Elgin Park Neighborhood Center

Two floor fans were in use at time of inspection; the fans were accessible to children in care. NOTE: This was corrected at time of inspection.

One staff record did not have a notarized affidavit of employment form on file.

Operation did not submit an initial background check for a person over the age of 14 years old and who is present at the child care center.

Three school-aged children, who are counted in ratio, did not have a current admission form on file at time of inspection.

Based on information obtained during the CCR investigation, a caregiver used harsh, cruel or unusual punishment by yelling at children and placing children in cribs and/or cots in a rough manner during naptime.

Based on information obtained during the CCR investigation, a caregiver forced a child to sleep by roughly placing child on cot and covering child's entire body, including head, with a blanket.

Three out of four staff did not have the required 24 hours of annual training on file. Each caregiver only had 12 hours documented in their file.

The operation could not provide daily building and grounds checklist for any weeks or months prior to this week.

The operation was not checking the carbon monoxide, fire extinguisher or smoke detector on a monthly basis. The last documented check was in September 2021.

The operation did not have a current gas leak inspection on file. Staff stated this operation does have natural gas located within the facility.

Inspector observed one person who requires an initial background check present in a classroom. The operation did not submit nor receive the results of the initial background check for this person before allowing them inside a classroom.

The director had 9 out of the 30 required annual training hours on file. Some but not all of the trainings missing were child maltreatment, communicable diseases including immunizations, food allergies, building and premises safety, and hazardous materials including blood borne pathogens.

The operation did not have a current fire inspection on file. The last fire inspection posted at the facility was dated in April 2021.

Based on the information provided during the course of the investigation, staff used poor judgment by not completing a walk through of the facility before leaving for the day. Staff also used poor judgment by signing a child out of the facility without verifying that the child left the operation with a parent/guardian.

The operation failed to provide a copy of an incident/illness form to parents after a situation that placed a child at risk occurred.

Based on the information provided during the course of the investigation, staff did not properly supervise a child in care at the end of the day. As a result, the child was left unattended with no adult supervision in the facility until parents arrived.

The director failed to properly report an incident that occurred in her facility within the required 48 hours. The report was made approximately one month later.

During the DPFS investigation, there was sufficient evidence to validate that a child was neglected while in care. A child was left unsupervised for approximately one hour after a staff member locked the facility at the end of the day.

At time of inspection, two restrooms used by children had bottles of cleaning materials containing bleach in an unsecured cabinet under the sink which was accessible to children. NOTE: This was corrected at time of inspection.

The outside play equipment was observed to have a piece of rusted metal extending or protruding from the side of the equipment. Also, observed other areas of rusted and jagged edges on the play equipment which poses a sserious risk of harm or injury to children.