Incident investigation·August 30, 2023

On 08/30/2023 at 11:00 AM Licensing Program Analyst (LPA) Katrina Chicote conducted an Unannounced Case Management inspection to follow up on an incident that was reported to the Department on 07/28/2023 . Upon arrival, LPA announced purpose of visit and met with Director, Valerie Lopez , who provided LPA a tour of the facility inside and outside. LPA did not observe any school age children present at time of inspection. On 07/28/2023 , an incident was reported to The Department in regards to a child saying racial slur to another child that resulted in a meeting with parents in regards to the incident. Per Director, there were multiple witnesses to confirm incident occurred. The meeting with parents resulted in conflicting stories and parent of child who said racial slur was temporarily suspended. Per Director, this parent did not receive information well and was showing aggression towards facility staff such as screaming, throwing papers, slamming doors, and using profanities, that resulted in them having to terminate enrollment to child permanently. Director provided documentation between herself and parent to LPA via email. Director states all of this happened during private meetings and conversations and was not observed by children enrolled. At time of this inspection, child no longer is enrolled in the program and parent has picked u p child's belongings. LPA observed Parent Handbook which indicates zero tolerance for discrimination and harassment which supports Director's decision to terminate child's enrollment. The facility reported this incident to the Department within the required 24 hours and submitted written report within seven days. Based on the information obtained, LPA determined there will be no violations in regards to this incident. A notice of site visit was given and must remain posted for 30 days. Exit interview was conducted and report was reviewed with the Director, Valerie Lopez. Report Ends - Page 1 of 1