Bethesda SAC Club

10A NCAC 09 .1005 · Violation

Name of Operation: BETHESDA SAC CLUB Facility ID: 32001533 Consultant: HOLLI HEMBY Operation Type: Center Case Number: 0724-324L Visit Date: 8/1/2024 Number Present: 65 Completed Date: 8/1/2024 Age: From 4 To 12 Total Minutes: 120 Time In: 11:00 AM Time Out: 01:00 PM Time In: Time Out: List to Use: Center Type Of Visit: Complaint Visit Announced/Unannounced: Unannounced The purpose of today’s visit was to investigate a report alleging non-compliance with NC Child Care Licensing Requirements at the child care facility received by the Division of Child Development and Early Education on July 25, 2024. Mandy Annunziata, Child Care Consultant accompanied me on the visit and assisted with the monitoring during today’s visit. Upon our arrival, we were greeted by Patrice Fletcher, Co-Site Manager and we explained the reason for today’s visit. Ms. Brenda Murphy-Burrows, Co-Site Manager and Tracey Super-Edwards, Director of Community Education joined us later in the visit. There were five (5) groups of children enrolled as shown on the sign-in/sign-out logs, totaling eighty-five (85) children which includes a group of nineteen (19) preschool aged children. There were sixty-five (65) children present (including the preschoolers) ranging in age from four (4) years of age to twelve (12) years of age. Upon arrival, Ms. Fletcher informed us that four (4) groups of children were away on a field trip and one (1) group of preschool aged children were present in their classroom. The Summer Camp program (Camp FunTastic) closes for the summer tomorrow (August 2, 2024) and the SAC Club for before/after school care will resume operation on August 26, 2024. LICENSE STATUS The facility was issued a four (4) star license on January 9, 2019 that remains in Hold Harmless status. The program earned seven (7) points in education standards, two (2) points in Program Standards, and one (1) Quality Point for the benefits and infrastructure of parent involvement. MONITORING Only a partial monitoring of child care requirements was conducted today. We observed all indoor areas used by the children for general safety, reviewed program records pertaining to injuries to children and monitored limited transportation requirements. It was observed that many of the classrooms had hand sanitizer bottles accessible to children. During the visit, we talked with Ms. Brenda Murphy-Burrows and the teachers working with school-age children. Later in the visit, we also talked with Ms. Super-Edwards regarding the observed violations and additional information that would be needed to complete the investigation. ALLEGATION: There is a concern about inadequate supervision; there were concerns regarding supervision and injuries to children; a child received multiple injuries that were not reported to the parent. During the visit, we asked Ms. Brenda Murphy-Burrows and Ms. Patrice Fletcher to tell us about all recent injuries to children that had been observed and/or reported to them by parents. Ms. Murphy-Burrows stated that no injuries had been reported to her. Ms. Fletcher stated that she had been informed by staff of one injury to a male child where he was scratched by another child. Follow-up questions were asked about documentation of those injuries and Ms. Murphy-Burrows stated there was not any because no injuries had been reported to her. Ms. Fletcher stated that she had told the parent but had not completed an incident report or incident log. During the visit, we asked the teachers working with school age children to tell us about all recent injuries to children that had been observed and/or reported to them by parents. Only one (1) of the teachers stated a child had been injured while in their care. She stated that a child was scratched by another child. Follow-up questions were asked about documentation of those injuries and most staff stated that they would inform one of the Site Managers but would not be involved in any documentation or notification regarding the injuries. There were no program records available for review regarding injuries to children. One staff member discussed some issues with children demonstrating challenging behaviors. She talked about one child that often got overwhelmed and would express anxious behaviors. When asked, she stated that this child’s behavior never involved other children. This same staff member also talked about a pair of children that were often observed ‘picking on each other’ and she recounted appropriate interventions to handle the behaviors as they occurred. She shared that the parent of one of the children asked for a reassignment, which was granted, and that she did not observe any additional encounters with the remaining child. ALLEGATION: There is a concern of an unsanitary indoor environment; there were concerns that ants and other insects have been present in the facility on multiple occasions. The program’s last Sanitation Inspection was conducted on April 14, 2024 and showed demerits for sanitizing solutions, non-hazardous item storage, and areas not in good repair in bathrooms. There were no comments related to pests or insects in the report. Our observations of the indoor environment determined that none of the spaces used by children during today’s visit had the presence of insects or ants. The rooms appeared to be clean and staff reported that they do minor cleaning and the school janitors will perform deeper cleaning when the program closes. Our discussions with