complaint·September 18, 2024

Allegation: Staff had an inappropriate interaction with child 1. On 7/18/2024, the LPA interviewed the reporting party (RP) and RP’s spouse. RP stated he/she witnessed a staff kissed C1 on the lips from the doorway. According to RP, the staff had been asked to stop kissing C1 on the lips on multiple occasions. According to the RP’s spouse, the staff claimed, “it was a cultural thing” and added that a physician said kissing lips-to-lips “shouldn’t be done.” On 7/19/2024 and 9/18/24, the LPA interviewed staff who work with the infants about the allegation above. All five staff interviewed denied the allegation. Staff 1 (S1) said “no, never” when asked whether S1 had kissed a daycare child on the lips. S2 also denied the allegation and added, “I have never seen anyone do such a thing.” S3 denied the allegation and said, “I’ve seen staff kissing the babies on the cheeks but not on the mouth.” S4 said they had not seen any staff kiss a child on the lips. S5 stated he/she observed S4 put his/her face too close to C1’s face on 8/20/24, so S5 reported this to the administration. S5 denied that he/she observed S4 kiss C1 on the lips because S4 was standing too far and visibility was limited. S5 added that he/she has been observing S4 since the day of the report and S4 has not kissed any child in the lips. S5 denied that he/she observed S4 kiss any daycare child in the lips. No children’s interviews were conducted because children are non-verbal due to young age. On 8/15/2024, the LPAs called eight parents requesting an interview. Four parents were reached and interviewed. None of the parents interviewed expressed any concerns related to the allegation above. The rest of the parents were not reachable or did not respond to the Department’s request for comment. On 8/30/24, the LPA interviewed the District Manager (DM) about the allegations. The DM stated that on August 20th Director Mojgan was informed by Staff 5 (S5) that they witnessed Staff 4 (S4) kiss a child on the lips at around 10:30 AM that morning. S5 rescinded the statement. On 9/3/24, the LPA received an Incident Report documenting that staff 5 disclosed to the director to have witnessed S4 kissing a child on the lips on August 20th at around 10:30AM. S5 rescinded the statement. Page 2 of 4 Allegation: an infant sustained unexplained injuries while in care. On 7/18/2024, the LPA interviewed the reporting party (RP) and PR’s spouse. According to the RP, C2 was taken to a doctor for examination due to the presence of bruises on the face. According to the RP, the doctor stated the bruises were not deep tissue and the doctor did not want to say the bruises were caused by abuse. On 7/19/2024 and 9/18/24, the LPA interviewed staff about the allegation above. All five staff interviewed denied the allegation. Staff 1 (S1) said that sometimes infants might arrive to the childcare center with a bruise and denied that an infant sustain bruises while in care. S1 said, “I’ve heard about scratches. I’ve never had anybody with bruises.” S2 and S3 also denied the allegation. S4 said, the children in our room [infant care room] did not have this problem. If I see it I ask the parents and inform the supervisor, but I have not seen” a child with bruises. All staff denied the allegation happened. On 8/13/24, the LPA received screenshots of text messages and photography shared between staff and a parent. The images depicted a child with bruises on the face which allegedly were sustained during care. Based on the exchange in the text screenshots, the facility staff reported the bruises to the parent and requested information about whether the child sustained the bruise at home. The staff denied the bruises happened under their care. On 8/15/2024, the LPA called eight parents requesting an interview. Four parents were reached and interviewed. None of the parents interviewed provided any information related to the allegation. The rest of the parents were not reachable or did not respond to the Department’s request for comment. Children were not interviewed because they are non-verbal due to young age. Page 3 of 4 Based on the interviews conducted and records review, it was determined there was insufficient evidence about the allegations that a staff kissed child 1 in the lips and child 2 sustained bruises while in care. Although the allegations may have happened or are valid, there is not a preponderance of evidence to prove the alleged violations did or did not occur, therefore the allegations are unsubstantiated. An exit interview was conducted with Mojgan Vasseghi. The Notice of Site Visit was posted during the visit. The director was informed that the Notice of Site Visit must be posted for 30 consecutive days. Failure to post will result in civil penalties of $100. The director was provided a copy of their appeal rights (LIC 9058 01/16) and their signature on this form acknowledges receipt of these rights. First-level appeals should be sent to the regional manager to the address listed above. END. Page 1 of 4