Little Feet Big Steps

Based on the evidence obtained during the DFPS investigation, a child was placed in a highchair for time out for discipline. The time also exceeded the age of the child for the number of minutes.

The nap room had an older infant grouped with toddler, pre-k and school age. There was more than an 18 month age gap between the youngest infant in the group and the oldest child. There was a 45 month gap in age.

An infant was observed asleep in a restrictive device. The caregiver had mutliple opportunities to move the infant in between other caregiver tasks but did not.

Both cribs were not labeled with the correct name for the infant that uses the crib.

One staff personnel files lack form 2912 pre employment affidavit for staff that were hired after September 2023.

The last two months of fire drills were not able to be completed in three minutes or less. One drill took 3 minutes and 15 seconds and one took 4 minutes to be able to exit.

Two substitutes caregivers confirmed by the director do not have documented pre-service training or completed orientation.

An individual listed on the controlling person list is past due for being removed. This was put into compliance with having the director put in writing that this individual can be removed from the controlling person list by child care regulation.

Three older infants were grouped with an older group of children with the oldest child five years of age. The age gap between the youngest infant and the oldest child exceed 18 months.

Daily sheets have not been routinely completed for infants 12-17 months of age. It was confirmed at inspection that daily sheets were not being shared through the bright wheel app with parents once the infants turned 12 months of age.

An individual no longer associated with the operation since May 2024 has not been inactivated. This was corrected at inspection with the individuals background check being inactivated.

One caregivers personnel record only has 7 out of 24 hours of annual training and only covers child development and brain development training topics. All remaining topics required are lacking, including abuse and neglect training. Two substitutes confirmed by the director additionally do not have documented annual training.

A child in care was left alone with an adult that is not a caregiver employed with the operation.

Two infants that required infant feeding instructions have not had it updated since June 2024. Additionally, one does not provide enough details, including what the child drinks or the amount.

The morning drop off room is used for 90 minutes with the pre k age classroom with the only available activity of large duplo blocks. Alternative activities were not offered by the staff. For the first 30 minutes of the morning, the group is mixed with infants and toddlers as well. Additional planned activities are needed to ensure the individual needs of each age group have variety of choices to engage in during morning activities.

Toddlers were observed walking around while drinking their sippy cups. The caregiver did not attempt to redirect them to sit while drinking their sippy cups.

The sole infant caregiver was observed leaving the classroom to complete tasks in the kitchen on two different occasions during the inspection. The caregiver did not have auditory and visual awareness of the infants and was not within physical proximity. Additionally, the sole pre k caregiver additional left the classroom to complete other tasks.

The toddler snack items were observed being stored on the lid of the classroom trash can that is used to store dirty diapers in preparation for snack time.

Two children's records was lacking immunization records.

The sink in the infant classroom is not working and the caregiver failed to do appropriate hand washing after diaper changing.

The infant classroom has hanging cords from a shelf above the sink and the cord is accessible to children in care. Additionally, the pre k bathroom has cleaning supplies under the bathroom sink and the cabinet is not secured to prevent children from accessing the cleaning supplies. The eating area room also has sanitizing wipes accessible to children in care.

The sink in the infant classroom is not working and the children were unable to have their hands washed at the hand washing sink after diaper changing, before meal times and after outdoor activities.

Staff were observed at inspection leaving their classrooms unsupervised for other job-related tasks on seven different occurrences during the duration of the inspection.

Documentation of monthly checks of the active play space was not available at inspection.

A caregiver was re-hired and the CPR training for her expired in January 2024. The caregiver was observed at inspection supervising a classroom as the only caregiver in that classroom without CPR training.

A 14 month old was combined with an older age group with the oldest child was 4 years of age. There is more than an 18 month age gap between the infant in the group and the oldest child.

The most recent fire inspection was completed on August 31, 2021 and was due to be completed every 12 months by August, 31, 2022. The annual fire inspection is past due.