program staff determined that at the beginning of the summer, all classrooms used by children were affected by an infestation of ants. When asked, all staff stated that they had not relocated their children due to the infestation and by the end of the week, extermination had occurred that took care of the problem. Ms. Murphy-Burrows also stated that the school had an issue with ants at the beginning of the summer. She further stated that children were relocated to other classrooms when the ants were present. Ms. Super-Edwards called me after the visit to discuss the discrepancies between the staff and site managers’ accounts of where the children were while ants were present. She stated that although two groups of children were permanently relocated to different classrooms, the remaining groups of children remained in their assigned classrooms while the ant issue was being addressed. ALLEGATION: There is a concern of lack of developmentally appropriate activities; the school age children were cared for in a space designated for preschool aged children without age appropriate materials. Our observations of the spaces in use today, activities and materials for children determined the there was a variety of developmentally appropriate materials available for the children’s use. Our discussions with program staff determined the children had been assigned to the same classrooms all summer and that the materials present today had been present all summer. Ms. Murphy-Burrows stated that some groups of children did relocate to other classrooms while the ants were present but when they did, materials were moved to alternate spaces with the children. The following violation(s) were observed and documented during today’s visit: Violation Number Comment Rule 454 Staff did not take a list of the children participating in the off-premise activity with them. There was no list of children participating in today's field trip generated to either take with them or left at the center. 10A NCAC 09 .1005(b)(6) 811 Potentially hazardous items including but not limited to power tools, nails, chemicals, propane stoves, lawn mowers, gasoline, or kerosene were not stored in locked areas, removed from the premises, or made inaccessible to children. Bottles of hand sanitizer were observed in two of the four classrooms used by children and they were stored less than five feet from the floor, therefore allowing them to be accessible to children. .0604(a) 852 Incident reports were not completed each time a child was injured, it did not include all the information required in rule, it was not signed by the parent and/or it was not maintained in the child's file. A child incurred an injury while in care and a report was not completed. .0802 (e) 9995 Pests were not excluded from the child care center. As stated by staff, ants were present in classrooms occupied by children over a period of one week at the beginning of the summer camp in June. This is a violation of a rule in Sanitation Rule 15A NCAC 18A .2831(b). The above violations must be corrected immediately, and verification of how and when they were corrected submitted within 2 weeks to maintain compliance with the NC Child Care Law and Requirements. Please send me a signed and dated letter that addresses each violation. You can email the letter to: Holli.Hemby@dhhs.nc.gov or to 2201 Mail Service Center, Raleigh NC 27699-2201. I must receive your letter by no later than AUGUST 14, 2024. ALLEGATION RESOLUTIONS The investigation of all allegations has been concluded and the findings are as follows: Based on observations made during today’s visit and information obtained from staff members, we were unable to determine that any lapses in supervision had occurred that resulted in injuries to children, therefore the allegation related to Supervision is unsubstantiated. Based on observations made during today’s visit, and information obtained from staff members, it was determined that at least one child was injured and incident reports were not generated, therefore the allegation regarding incident reports and logs is Substantiated. Based on observations and information obtained during today’s visit, the indoor environment was found to have been unsanitary due to a period of time within a one week period that children occupied classrooms while ants were actively present, therefore the allegation regarding sanitation is Substantiated. The program did not respond to the presence of insects appropriately to prevent children’s exposure to insects. Based on observations and information obtained during today’s visit, we were unable to determine that any lapses in providing materials for children had occurred, therefore the allegation is related to developmentally appropriate activities and materials is Unsubstantiated. There were developmentally appropriate materials for children in sufficient quantity present. COMPLIANCE HISTORY Prior to today’s visit, the compliance history score for the center was 97%. Any violations documented during today’s visit may impact this score and cause you to drop below the required 75%. An updated Compliance History Score will be generated after today’s visit and you will be informed of the results on the next visit to your center. Please be aware that since some of the allegations today were substantiated, your program is at risk of being issued an Administrative Action. You will receive official notification via postal mail in the near future with more information. