VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES

Scott County Public School Head Start - Shoemaker #4
218 Shoemaker Drive
Gate city, VA 24251
(276) 386-7283

Current Inspector: Katie Gifford (276) 698-9981

Inspection Date: Sept. 22, 2022

Complaint Related: No

Areas Reviewed:

8VAC20-780 Administration. 8VAC20-780 Staff Qualifications and Training. 8VAC20-780 Physical Plant. 8VAC20-780 Staffing and Supervision.

Comments:

A monitoring inspection was conducted on 9/22/2022 and 09/29/2022 concerning a self-reported incident relating to supervision of a child. A video recording, one staff record, and the child?s record were reviewed. Staff interviews and collateral witness interviews were conducted. Information gathered during the inspection determined non-compliance with applicable standards or law and violations were documented on the violation notice issued to the program. This inspection notice was amended on 10/31/22 and emailed to the provider. Please complete the ?plan of correction? and ?date to be corrected? for each violation cited on the violation notice and return it to me within five (5) business days from today. You will need to specify how the deficient practice will be or has been corrected. Your plan of correction should contain: 1) steps to correct the noncompliance with the standard(s), 2) measures to prevent the noncompliance from occurring again; and 3) person or person(s) responsible for implementation.

Violations:

Standard #:	8VAC20-780-340-A
Description:	Based on interviews, the center failed to ensure when staff are supervising children that staff shall always ensure their care, protection and guidance. Evidence: 1. Staff #1 left the classroom to go into the bathroom leaving the classroom out of ratio at approximately 12:00 noon on September 15, 2022. Staff #2 was then left alone with 15 children ages 3-4 years old. The required ratio would be one staff for every 10 children. 2. Interviews with staff #1 and #2 determined that the staff responsible for supervision of children allowed a child, 3 years old, to leave the classroom undetected. The child was alone, out of sight and sound supervision of Head Start staff, and in the access road/parking area of the public school for a period of time that was undetermined, according to the staff, but greater than five minutes according to video. 3. Staff #1 left staff #2 in the classroom with 14 children for approximately four (4) minutes to search for the missing child and, ultimately, pick up the child from the public school main office.
Plan of Correction:	Ensuring children?s care, protection, and guidance is a major priority during supervision. Staff utilize active supervision strategies to ensure the safety and care of all children in the classroom. Staff #1 utilized the restroom located inside the center and was within sound of the children and staff # 2 during the necessitated break. During special circumstances as mentioned above, staff supervising while another staff member is in the restroom will position him/herself near the door to ensure children do not have an opportunity to leave the room. Scott County Public School Head Start does utilize classroom aides (a third staff member) in the centers part time to assist with supervision, care, and protection. On this particular day the center aide called in sick. In ensuring children?s health and safety, SCPSHS also utilizes additional office staff in the classrooms one day per week, therefore all centers are provided over-coverage at least half of the hours of operation daily. Utilizing this violated incidence as a learning opportunity, additional action steps addressed in the above standard 8VAC20-780-(5)-340-F violation was enacted. Staff involved in the incident was also required to complete additional active supervision training to ensure staff understood the significance of the potential risks these violations carry to a child?s health and well-being. Documentation of the additional training was added to the staff?s personnel files. In the aforementioned case, and if it is outside of the times ratios can be doubled, or the classroom aides are not working, all staff will utilize the restrooms inside the classroom to remain on site and inside of the center so that staff is still nearby and within sound of the children. The staff remaining in the classroom with the children supervising will position themselves nearby the door to prevent a child from leaving and to ensure the full range of the room is within view. Typically, there are 3 staff members in a classroom to ensure ratios are met during staff restroom breaks. SCPSHS will continue to utilize additional staff to ensure staff ratio are maintained.
Standard #:	8VAC20-780-340-F
Description:	Based on interviews and a review of video footage, the center failed to ensure that children under 10 years of age are always within actual sight and sound supervision. Evidence: 1. Interviews with staff #1 and #2 determined that a child, 3 years old, was out of sight and sound supervision of Head Start staff for an undetermined period of time. According to staff, the child was noticed to be gone from the classroom a few minutes after 12:00 pm on September 15, 2022. According to interviews with staff #1, #2, and #6, the child was back in the care of Head Start staff at approximately 12:14 pm. 2. Staff #6 stated that at approximately 12:13 pm on 9/15/2022, a Head Start teacher from another licensed child day center on the same school property contacted staff #6 about the child being alone and unsupervised. A phone call was received from staff #5 to alert staff #6 that there was an incident of a Head Start child being alone and unsupervised, but the child was currently back in the care of Head Start staff. Staff #6 verified that this call came at approximately 12:15 pm. 3. Video footage verified that the child was outside, alone, and out of sight and sound supervision of Head Start staff from approximately 12:11 pm until approximately 12:14 pm. The video showed the child outside of the public school building and in the access road/parking area starting at approximately 12:11 pm. The child was observed in the video running: 1) in between parked vehicles 2) on the access road away from the school building and 3) into the bus parking lot where several buses were parked; one bus was backing up into a parking space and another bus driven by Staff #4 was traveling towards the child on the access road. The child was led by a public school bus driver, staff #3, to a playground where the child was handed to a public school teacher who took the child to the public school main office. 