complaint·March 23, 2022

CD claimed staff produced an incident report and provided the report to the parents of the involved children. CD claimed that since the facility’s attendance at the Non Compliance Conference with CCLD held on 12/21/21, the facility took a variety of steps in attempting to prevent or reduce biting and hitting incidents which consisted of utilization of Antecedent/Behavior/Consequence (ABC) Chart, staff diverting and reminding child(ren) to use their words to express themselves, and transferring child(ren) with frequent biting behavior(s) to a classroom with older children in an effort for the older children to help guide them. Multiple staff statements confirmed witnessing C2 biting C1 and the steps the facility took to prevent or reduce biting and hitting incidents as described by CD. S1 and S2 confirmed that C2 and C3 bit C10 which left a visible ring mark, while S5, S6, S7 and AD reported they saw between one and six incidents of biting and hitting from December 2021 through early March 2022 that included C2 biting C1 on various body parts resulting in either a visible red colored bruise with broken skin or a swollen appearance. Furthermore, S7 claimed she witnessed an incident involving C2 punching another child (C4) with a toy on the nose resulting in bleeding to C4’s nose. Staff expressed concerns of inadequate staffing at the facility and felt that staffing directly impacted the quality of care and supervision of children in care and the number of unusual incidents at the facility. Some staff stated they noticed an improvement in how the facility managed children with challenging behaviors while other staff felt that although the facility was providing more individual support to classrooms, the facility’s biting policy had not prevented children from being bitten. Statements provided by P1 and P2 corroborated the allegation, reporting the facility’s biting policy, which included consulting with Inclusion Services, did not directly reduce or address challenging behaviors. On 12/29/21, the Department obtained evidence which showed C1 sustained an injury on 12/23/21 at 10:28am and a visible bite mark on 12/29/21. On 01/07/22 and 03/07/22, CD submitted 27 incident reports for eight children, ranging from 12/10/21 through 03/07/22 which documented 19 biting incidents of which 14 incidents involved C2 biting another child(ren). Based on the investigation, there’s a preponderance of evidence to show C1 sustained the injuries at the facility, as well as a consistent pattern of children sustaining injuries which violates the children’s personal rights. As such, the California Code of Regulations, Title 22, Division 12, Chapter 1 is being cited on the attached LIC 9099D. (Continue to LIC 9099-C) An immediate Civil Penalty of $500 is being assessed for violation of regulation 101223(a)(2) which resulted in injury to a child in care, as well as a previous licensing report was issued on 11/10/21 giving the same violation, and as such; a $250 Civil Penalty is being assessed for repeat of the same regulation within 12 months. Appeal Rights were provided and exit interview conducted. LPA, Melchisedeck Augustin informed Center Director, Donje Fields that this report dated 03/23/2021 document(s) one Type A citation(s) which shall be posted for 30 consecutive days as there is/are immediate risk(s) to the health, safety, or personal rights of children in care. Failure to comply with posting requirements shall result in an immediate civil penalty of $100. Also, LPA, Melchisedeck Augustin informed the Center Director to provide a copy of this licensing report dated 03/23/2021 that documents any Type A citation(s) 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.