Incident investigation·August 7, 2023

Licensing Program Analyst (LPA), Cortney Nelson, met with Facility Representative, Cheryl McGowen, to follow-up on incident that was self reported to the Department on 7/18/2023. Shortly after arriving to the facility, Owner, Mindy Gillen, arrived. On 7/18/2023, the facility self-reported that a child was left outside during a transition from outside to inside for approximately 15 minutes. During that time, the child was left outside, however remained inside of the gated playground area until staff were alerted that the child was outside by nearby construction workers. Upon return to the classroom, staff report that the child was fine and offered a snack. Staff report that on the day of the incident, there were large construction vehicles located outside of the facility. Cheryl states that moving forward, staff will now conduct roll call every morning, including transitions inside and outside. On the day of the incident, Cheryl was subbing in the infant room, and is typically able to supervise staff working with preschool-age children. Following the incident, Cheryl states that she has met with staff to discuss importance of visual supervision at all times. Cheryl additionally states that the facility will now be counting role from two staff members for all transitions to confirm all children are present. LPA informed licensee, Mindy Gillen, that this report date d (8/7/2023) documents one Type A citation, which shall be posted for 30 consecutive days as there is immediate risk to the health, safety, or personal rights of children in care. Also, LPA informed the licensee to provide a copy of this licensing report dated (8/7/2023) that documents any Type A citation to parents/guardians of all children currently enrolled by the next business day or the next day the children are in care, and to any newly enrolled parents/guardians for 12 months from the date of this report. A signed Acknowledgement of Receipt of Licensing Report (LIC 9224), or other written statement, must be placed in the child's file for verification. As a result of today's inspection, a deficiency has been cited, see LIC809-D. Exit interview conducted and report was reviewed with Facility Representative, Cheryl McGowen, and Owner, Mindy Gillen. A NOTICE OF SITE VISIT HAS BEEN GIVEN AND MUST BE POSTED FOR 30 DAYS.