State of Michigan DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES

Transcription

1 RICK SNYDER GOVERNOR State of Michigan DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES BUREAU OF CHILDREN AND ADULT LICENSING MAURA D. CORRIGAN DIRECTOR March 4, 2014 Elise Allie ATH, LLC 2205 Miller Rd. Kalamazoo, MI RE: Lic./Reg. #: Investigation #: DC D A Touch of Home Child Care Too Dear Mrs. Allie: Attached is the Special Investigation Report for the above referenced facility. Due to the violations identified in the report, a written corrective action plan is required. The corrective action plan is due 15 days from the date of this letter and must include the following: How compliance with each rule will be achieved. Who is directly responsible for implementing the corrective action for each violation. Specific time frames for each violation as to when the correction will be completed or implemented. How continuing compliance will be maintained once compliance is achieved. The signature of the responsible party and a date. If you desire technical assistance in addressing these issues, please feel free to contact me. In any event, the corrective action plan is due within 15 days. Failure to submit an acceptable corrective action plan will result in disciplinary action. Please review the enclosed documentation for accuracy and feel free to contact me with any questions. In the event that I am not available and you need to speak to someone immediately, please feel free to contact the local office at (269) P.O. BOX LANSING, MICHIGAN (517)

2 Per MCL g, this report and any related corrective action plans must be filed in your licensing notebook. Sincerely, Kathleen Bender, Licensing Consultant Bureau of Children and Adult Licensing 322 E. Stockbridge Ave Kalamazoo, MI (269) enclosure P.O. BOX LANSING, MICHIGAN (517)

3 MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES BUREAU OF CHILDREN AND ADULT LICENSING SPECIAL INVESTIGATION REPORT I. IDENTIFYING INFORMATION License #: Investigation #: DC D Complaint Receipt Date: 01/30/2014 Investigation Initiation Date: 01/30/2014 Report Due Date: 03/31/2014 Licensee Name: Licensee Address: ATH, LLC 2205 Miller Rd. Kalamazoo, MI Licensee Telephone #: (269) Administrator: Licensee Designee: Name of Facility: Facility Address: Elise Allie, Designee Elise Allie, Designee A Touch of Home Child Care Too 400 Gladys Portage, MI Facility Telephone #: (269) Original Issuance Date: 06/04/2012 License Status: REGULAR Effective Date: 12/03/2012 Expiration Date: 12/02/2014 Capacity: 58 Program Type: CHILD CARE CENTER 1

4 II. ALLEGATION(S) There has not been a qualified lead teacher at the center in months. A 17-year-old caregiver is working at the center even though parents were told in November that she and another teen would no longer be working. The 17-year-old caregiver uses an inappropriate tone with children. III. METHODOLOGY 01/30/2014 Special Investigation Intake 2014D /30/2014 Special Investigation Initiated - On Site 11:00am - 11:40am Interviewed Program directors Andrea Lopez and Elise Allie and caregiver Anna Picking 02/27/2014 Contact Telephone call made Caregiver Alecia Gomez 02/27/2014 Contact Telephone call made Child A s Mother 02/27/2014 Contact Telephone call made Child B s Mother 02/27/2014 Contact Telephone call received Child C s Mother 02/27/2014 Contact Telephone call received Child D s Mother 02/27/2014 Exit interview Contact Telephone call made to Andrea Lopez ALLEGATION: There has not been a qualified lead teacher at the center in months. INVESTIGATION: On January 30, 2014, I made an unannounced inspection at the, A Touch of Home, Too, child care center, I spoke with Andrea Lopez and Elise Allie, who are the owners and program directors of the center. I reviewed the allegations with them. Ms. Lopez stated the classrooms have been covered by Ms. Allie and herself, filling in as lead caregivers in the past few months. This has been a temporary arrangement only until they hire more staff. They stated that one of their current caregivers will be promoted to a lead teacher by the end of the week. She is qualified to take over this position. In addition, they recently offered positions to two new caregivers and are waiting for their clearances to be returned before they can start. Ms. Lopez stated that the other classrooms have qualified lead caregivers. 2

5 A review of the staff records confirmed that all the classrooms have an assigned and qualified lead caregiver with Ms. Lopez and Ms. Allie serving as lead caregivers in two of the classrooms on a temporary basis. APPLICABLE RULE R Lead caregiver qualifications; responsibilities. (3) At least 1 lead caregiver shall be assigned to each group of children in self-contained or well-defined space and shall be present and providing care in the assigned group in the following manner: (b) At least 6 hours per day for programs operating 6 or more continuous hours. ANALYSIS: CONCLUSION: There were qualified lead caregivers providing care in all of the classrooms. VIOLATION NOT ESTABLISHED ALLEGATION: A 17-year-old caregiver is working at the center even though parents were told in November that she and another teen would no longer be working. INVESTIGATION: Ms. Allie and Elise confirmed that there had been two caregivers under the age of 18 working at the center. When they hired them, they had not realized that a 17 year old would not qualify as a caregiver unless they had finished a year in a qualified child care practicum in high school. However, they become aware of their non-compliance with this rule when they attended training at the end of November. They immediately started looking for replacements. They interviewed candidates in December and early January. One of the underage caregivers stopped working several weeks ago, but the other remained until she could be replaced because there were not enough employees hired to take her position. Ms. Lopez and Ms. Allie stated that they had just chosen two new caregivers and were waiting for clearances to be returned. They were hoping to complete the hiring process and have them start working within a week. APPLICABLE RULE R Staff and volunteers (2) All staff shall be of responsible character and suitable to meet the needs of children. 3

6 ANALYSIS: By definition, Caregiver means a person 18 years or age or older or A 17 year old shall qualify as a caregiver if he or she has satisfactorily completed at least 1 year of a vocationaloccupational child care aide training program Two employees were working as caregivers, but they did not meet the definition of caregiver because they did not have the required vocational training. Because they did not qualify as a caregiver, they were not suitable to meet the needs of children. CONCLUSION: VIOLATION ESTABLISHED ALLEGATION: The 17-year-old caregiver uses an inappropriate tone with children. INVESTIGATION: Ms. Lopez and Ms. Allie were surprised to hear of the young caregiver using an inappropriate or frustrated tone. They had never heard her speak this way to the children or other adults. During the inspection on January 30, 2014, I interviewed Anna Picking, who is a caregiver at the center. She stated that she thought the young caregiver showed a little bit of frustration, but other caregivers were always willing to help her out and she did OK. She also stated that the parents liked her. On February 27, 2014, I spoke with Alecia Gomez, who had been promoted to lead caregiver in the toddler room. She stated that she worked every day with the 17- year-old caregiver and thought that she was great with the children. Ms. Gomez had never seen her becoming frustrated or irritated with the children. I contacted the Child A, Child B, Child C and Child D s Mother s, by telephone on February 27, All the parents were very happy with the care their children received. They felt the atmosphere was welcoming and open. None of them had ever observed any caregiver being impatient or curt with any child, and all their children enjoyed attending the center. APPLICABLE RULE R Discipline. (1) Positive methods of discipline that encourage self-control, self-direction, self-esteem, and cooperation shall be used. 4

7 ANALYSIS: CONCLUSION: All caregivers were observed using positive methods to interact with the children. There were no concerns about caregivers using an inappropriate tone or harsh comments with the children. VIOLATION NOT ESTABLISHED IV. RECOMMENDATION Upon the receipt of an acceptable corrective action plan, I recommend the status of the license remain unchanged. 3/4/2014 Kathleen Bender Date Licensing Consultant Approved By: 3/4/2014 Yolanda Sims Date Area Manager 5