Bright Beginnings

A caregiver of the operation was working in the classroom with direct access to children in care without an eligible notification from the centralized background check unit. It was corrected at inspection with the caregiver being removed from the classroom.

Based on the evidence obtained during the investigation, a caregiver did not use good judgement when administering a COVID test on a child in care without parental consent.

During lunch time an infant was observed seated in a high chair but the straps were not secured and fastened.

Infants that have the motor function to reach forward had their hands washed with an individual cloth instead of using the hand washing sink.

Infant feeding instructions were reviewed at inspection. One was not available for review and another was last updated in August 2023. Both require an updated infant feeding instruction.

Diaper changing was observed in the older infant classroom and the toddler classroom and hand washing by the children and staff did not occur after each diaper change.

Two classrooms were observed with children having their food served directly on a table without a plate or napkin.

A caregiver was observed at inspection leaving a child on an above ground diaper changing surface in the classroom to complete an incident report form regarding a biting incident.

One caregiver did not have a list of all of the children's ages in the classroom and did not know the accurate age of the youngest child she was responsible for.

The operation has not been routinely conducting fire drills monthly.

Diaper changing was observed at inspection and children did not have their hands washed after diaper changes and staff did not wash their hands either.

Classroom interactions were observed with the classroom that is mixed with older infants and toddlers. The caregiver rarely communicated with the children in a positive manner and was very overly firm with her demands to the children that is not appropriate for their developmental level. Additionally the children were disciplined negatively for wanting to play with toys when they had already transitioned from lunch time and story time and had not had an opportunity to play in over an hour.

In one classroom, the caregiver did not know an accurate count of the number of children she is responsible for and did not know the accurate age of the youngest child. Multiple classrooms did not have a list of the names and ages of the children.

The diaper changing surface was not sanitized after each use. When the sanitizing product was used between some of the diaper changing sessions, the manufacturer instructions were not being followed.

Based on the evidence obtained during the investigation, one child with a known food allergy did not have a complete food allergy plan on file.

Based on the evidence obtained, bottles were not labeled for two infants resulting in infants being fed the wrong bottles. It was immediately corrected with all the bottles being labeled and was observed labeled at inspection.

Based on the evidence obtained during the investigation, diaper changes have not been conducted promptly.

The toddler classroom with two children less than the age of 2 were observed participating in screen time with watching a movie.

A staff member of the operation tested positive for COVID-19 two weeks ago and a timely report to child care regulation was not made. It was corrected at inspection with a report being made.

Based on the evidence obtained during the investigation, staff are routinely leaving the infant room unsupervised.

Based on the evidence obtained during the investigation, infants are often being fed with their bottles propped.

Based on the evidence obtained during the investigation, the director is not reinforcing the compliance with minimum standards with the staff employed at the operation and patterns of minimum standard violations.

The sand box was observed at inspection with cat poop in the sand box. Children were observed at inspection playing in the sand box.

The pre-k caregiver was supervising 3 children at the meal time tables while the remaining 7 children she was responsible for were two classrooms away. The caregiver was not within physical proximity, did not have visual awareness or able to intervene with the other 7 children she was responsible for. Children were running around the classroom as well.

Once classroom was observed with 12 children between the ages of 15 months and 2 years of age during nap time. The specified age group of the classroom was 18-23 months of age and is limited to 9 children with one caregiver. Since classroom with children less than 18 months of age cannot be reduced for nap time ratios, the classroom was over ratio with one caregiver.

The sink specified for hand washing after diaper changes was also being used for cleaning bottles.

During this inspection I observed a 4 month old asleep on a boppy pillow with a blanket and the boppy pillow was sitting inside a crib. This was corrected at inspection when the boppy pillow and blanket was removed from the crib.

A caregiver left the infant classroom over ratio with six infants, less than 12 months of age, with one staff member in the classroom while completing laundry duty tasks in the kitchen.

Infants were observed buckled securely in high chairs at inspection however an infant in a restrictive device (bouncer chair) that requires the infant to be fastened was not secured after being placed in the device.

A classroom with a combination of older infants and younger toddlers did not wash hands after entering from the playground. They additionally did not wash hands before eating.

Two infants were observed in a high chair and they were not securely fastened with the buckles when in use.

Based on the evidence obtained at inspection, there is sufficient evidence that staff are routinely leaving infants asleep in restrictive devices.