4. Staff #4 stated that they saw the child running in the access road toward the bus and had to stop the bus from moving to allow time for another adult to take the child?s hand and walk the child back towards the school building. 5. The child exited the classroom and school building by traveling down a hallway approximately 40 ft long, and exited the building through double doors. The child traveled up a ramp outside the building, exited a fenced and gated area, and traveled into a parking lot at which time the child was captured on video. 6. The total amount of time the child was out of sight and sound supervision of Head Start staff was approximately six to seven minutes.
Plan of Correction:	Sight and sound supervision of young children in the care of center staff is of up-most importance. Scott Co. Public School Head Start has carefully constructed and trained all employees of the program?s active supervision, health, and safety practices. While these procedures were followed to the fullest extent, a child was able to leave the classroom undetected. The protocols in place were not sufficient enough for the atypical behavioral characteristics of the child in care on 9/15/2022. The violation of the standard occurred during a time that a staff member needed an immediate restroom break. Before going to the restroom, which is housed inside of the classroom, the staff had the classroom door shut and the staff in need of the break alerted the second staff member that she needed to use the restroom. Due to the risk of a children intentionally leaving the classroom unattended as in this case, Scott Co. Public School Head Start has implemented additional measures to ensure children are prevented from getting out of the classroom, or the very least, staff are alerted to a possible incident in a much timelier fashion. The following action plan has been put into place with the completion of most action steps as of the date of this corrective action plan, excluding the reconstruction of the fencing. ? All current fencing gates will be replaced with magna latches ? All gates will be provided with a ?Please close and lock gate? sign. ? Gate monitoring will be conducted by staff anytime they are outdoors and the monitoring documentation will be added the monthly health and safety checklist. ? Center staff will send home reminders to all parents / guardians asking them to help ensure gates stay closed and latched, at least 3 times during the school year, and more frequently as needed. ? All centers located on school sites will ask the School Resource Officer to check Head Start gates for closure as part of his/her monitoring of the premises. ? All center entrance/exit doors will be equipped with a door chime that will emit a sound once the door is opened. Working door chimes will be part of the monthly health and safety checks. ? During initial home visits, staff will directly ask parents of any risks the child poses to leaving the classroom or ?wondering? away. This discussion will be documented on the home visit form so that staff are better prepared to individualize safety for each child. ? Staff involved in the incident concerning the child leaving the classroom was provided additional safety training. ? All staff were given a memo in writing with a verbal overview of additional safety measures put into place to prevent such occurrences as children leaving the center. These new measures were added to the program?s current health and safety policies and procedures. ? All classrooms will utilize walkie talkies so they have access to instant and constant communications among each other as needed.
Standard #:	8VAC20-780-350-B-4
Description:	Based on interviews, the center failed to ensure that the required staff-to-child ratio of one staff for every 10 children was maintained at all times. Evidence: 1. There was one staff person present with 15 children on September 15, 2022 at approximately 12:00 pm when the second staff person required to meet the ratio was in the bathroom. 2. There was one staff person present with 14 children on September 15, 2022 when the second staff person required to meet the ratio left the classroom to search for the child, and resulted in the child being picked up from the public school main office. The ratio was not met for approximately four (4) minutes, according to staff #1.
Plan of Correction:	SCPSHS takes ratio standards very seriously. The supervision and safety of children is priority at all times. SCPSHS has never operated a classroom without the proper staff-child ratio. We understand that having the proper staff-child ratio ensures optimal supervision of young children. SCPSHS goes beyond staff-child ratios for the majority of the time children are present in the center. Our program employs part time center aides 18 hours per week and has a Family Resource Specialist in the center one day a week. This places 3 Head Start staff members in the classroom each day for at least half of the operating day. Therefore, classrooms never operate without the minimal ratio requirements and usually operate with more than the required ratio. If for some unforeseen reason a staff member has an immediate need for restroom facilities as in the aforementioned case, and it is outside of the times ratios can be doubled, or the classroom aides are not working, all staff will utilize the restrooms inside the classroom to remain on site and inside of the center so that staff is still nearby and within sound of the children. The staff remaining in the classroom with the children supervising will position themselves nearby the door to prevent a child from leaving and to ensure the full range of the room is within view.