complaint·May 17, 2024

On 3/11/2024, LPA Silva emailed the Reporting Party (RP) requesting an interview to obtain details about the type of physical and emotional abuse allegedly happening in the childcare center. The RP did not respond to the Department\342\200\231s request for an interview. Aside from an email address, the RP did not provide any contact information. On 3/12/2024, the LPA interviewed seven staff including the owner. All staff consistently denied all the allegations. Staff stated they have not abused children physically or emotionally. All staff stated that they have not witnessed other staff abuse children physically or emotionally. The staff stated they do not neglect children in care. S1 said they are involved in supervising the children and play with children. S2 stated they ensure children in care eat well and take naps and added that all the children \342\200\234get treated equally.\342\200\235 S3 said they \342\200\234look out for everyone by standing at one point, and look for hiding space. We normally have two teachers for a group of children. If they play together, they have more than two teachers present.\342\200\235 On 3/12/2024, the LPA attempted to interview daycare children using a Korean interpreter over the phone because, according to staff, the children\342\200\231s first language is Korean, and they have a limited vocabulary in English. The children did not respond to the Korean interpreter. The LPA attempted to complete the children\342\200\231s interviews in English. The children did not respond to the questions. On 5/2/2024, the LPA called 11 parents of daycare children. P2, P3, and P8 were interviewed. The parents interviewed did not express any concerns about the childcare center. The rest of the parents did not respond to the Department\342\200\231s request for an interview. The Department does not have sufficient information about the nature of the allegations to focus on specific violations. Without exact details about the allegations, the Department cannot determine whether abuse and neglect or personal rights violations occurred at the childcare center. As of today 5/17/24, the RP has not responded to the Department\342\200\231s request for additional information. During the visit on 3/12/24, the LPAs observed children approaching staff and interacting with staff. The children did not appear fearful of staff. The LPAs did not observe physical injuries on the children. This is an amendment of the original licensing report dated 5/17/2024. Based on the LPAs observations and interviews conducted, the preponderance of evidence standard has not been met. 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 the facility representative. 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.