Holly Oak Child Care Center

“On June 10, 2024, a complaint was called into the Child Abuse and Neglect Report Line and accepted for investigation by the Institutional Abuse Unit (IAU). The Office of Child Care Licensing (OCCL) received the complaint on June 10, 2024, and accepted it for investigation regarding allegations of improper discipline, improper staff-to-child ratios, not notifying OCCL of injuries that required medical or dental attention, Staff #1 vaping in front of the children, and not meeting the needs of the child due to dietary restrictions. On June 21, 2024, OCCL received notification from IAU stating the documentation received from OCCL did not have enough evidence supporting the allegations of abuse for IAU to continue their investigation. OCCL s investigation began on June 11, 2024, and ended on June 27, 2024. The allegations of improper discipline and Staff #1 vaping in front of the children were investigated in Case #1527075. The allegation of improper staff-to-child ratios is substantiated because the attendance records for March 2024 were reviewed and all classrooms did not maintain the correct staff-to-child ratios 98 times during this month. Reviewing the attendance records showed the center is not accurately documenting the attendance of staff members or children. OCCL also received a video documenting 14 infants and one-year-olds in the classroom with two staff members. This exceeds the maximum group size for both age groups. The allegation of not notifying OCCL of injuries that required medical or dental attention is substantiated because OCCL received documentation showing the administrator knew the injuries sustained by Child #4 and Child #5 required stitches and the injuries were not reported to OCCL. There is no evidence to substantiate the allegation that the center did not meet the needs of the child due to dietary restrictions because the staff members interviewed did not have consistent statements and the documentation the families provided showed conversati ons between the families and staff members stating they were willing to provide the accommodations. However, the documentation that was provided did demonstrate a lack of communication between the staff members and the administrator.”

“Between May 20, 2024, and June 3, 2024, nine complaints regarding Holly Oak Child Care Center, located at 1511 Philadelphia Pike, Wilmington, DE 19809, were received by the Office of Child Care Licensing (OCCL). OCCL cannot legally disclose if a complaint was also received or investigated by any other agency. OCCL investigations of regulatory non-compliance begin when clearance from other agencies, when applicable, has been received. Allegations included improper discipline, failure to report suspected child abuse or neglect, not notifying OCCL of a change in administrator, not following DELACARE meal requirements, diapering procedure, staff vaping while caring for children, not being truthful when providing information to parents or OCCL, sanitation of the facility, lack of supervision, administrator not present for the required number of hours, policy for handling complaints by parents, and not reporting an incident involving a child to parents. This complaint is substantiated for improper discipline because four staff members interviewed who were working in the infant and toddler areas stated they observed a staff member using improper discipline with children. Five staff members stated they had not observed staff members using improper discipline with children, but they were not assigned to work on the same floor as the infant and toddler rooms at the time of these allegations. This complaint is substantiated for lack of supervision because based on staff interviews, staff would walk out of the classrooms at nap time to prepare snack or talk, leaving children unsupervised in the classrooms. This complaint is substantiated for failure to report suspected child abuse or neglect because all staff members who stated they were concerned about possible child abuse or neglect in the center failed to report those concerns directly to the Child Abuse and Neglect Report Line. This complaint is substantiated for not notifying OCCL of a change in administrator because the f ormer administrator resigned more than a month before OCCL was notified of the change at an unannounced complaint visit. This complaint is substantiated for not following DELACARE meal requirements because based on documentation, snacks on four out of five days did not contain the required components. Lunch on two out of 10 days did not contain the required components. This complaint is substantiated for not following diapering procedures because based on staff interviews, a majority of staff stated diapers had either not been checked or not been changed as frequently as required. This complaint is substantiated for sanitation of the facility based on staff interviews and observations of the facility. Broken floor tiles were observed in the kitchen, ceiling tiles were missing in a room, a room divider was in disrepair, one bathroom had a buildup of dust in the vent as well as damaged cabinets, and one bathroom had broken paper towel and toilet paper holders on the floor. This complaint is substantiated for the administrator not being present for the required number of hours because when requested, the administrator s attendance records could not be produced. This complaint is substantiated for not reporting an incident involving a child to parents because according to staff interviews and documentation reviewed, serious injuries or potentially serious injuries involving a child s face or head were not documented as having been immediately reported to parents at the time of the incident. There is no evidence to substantiate staff vaping while caring for children because based on staff interviews, the majority of staff stated they had not seen staff vaping while children were present. There is no evidence to substantiate not being truthful when providing information to parents or OCCL because based on staff interviews, the majority of staff members stated they had been truthful when providing information to parents. There is no evidence to substantiate not followi ng the policy for handling complaints by parents because based on staff interviews, all staff stated parent complaints would either be handled by the teacher or the administrator, but there was no instance to support instances where they thought complaints were not handled appropriately. Additional concerns observed during the on-site complaint investigation were insufficient staffing as there was no staff to answer the phone or front door at the time of an attempted unannounced visit, and having staff start employment before being fingerprinted and determined eligible or provisionally eligible. According to documentation received, six staff members who were involved in this investigation were allowed to start employment before being fingerprinted and determined eligible or provisionally eligible.”

“On May 17, 2024, the Office of Child Care Licensing (OCCL) received a complaint regarding not following proper diapering procedures, staff using cell phones while responsible for caring for children, and insufficient interaction with infants and toddlers. An investigation was conducted on May 20, 2024. This complaint is substantiated for not following diapering procedures because according to staff interviews and documentation received, two staff members were not changing wet or soiled diapers when needed. This complaint is substantiated for staff using cell phones while responsible for caring for children because according to staff interviews, two staff members were frequently on their phones and taking personal phone calls while caring for children. This complaint is substantiated for insufficient interaction with infants and toddlers because according to staff interviews and documentation received, there were multiple parent and staff complaints about two staff members not engaging or interacting with the infants and toddlers. These two staff members had their employment terminated on May 17, 2024.”

“On October 3, 2023, the Office of Child Care Licensing (OCCL) received a complaint regarding allegations of improper staff-to-child ratios and the administrator not providing the required support to the staff when needed. This complaint is substantiated for improper staff-to-child ratios because the attendance records provided by the facility showed staff-to-child ratios were not being maintained in three classrooms on two separate dates. There is no evidence to substantiate the allegation that the administrator is not providing the required support to the staff because the majority of the staff members interviewed stated the administrator provides guidance and support whenever requested.”

“All staff files must be complete. Send the updated fingerprinting receipts for two staff members. Send the current health appraisal with TB for one staff member.”

“Send the completed health and safety training certificates for nine staff members.”

“Ensure all trashcans are covered and diaper cans are foot operated.”

“Send the lesson plans for the infant and toddler classrooms. Ensure the lesson plans meet all OCCL requirements.”