The Issue Whether Petitioner, Department of Children and Families ("Department"), established by clear and convincing evidence that Respondent, A Child's World Childcare and Preschool, Inc. ("A Child's World"), committed a Class I violation; and, if so, what penalty should be imposed.
Findings Of Fact The Department is responsible for the enforcement of sections 402.301 through 402.319, Florida Statutes, governing the regulation of child care facilities in Florida. Since 2003, A Child's World has operated continuously as a licensed child care facility at 703 Southwest 6th Street, Okeechobee, Florida. By all accounts, A Child's World is an exemplary facility. A Child's World is recognized as a Tier 4 provider by the Early Learning Coalition, the highest quality indicator in the community. Since 2004, A Child's World has been Gold Seal accredited. The incident giving rise to the Administrative Complaint occurred on January 29, 2019, at the child care facility. In August 2018, K.P. began attending A Child's World along with her older sister, A.P. On the date of the incident, K.P. was four years old and A.P. was five years old. During the morning of January 29, 2019, K.P., A.P., and other children were playing on the outdoor fenced-in playground at the facility. At that time, all of the children were supervised by a teacher. Subsequently, Angela Osterman, center director for A Child's World, called for A.P to be brought from the playground to the office for dismissal. When K.P. went to the office along with A.P., Ms. Osterman brought K.P. back to the playground and brought her directly to Deion Hayes, the teacher responsible for the group of children still on the playground. Subsequently, Ms. Osterman made an intercom announcement to all staff not to allow K.P. to accompany her sister when only the sister is called for dismissal. At 11:55 a.m., the children and teacher came inside the building from the playground. However, K.P. was left outside on the playground, alone and unsupervised because the teacher who was responsible for her confused his "head count" of the children when he brought the children back in the building.1/ K.P. was alone and unsupervised playing on the playground for approximately 40 minutes. At 12:37 p.m., K.P. exited the playground by climbing a five-feet high chain-link fence, which surrounds the perimeter of the playground. Almost immediately, facility staff saw K.P. standing close to the front of the building (approximately three and one-half to four feet from the building) in front of the infant room, playing with rocks in a flower bed, at which time K.P. was retrieved and brought back inside the building for an immediate evaluation. K.P. never left the facility premises. A video recording shows K.P. on the playground, alone; climbing over the fence at 12:37 p.m.; and being retrieved and brought back inside the building almost immediately thereafter. K.P. was not injured or in any distress following the incident. In fact, K.P. was smiling and in very good spirits following the incident. Under the particular facts of this case, the Department failed to prove by clear and convincing evidence that the inadequate supervision of K.P. posed an imminent threat which could or did result in her death or serious harm to her health, safety, or well-being. At 1:12 p.m., Malissa Morgan, the owner of the facility, self-reported the incident. In addition, K.P.'s mother was contacted and came to the school. K.P.'s mother kept K.P. in school for the remainder of the day and K.P. returned to the school the very next day. A Child's World fired Mr. Hayes on January 29, 2019. In addition, the next day, A Child's World conducted a full retraining of its staff and imposed stricter policies regarding supervision. K.P. continued attending A Child's World for months after the incident and returned after summer vacation. K.P. and A.P. are currently enrolled for this new school year.2/
Recommendation Based on the foregoing Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, it is RECOMMENDED that the Department of Children and Families enter a final order finding that A Child's World did not commit a Class I violation and dismissing the Administrative Complaint. DONE AND ENTERED this 3rd day of September, 2019, in Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida. S DARREN A. SCHWARTZ Administrative Law Judge Division of Administrative Hearings The DeSoto Building 1230 Apalachee Parkway Tallahassee, Florida 32399-3060 (850) 488-9675 Fax Filing (850) 921-6847 www.doah.state.fl.us Filed with the Clerk of the Division of Administrative Hearings this 3rd day of September, 2019.
