Incident investigation·February 21, 2024

On 02/21/24 a subsequent Case Management visit was made by Licensing Program Analyst (LPA), Cindy Castro, in response to an Unusual Incident Repot (UIR) that occurred on 02/15/24 which involved child (C1) being left in a parked vehicle. LPA met with licensee (L1), Lorena Hernandez, to discuss the purpose of the visit, conducted interviews with L1, Staff S1&S2 and requested facility roster of the children currently in care. The licensee self-reported the incident and submitted a UIR to the Department on 02/20/24. The report noted C1 fell asleep after picking up school age children and was accidentally forgotten in the parked vehicle on the driveway of the Child Care Home. During the subsequent visit, LPA observed 7 children in care, upon LPA's arrival at 1:30pm. During interviews conducted at prior visit on 02/21/24, to obtain more information about UIR. Licensee and S1- S2 corroborated the absence of supervision for C1. Licensee and Staff stated that they approximated that C1 was in the parked vehicle on the driveway for 1.5 hours. Statement from Parent who found C1 in the locked vehicle also confirmed the span of time that C1 was unsupervised in the parked vehicle. As a result of today's visit an immediate civil penalty of $500 is being assessed for incident that occurred on 02/15/24, Type A (see LIC421IM). LPA informed the licensee to provide a copy of this licensing report dated 02/21/24 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. Exit interview conducted and report was reviewed with Lorena Hernandez. Appeal Rights were provided and discussed. A notice of site visit was given to licensee and must remain posted on, or immediately adjacent to, the interior side of the main door for 30 days.