Incident investigation·May 24, 2023

On 5/24/2023 at 1:15pm, Licensing Program Analyst (LPA) Andrea Pittman and Licensing Program Manager (LPM) Mariela Ramon conducted an unannounced case management at the facility and was met by Site Supervisor Carleen Bencoma who permitted entry to the facility. LPA & LPM toured the facility with the Site Supervisor according to the facility sketch. Upon arrival, LPA observed 0 children with 8 staff members, as the facility is closed due to vacation. The purpose of this visit is to follow-up on an investigation started for an Unusual Incident Report that occurred on 02/08/2023 and was reported to the Department on 02/09/2023 regarding an incident that occurred where Child 2 had inappropriate contact with Child 1. During this investigation, LPA received pertinent documents related to this investigation which included the facility\342\200\231s roster, children's roster, children\342\200\231s records, and reviewed other relevant documents. LPA interviewed the staff and children enrolled at the childcare facility. The investigation was then referred to the Investigations Branch (IB), IB Investigator Mariana Lomeli. IB Investigator Lomeli interviewed staff, parents, children enrolled in the program, and other relevant parties. Per the evidence gathered by the IB Investigator Lomeli, on 02/08/2023 at approximately 10:27am children were playing outside on the play structure and five staff were positioned in different zones scanning and monitoring the children at play. Child 1 was on the play structure when Child 2 went behind Child 1 and the inappropriate contact occurred. During the inappropriate contact, three teachers were utilizing their iPad devices documenting the children and doing evaluations during the incident. As a result of the evidence obtained, it was determined the facility did not meet the requirements for providing care and supervision to the children in care. This is a Type A Citation with a civil penalty of $500 is assessed, see the LIC 809D for the deficiency details. Continue to next page The IB Investigator discovered a separate unreported incident between Child 2 and Child 3. LPA Pittman conducted a separate investigation into this incident. Staff 3 witnessed Child 3 inappropriate behavior between Child 2 and Child 3. Staff 3 stated that they yelled to warn Staff 2 as Child 3 was behaving inappropriately with Child 2, but Staff 2 did not respond to Staff 3 and Staff 3 had to run over to Child 3 to prevent the inappropriate behavior with Child 2. Although the incident was reported to the Site Supervisor, the facility failed to send the licensing report. The incident follow-up revealed Child 3 did not remember the incident witnessed by Staff 1 and Staff 3. As a result of the Site Supervisor failing to send the incident report for this incident via phone within 24 hours of the incident and within 7 days for the LIC 624 Unusual Incident Report, this is a Type B Citation, see the LIC 809D for the deficiency details. LPA Pittman conducted interviews, reviewed relevant documents, and children\342\200\231s records and obtained the following information. During approximately four months of enrollment, the Site Supervisor was aware of the needs of Child 2, the many reports of incidents that occurred on several occasions with Child 2 throwing toys at other children, kicking, biting, hitting teachers and other children, using profane language, and having outbursts many times during a day while in care. It was reported that Child 2 would have incidents at least \342\200\234\342\200\24610 times a day\342\200\246\342\200\235 There are a few instances in which Staff stated, \342\200\234staff feels not safe with child\342\200\235 on Behavior Incident Reports the facility used to document incidents of behavior of children in care. Interviews with Staff confirmed that they do not have any specialized training to meet the needs of children with behavioral issues nor do they have any staff at the facility that is trained to meet the needs of children with behavioral issues. The Site Supervisor did submit a request for behavioral evaluation for Child 2 but the needs of the child could not be met. This is a Type B citation, see the LIC 809D for the deficiency details. As a result of the investigation, the facility has been cited a Type A and Type B Deficiencies. The Director is encouraged to continue report unusual incidents that occur at the facility. As a Type A deficiency has been cited, a copy of the citation and licensing report must be posted for 30 days. The same report must be provided to Parents/Guardians and the Acknowledgment of Receipt of Licensing Reports LIC 9224 must be signed by Parents/Guardians of all enrolled children and any newly enrolled children in the next 12 months following the citation. If these requirements are not met, civil penalties per violation will be assessed. An exit interview was conducted, a copy of this report read and provided to the Director, and the Notice of Site Visit and Appeal Rights was given to the Director.