complaint·January 17, 2023

During the initial investigation an interview was conducted with Licensee, Center Director, Two teachers, and one Adult on 10/21/22- 11/08/22. Center Director denied the allegations. Licensee reported infants are only placed in car seats when they are ready to go, and car seats are not used to restrain infants. One teacher reported they place infants in the car seat if they are working with another infant, to prevent the infant from being on the floor, but they don\342\200\231t leave them in there long and it only occurred a few times. The other teacher corroborated the statement, including they have seen a teacher place an infant in a car seat to avoid putting them on the floor for safety reasons, but couldn\342\200\231t remember how long the infant was in the car seat for. Licensee reported the center asks guardians for the days they want services and if the center can accommodate then they accept the families. Center Director corroborated the statement, adding center director will ask guardians what days they would need services and center director would call Licensee to relay the days/ hours requested and licensee would make the final decision on accepting the family. If the Licensee accepts the family then documents are signed and a file made for the child. Staff reported the infant room usually has two-three infants, but sometimes four. Interviews were conducted with four adults between 01/05/23 and 01/06/2023. Two adults\342\200\231 interviews corroborated they observed infants in car seats. One adult stated the infant was not strapped in. Two adults reported they observed car seats with no infants in them. According to interviews the center changed their operating hours which did not correlate with what was on the admissions agreement. The center stated their hours were 06:00AM-06:00PM, but then changed their hours 07:00AM-05:00PM. Another interview revealed the center verbally accepted to provide services for an infant Monday-Friday, but the center asked the adult to change their admissions agreement to Monday-Wednesday to accommodate for another infant. Children\342\200\231s record review revealed there was an admissions agreement signed by guardians stating services would be provided for three full days within the week. Monday-Wednesday, one day would be on call, but infant would be there every Thursday-Friday. According to interviews, the center verbally asked the adult to choose three days that were required to be consistent each week. Other admissions agreements did not indicate the dates and times the infants were enrolled In the daycare. Based on interviews conducted and records reviewed, although the allegations may have happened or are valid, there is not a preponderance of evidence to prove that the alleged violations occurred, therefore the allegations are Unsubstantiated. This report was reviewed and discussed with Center Director, She was provided with a copy of this CIR; and Appeal Rights. All licensing reports are public information and must be made available upon request for at least three years. During the initial investigation an interview was conducted with Licensee, Center Director, Two teachers, and one Adult on 10/21/22- 11/08/22. Licensee and Center Director denied the allegations. LPA conducted children\342\200\231s record review on 10/24/22 and found three infants had an infant\342\200\231s food and service needs plan on file indicating the amount of food/ bottle to feed infants and how often. Interviews revealed a family was bringing formula in containers with pre-measured formula, not all pre-measured formula was going into the designated bottle, leaving some powdered formula in the container. Center Director acknowledged the containers and confirmed it was difficult to pour the pre-measured powder formula in the bottle, and sometimes a bit would stay behind. Staff interviews revealed, only some staff would feed the infants both solid foods and bottles, but there was a staff member that did not feed infants solid foods and only fed infants bottles based on own beliefs of what was appropriate to feed the infant. One staff member corroborated the statement, adding they only feed infants bottles unless center director tells them otherwise. Based on interviews and record review, the facility did not follow infants food service needs. Therefore preponderance of evidence standard has been met and the above allegation is found to be substantiated. The California Code of Regulations, Title 22, Division 12 & Chapter 1, section 101427 (c) is being cited on attached LIC 9099D . This report was reviewed with the Licensee and an exit interview was conducted. Licensee\342\200\231s signature was not recorded on this Complaint Investigation Report (CIR), however; a copy was provided and Licensee\342\200\231s confirmation of read receipt is on file. Notice of Site Visit shall be posted for 30 days. Appeal Rights were provided.