Complaint·April 11, 2024

Allegation 1) Staff pinch, squeeze, and slam daycare children on the floor. On 1/23/2024, the LPA interviewed the complainant about the allegations above. During the interview, the complainant disclosed additional details about the allegations including that staff were \342\200\234slamming children on the floor\342\200\235 and \342\200\234pinching children.\342\200\235 The complainant stated the staff did not intend to hurt the children but was frustrated. On 1/24/2024, the LPA interviewed seven staff at the facility. All seven staff consistently stated that the allegations did not happen or could not corroborate whether the allegations happened because they did not witness any of the interactions described in the allegations. Staff stated they use redirection, reminders, and holding the child\342\200\231s hand to have the child walk with them when the child displays challenging behavior. The staff denied squeezing or pinching the children\342\200\231s hands. The staff denied slamming children on the floor. Director stated that no staff has ever made reports about children\342\200\231s personal rights violations to the administration. On 1/24/2024, the LPA attempted to interview five children at the facility. Three of the children were not qualified. The two children who were interviewed did not disclose any information that could corroborate the allegations. On 2/12/2024, the LPAs called nine parents requesting an interview. The LPA was able to interview six of the nine parents, including P4, P5, P6, P7, P8, and P9. The parents interviewed did not express any concerns related to the allegations and did not provide any information that could corroborate the allegations being investigated. The rest of the parents did not respond to the Department\342\200\231s request for information or were unreachable. On 1/24/2024, the LPA inquired about records that could aid with the investigations. No footage or incident reports that could aid the investigation were available according to the Director. Allegation 2) Staff inappropriately disciplined a daycare child. On 1/23/2024, the LPA interviewed the complainant about the allegations. During the interview, the complainant disclosed that they observed Staff 1 (S1) take a child into the restroom to discipline the child in November 2023. No further details were provided about the incident. The complainant added that staff pinch and squeeze the children\342\200\231s hands as a form of discipline and slammed children on the floor. The complainant was unable to provide the names of the children or dates of the incident(s) or the names of staff. The complainant stated these and other incidents were reported to Director Ishara Silva. On 1/24/2024, the LPA interviewed seven staff at the facility. All staff consistently stated that the allegations did not happen or could not corroborate whether the allegations happened because they did not witness any of the interactions described in the allegations. Staff stated they use reminders, redirection, and holding the child\342\200\231s hand to take them for a walk or have them sit with staff. Staff said they don\342\200\231t force children to walk or sit with them. The director stated that no staff has ever reported personal rights violations. On 1/24/2024, the LPA attempted to interview five children at the facility. Three of the children were not qualified. The two children who were interviewed did not disclose any information that could corroborate the allegations. On 2/12/2024, the LPAs called nine parents requesting an interview. The LPA was able to interview six of the nine parents, including P4, P5, P6, P7, P8, and P9. The parents interviewed did not express any concerns related to the allegations and did not provide any information that could corroborate the allegations. The rest of the parents were unreachable or did not respond to the Department\342\200\231s request for information. On 1/24/2024, the LPA inquired about records that could aid with the investigations including incident reports, complaints about staff, or video footage. No reports that could aid the investigation were available according to the director. Based on the interviews conducted, the preponderance of evidence standard has not been met. Although the allegations that staff inappropriately disciplined a child and violated children\342\200\231s personal rights may have happened or is valid, there is not a preponderance of evidence to prove the alleged violations did or did not occur, therefore the allegation is unsubstantiated. An exit interview was conducted with Ishara Silva. 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.