Incident investigation·April 11, 2025

Licensing Program Analyst (LPA) Lilia Hernandez conducted an unannounced case management inspection on 04/11/2025 due to an incident that occurred at the facility. LPA arrived at the facility at 8:45AM and met with Elizabeth Nevarez, Licensee , who guided LPA on a tour of the facility. There was 1 infant and 6 preschool children in care. Licensee's spouse was also present during the inspection. Per Licensee, operation hours are Monday through Friday 6:30AM to 6PM. The Department was notified that an incident had occurred at the home. At no time was the incident reported by the Licensee prior to today's inspection. Information regarding the incident at the home was reported to the public by the media. Media reports indicated that a firearm was used during the incident and a firearm may have been present in the home . Per Licensee, the incident was not reported to the Department because the incident occurred in the middle of the night outside of the Licensee's hours of operation on 03/24/2025. On 11/06/2024, LPA Luque Avila conduced an annual inspection where Licensee disclosed and verified that there were no firearms in the home. Per Licensee, a firearm was obtained January of 2025. Per Licensee, during the annual inspection on 11/06/2024, Licensee was asked if there was a firearm in the home but was not informed that bringing a firearm into the home was part of reporting requirements. LPA Hernandez advised Licensee that the department takes into consideration the overall maintenance of a licensed child care home to ensure the health, welfare and safety of children in care. Licensee was advised to contact the Department should they need consultation regarding regulations and/or consultation prior to changes in the home. ---Page 1 of 2 LPA Hernandez also provided Licensee with information regarding reporting requirements and a copy of the LIC624B Unusual Incident/Injury Report for Family Child Care Homes. LIC624B written report must be submitted to the Department within 7 days of the incident being reported to the Department. LPA Hernandez conducted an interview with Licensee's spouse who disclosed where and how the firearm in the home was stored prior to the incident. Based on disclosure and written statement provided by the Licensee spouse, storage of firearm and ammunition may have met regulation requirements. However, Licensee did not report obtaining a firearm in January of 2025 for the Department to conduct an inspection to confirm the firearm and ammunition storage met regulation requirements. Spouse also confirmed that during the incident, a firearm was used in self-defence in which an adult individual was injured. Due to an open investigation, the firearm is currently not in the home. Based upon information received from the interviews conducted and written statements provided, the following deficiencies listed on the attached LIC 809D are being cited in accordance with California Code of Regulations Title 22. LPA informed licensee that this report dated 04/11/2025 documents a Type A citation which shall be posted for 30 consecutive days as there was an immediate risk(s) to the health, safety, or personal rights of children in care. LPA also informed the licensee to provide a copy of this licensing report dated 04/11/2025 that documents any Type A citation(s) to parents/guardians of all children currently enrolled by the next business day or the next day the children are in care, and to any newly enrolled parents/guardians for 12 months from the date of this report. A signed Acknowledgement of Receipt of Licensing Report (LIC 9224), or other written statement, must be placed in the child's file for verification. The Notice of Site Visit was given and must remain posted for 30 days during the hours of operation after each site visit by a licensing representative. Failure to maintain posting as required will result in a civil penalty of $100.00. Exit interview was conducted and report was reviewed with Elizabeth Nevarez, Licensee.