Incident investigation·October 11, 2024

Licensing Program Analyst (LPA) Saul Valenzuela conducted an unannounced Case Management Incident inspection to follow up on an incident that was reported to the Department on 9/26/2024. LPA met with Director Betty Castillo who guided LPA on a tour of the facility. Census was taken. On September 26, 2024, an incident was self-reported to the Department via phone by the facility who reported that a parent alleges their child's personal rights were violated by another child. The incident was not reported within the required 24 hours. Per Director they waited to speak to the parent in person to obtain more information regarding the incident. LPA advised the Director that incidents must be reported within the Department’s next working day and during its normal business hours. The purpose of the inspection was to obtain additional information regarding the incident reported to the Department. During the inspection, LPA Valenzuela conducted interviews with two staff and reviewed two children’s files. -------------------------------------------------------- P.g. 1 of 2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Regarding incident that occurred on 9/23/2024, incident was not observed by Staff #2 (S2) and they stated that they were in the classroom at the time of the incident. Per S2 they were looking down while sitting at their desk as Child #1 (C1) approached S2 crying and stated that Child #2 (C2) hit them. According to Staff #1 (S1) and S2 that C2 was pointing to their face when asked where they were hit. S2 stated that they comforted C1 by providing tissues and cleaning their face. According to S2 they did not observe any bruises or marks at the time of the incident, and that it was not “severe” to report to the Director at the time. S1 provided LPA with security camera footage in the classroom. Due to the position of the camera, C1 and C2 were not in the frame of the footage as the children were in the corner of the classroom. LPA was unable to observe the incident between C1 and C2 in the camera footage. However, LPA observed that C1 and C2 were left without the supervision of a teacher by visual observation for 30 seconds, as S2 was observed to be looking down organizing paperwork. Per S2 they unaware that the incident took place until C1 walked over to S2. C1 returned to the classroom on 9/26/2024, S1 and S2 confirmed that C1 was observed to have a bruise on their face. During this visit a civil penalty was assess for a repeat violation that occurred on 9/06/2024. Based on the LPA’s observations, records review, and interviews, the following deficiencies listed on the attached LIC 809D (deficiency page) are being cited in accordance with California Code of Regulations Title 22. Deficiencies that are being cited need to be cleared to protect the children’s health & safety. A notice of site visit was given and must remain posted for 30 days. Exit interview conducted and report was reviewed with Director Betty Castillo. -------------------------------------------------------- P.g. 2 of 2 -----------------------------------------------------