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION DISCUSSED DURNG THE VISIT Care of Preschool Aged Children DPS Community Education is offering a summer camp program for rising kindergarteners. The license issued to Bethesda SAC Club is for the care of school aged children only. NC General Statute 110-86 defines a school age child as one that has or is attending a public or private school kindergarten and turns five (5) years of age before August 30th. At the time of the visit, it was unclear that there was a separation or distinction between the summer camp attendees at Bethesda Elementary School. As discussed, please provide additional documentation and information regarding the summer camp for those rising kindergarten children, as they do not meet the definition of a school age children and the license currently does not approve the care for them. If those children are truly enrolled in the summer camp that falls under the license issued by DCDEE, additional violations may be added to today’s visit. Two (2) preschool aged children under the age of nine (9) years of age were observed returning to the classroom from using a hallway bathroom and were not provided with adequate supervision as required by the child care requirements. The classrooms where the preschoolers were in care had an aerosol container of air freshener in un-locked storage. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE The following items were discussed during today's visit. You may want to consider them in order to avoid violations in the future: -Generation of incident reports is required by child care rule .0802(e) and maintenance of incident logs are required by Child Care Rule .0802(g)(1-6); both documents are an important measure in ensuring the health and safety of the children in your care. Injury patterns can be discerned from such records and can be used to prevent future problems. A report form is also necessary for providing information to the child’s parents/guardians so that they remain informed of harm to their children. Staff were aware of at least one injury to a child and although they stated that they informed the parent, there were no records on that injury available during today’s visit. Please update your staff protocols and training to ensure that any time a child is injured, whether observed by staff or information received from a parent, that an incident report is generated and given to the parent. Any time the child’s injury results in medical attention, that injury must also submitted to DCDEE and be noted on an incident log maintained at the site. -Sanitation Rule 15A NCAC 18A .2831(b) requires pests/insects to be excluded from the child care center. Providing a safe and sanitary environment that is free of insects is crucial to ensure that children are not at risk of illness or harm. You may need to evaluate your environment and adopt practices and protocols that ensure long-term, environmentally sound pest suppression through a range of practices including pest exclusion, sanitation and clutter control, and elimination of conditions that are conducive to pest infestations. If you need assistance with the prevention of insects and control methods, you can reach out to the Durham County Health Department, Childrens Environmental Health Section for guidance; they can be reached at 919-560-7800 or via email to healthinspector@dconc.gov - One of the biggest challenges that early childhood educators and administrators face is children’s behavior. Often these behaviors are developmentally appropriate, however, some behaviors can be difficult for a teacher to manage. Providing technical assistance, coaching and professional development for staff to prevent and address these challenging behaviors, as well as promote children’s social competence can be beneficial. If you would like assistance with dealing with challenging behaviors of children in your care, you can contact a Healthy Social Behavior Specialist at Child Care Services Association; they can be reached at (919) 403-6950. -Ensuring that adequate accounting of all children is in place while they participate in off-premise activities is crucial to their safety. Staff must always know which and how many children they are responsible for and have adequate documentation to support this. Upon return from today's field trip, the site manager stated that they had not generated or taken a list of the children participating. Child Care Rules require that a log of children be made before they leave the site with one copy taken with them and one copy left at the site. Please review and update your transportation policies and staff training to ensure that this occurs every time children leave the school. CONTACT INFORMATION If you have any questions about today’s visit, I can be reached via email at Holli.Hemby@dhhs.nc.gov or by phone at (919) 819-9363. Mandy Annunziata is the new Child Care Consultant assigned to your program. You can reach out to her any time if you have questions about the operation of your program. She can be reached at Mandy.Annunziata@dhhs.nc.gov or (919) 971-6255. If the operator fails to correct any documented violations within the established time period, the Division of Child Development and Early Education may deny, suspend, terminate, or revoke any permit to operate (10A NCAC 09 .2000). All information in this report has been reviewed with me today.I understand that it is my responsibility to maintaincompliance with applicable NC Child Care Requirements at all times