she is currently working on her infant and toddler endorsed Child Development Associate (CDA) through Penn Foster College's Child Development Associate Credential Preparation program. Ms. Gallagher will have her CDA course work completed at the end of this month. However, she still needs to take her exam, present her portfolio, and complete her observation in order to complete the requirements for her CDA. Ms. Shantel Potter reported that she is in the process of completing her infant and toddler endorsed CDA course work through Successful Solutions Professional Development. She could not specify when she would have the course work completed. She confirmed that for her to obtain her CDA, she would also need to complete her observation, the exam, and present her portfolio. It should be noted that prior to this special investigation, I had been providing consultation to Ms. Isenhart on Ms. Myas' CDA requirements. Ms. Myas is in the process of completing her infant and toddler endorsed CDA course work through Successful Solutions Professional Development. Ms. Isenhart confirmed through email that confirmed that in order for Ms. Myas to obtain her CDA, she would also need to complete her observation, the exam, and present her portfolio. Ms. Hannah Isenhart reported that Ms. Walter is the only qualified lead caregiver at the center. Ms. Walter's last day at the center will be 03/19/2021. Ms. Allison Millar will be starting at the center as the qualified toddler lead caregiver for the 1-year-old toddler classroom on 03/08/2021. She has another child care staff member named Ms. Kara Isenhart working on her CDA to qualify as a lead caregiver, but she acknowledged that Ms. Kara Isenhart does not qualify as lead caregiver at this time. I reviewed Ms. Millar's transcripts and work experience. Ms. Millar qualifies as an early childhood program director and as an infant and toddler lead caregiver. Ms. Isenhart stated that she would use Ms. Millar as the early childhood program director when Ms. Walter ends her employment with Down by the Creek on 03/19/2021. Ms. Millar has a bachelors in elementary education and she would qualify as an early childhood program director under R 400.8113(7)(b) and (9). I inquired about what Ms. Isenhart has been doing to hire qualified lead caregivers. She stated that she has an ongoing advertisement listed on their Facebook site and this advertisement has been running since the fall of 2020. Ms. Isenhart confirmed 3 that she has been without qualified lead caregivers in the two toddler classrooms since 01/25/2021. On 03/09/2021, I called Ms. Cary Walter. She informed me that she is no longer working at the Down by the Creek Center as the program director or the lead caregiver for the preschool classroom as of 03/05/2021. On 03/09/2021, I contacted Ms. Hannah Isenhart. I inquired whether Ms. Walter is no longer working as the program director and the lead caregiver in the preschool classroom. She confirmed that Ms. Walter is

Open Not marked corrected in the state record

Category: ratio. Open / not marked corrected.