Incident investigation·April 5, 2021

A Tele-inspection was conducted today at 1:30:pm, by Licensing Program Analyst (LPA), Melchisedeck Augustin to investigate the circumstances surrounding an incident on 03/25/21, where a former staff (AD) allegedly grabbed a child (C1) by the forearm, pulled C1 towards her; and yelled at C1 while holding C1’s shoulders. Due to the COVID pandemic, the Department suspended field operations and Center Director Rose Canarios (CD) agreed to meet with LPA via video conference. The facility self-reported and submitted an unusual incident report (UIR) on 03/26/21. During the tele-inspection, LPA interviewed staff and CD. The children were not available for an interview. LPA requested a copy of the facility roster of the children in care, and CD agreed to submit a copy of the roster to the Department within 24 hours. CD’s statement reported she had not witnessed the incident, however; CD’s statement confirmed that staff reported concerns about AD’s interaction with C1. CD claimed that staff are trained to utilized positive guidance to redirect the children as a method of discipline, all staff attended and completed AB 1207 Mandated Reporter Training, and that the facility offered a variety of resources to assist staff in coping with stress. The staff’s statements were consistent with that of CD, and according to staff statements, two staff reported to witnessing AD using her hands to abruptly grab both of C1’s arms and pulled C1 towards her, AD yelled at C1 while holding C1’s shoulders in the Discovery Preschool classroom on 03/25/21. The staff claimed that AD appeared to be upset at the time of the incident, and staff felt that AD interaction with C1 was aggressive, and AD did not follow the facility’s protocol to redirect C1 with positive guidance; and the interaction left C1 crying and upset. CD’s signature was not recorded on this Facility Evaluation Report (FER), however; this FER was provided to CD, and CD’s confirmation of read receipt is on file. All licensing reports are public information and must be made available upon request for at least three years. Notice of Site Visit shall be posted for 30 days from today’s inspection. Due to insufficient information available at this time, further investigation is warranted.