Incident investigation·January 6, 2023

On 01/06/2023 at 1:00 PM, Licensing Program Analysts (LPAS) Susan Brewer and Rachel Zeron arrived unannounced, to conduct case management visit in response to the receipt of an unusual incident report (UIR) from the facility. The UIR was received by the licensing agency on 12/22/2022. LPAs were greeted by Assistant Director (AD) Ruth DeAnda, and granted entry to tour the facility inside and out. Director Emily Calhoun was not present. A census was taken. A separate report is also documented today for a complaint received on 12/28/2022, CONTROL NUMBER: 09-CC-20221228165336 , linked to the self reported incident. It was reported that on 12/22/2022 at 10:30 AM, the agency staff were transitioning 8 day care children to the playground for outdoor activity and Staff 1 (S1 identified on confidential names list) conducted a headcount noticing that there were only 7 children transitioned to the playground, with day care Child 1 (C1 identified on confidential names list) missing. LPAs reviewed facility records, conducted interviews with pertinent parties present at the time of the incident. In addition, the agency was unable to produce documentation that C1's authorized representative received notification of the incident that took place on 12/22/2022. According to the Agency's Published Family Handbook, the 2nd Paragraph Heading for Communication on Page 34 (listed as the 6th bullet), indicates that the agency will promote close communication through: Daily happenings... (Text in part: very young children receive individualized daily reports called "Family Communication" forms each day of attendance). Based on the information gathered, the following violations have been identified. The agency failed to inform the authorized representative of the C1, regarding the incident that took place on 12/22/2022, where C1 was left unattended in the infant classroom for an undisclosed time frame. It was also determined that an incident report was created, however, by admission, the Assistant Director Ruth DeAnda, acknowledged that the authorized representative for C1, was not provided a copy of the report, nor was a copy of the incident report placed in C1's file, which is a potential risk to the health and safety of children in care. See LIC809D for cited deficiencies of the California Code of Regulations, Title 22, Div. 12. An exit interview was conducted, appeal rights discussed, and a copy of this report was provided to facility Administrative Director Ruth DeAnda.