complaint·August 31, 2023

On 8/31/2023, LPA conducted an inspection of the facility. The facility was found to be clean and in good, working order. Around 8:30am, LPA toured the backyard of the facility with the Licensee Dwane Crowell. The other Licensee Taylor Haugen was leaving to take four school age children to school and were not observed by the LPA. At 8:38am, the Licensee Crowell showed the LPA the backyard. The backyard had age-appropriate toys and an open body of water, a wading pool, was sitting about 8 feet from the door leading to the backyard with water in it. There were mosquitoes coming off the water, sitting on the water, and other insects floating in the water. The Licensee was asked when the pool was last filled and the Licensee stated that there was an end of summer event and the pool was emptied at the end of the day. The Licensee stated that the pool had been left sitting out after the event and it filled with water over the weekend and the Licensee did not empty the wading pool out. The Licensee stated after the event, the children had been kept inside since the backyard was muddy from the rain and had not dried out yet and the children in care didn’t want to go outside because it was too hot. The Licensee stated that he was unaware that he needed to keep the wading pool empty when not in use. This is a Type B violation for both the open body of water in the water-filled wading pool and the mosquitoes and insects that were present in the water. See the LIC 9099D for the details. Based on information obtained and interviews with relevant parties, the allegations are deemed SUBSTANTIATED and a citation will be issued. A finding of substantiated means that allegations were valid because the preponderance of the evidence standard has been met. An exit interview was conducted, a copy of this report read out, notice of site visit and appeal rights was given to Licensee Dwane Crowell. LPA walked through the facility with the Licensee Crowell and observed that the facility was clean and in good working order. The Licensee was sanitizing and cleaning the facility during the visit and maintained a clean, safe, and healthy environment inside the facility. The Licensee did have a water-filled wading pool in the backyard. The Licensee stated that the wading pool had filled with water after the rains and was unaware that it needed to be emptied. The Licensee stated that the children had been kept inside due to the backyard being muddy from the rains over the weekend and the hot temperatures outside. As a result, the children in care were kept away from the open body of water. After observations, record reviews, and interviews, it was determined that there was insufficient evidence that the facility was not being maintained in a sanitary manner. The allegations could not be corroborated with the evidence found during the investigation. Therefore, the allegations have been found unsubstantiated. Although, the allegations may have happened or is valid, there is not a preponderance of the evidence to prove that the facility operated in violation of policy in this circumstance. An exit interview was conducted, and a copy of this report was provided to Licensee Crowell along with the Notice of Site Visit and Appeal Rights.