Iowa Department of Human Services

CHILD CARE CENTER COMPLAINT

Name of Center: Lit'l Russellers Child Development Center Enrollment: 95 License ID: 4152000020

Street: 970 North Bend Drive City: North Liberty IA Zip Code: 52317 County: Johnson

Mailing Address: 970 North Bend Drive

Mailing City: North Liberty IA Zip Code: 52317

Director's Name: Jaime Russell Center Phone Number: 319-665-3490

On-Site Supervisors: not applicable E-Mail Address: jamie@litlrussellers.com

Date of Complaint: 7/16/2009 Date of Visit: 7/17/2009

[ ] Scheduled [X] Unannounced [ ] NA

[X] Non-Compliance with Regulations Found [ ] Compliance with Regulations Found [ ] NA

RECOMMENDATION FOR LICENSE

[X] NO CHANGES to licensing status recommended
[ ] PROVISIONAL license from to
[ ] SUSPENSION of License
[ ] REVOCATION of License

Summary of Complaint:
A phone contact was received on 7/16/09 expressing a number of concerns regarding care of children and condition of the facility at
the Lit'l Russellers Child Care program. The following complaints/concerns were identified by the phone caller:
1. The center is out of ratio at different times of the day, especially in the afternoon, at naptime and in the school-aged program.
2. The director leaves the center for two hour lunches.
3. The vans used for school-aged transportation for field trips is in poor condition. The vans have broken down on 7/16 on
Dubuque St in IC.
4. The school-aged field trips have lacked a sufficient number of staff, the extra staff was to be the director but did not attend
because she did not want to go
5. A six year old child was seated in the front seat of the van.
6. The carpets are dirty and in need of cleaning, especially in the center classroom used for school-aged programming. In the
previous week it was reported the toilet adjacent to this area overflowed and carpets had not been cleaned since the occurrence.
7. Carpets are dirty in the infant area, infant feet are needing to be washed before children are sent home due to the dirt/appearance
of dirt on their feet.
8. The playgrounds are having limited usage due to lack of cushioning and poor equipment, rusty &/or broken.
Licensing Rules Relevant to the Complaint:
109.8(2) Ratio maintained in center as required by age.
109.8(2)g One additional staff when 5 or more children are involved in a center-sponsored activity away from the center.
109.8(2)b If child between ages 18 and 24 months is placed outside infant area, ratio of 1:4 shall be maintained as would otherwise
be required for the group until the child reaches the age of 2.
109.11(3)a(1) Center and premises are sanitary, safe, and hazard free.
109.11(3)a(10) Sanitation and safety procedures are in place to reduce the risk of harm to children and the transmission of disease.
109.11(3)a(2) Adequate outdoor program space is adjacent to the center and has sufficient square footage to accommodate 30% of
enrollment capacity at any time at 75 sq. ft. per child. The outdoor play area includes safe play equipment and shade.
109.10(12) Children under age 12 are not seated in the front of the vehicle.
109.8(1)c At least one person on duty in the center, outdoor play area, or on field trips is over eighteen and has current certification
in CPR and first-aid.

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109.6(1) Information on the director’s qualifications is submitted to consultant prior to employment and is sufficient to make a
determination.
109.6(1) Center director meets qualifications or is “qualifiable” with a plan established to meet qualifications.
109.6(2) Director or On-Site Supervisor on-site during the hours of operation or a minimum of eight hours of center’s hours of
operation.
Inspection Findings:
An unannounced visit was made to the center in the afternoon while children were napping. Each of the classrooms were visited
and the number of children and staff members were noted. Each of the classrooms, the four/five year old, three year old, two year
old, school-aged classroom and both baby classrooms were in ratio. The classroom for the toddler area which consisted of children
under two years of age had eight children and only one staff member and a second staff member was in the classroom but had
previously been in the two year old classroom. Nine children were in the two year old classroom and three staff members. The
toddler classroom was out of ratio for some unknown period of time. (Violation of 109.8(2)b and 109.8)

In conversation with the onsite director, she informed me the director, Jamie Russell was not working at the center during the
summer, she is currently providing home child care services and for the past three months, Carissa has been the new director. The
identified director was not and has not been present at the center for approximately 3 months. (Violation of 109.6(2)) The center
had failed to provide any information regarding the appointment of a new director and/or submit credentials for review by the child
care consultant. It is unknown whether the new director met the qualifications of a director. (Violation of 109.6(1)).

The director stated the toilet had overflowed in the past week and although it was identified during the weekend cleaning, on
Monday the area was dry and no cleaning or the carpets was completed. (Violation of 109.11(3)a(1) and 109.11(3)a(10)) Even
though the carpet may have dried over the weekend period of time, the director reported the carpeting in the adjacent area had not
been cleaned in 6-7 months and not cleaned after the overflow of the toilet. The toilet in the bathroom was also broken and had not
been fixed although the director did report it was to be fixed in the following weekend.

The director did report that one van was broken down and was being serviced and a second van had also broken down the current
week. She also reported a child was seated in the front seat of the van when on a field trip, she reported the child was 8 years, not 6
years. (Violation of 109.10(12))

When questioned, the director stated the identified staff who both open and close the center. One of the closing staff members
lacked both first aid and CPR certification. (Violation of 109.8(1)c)

The outdoor area was inspected and the following violations were found: little or no cushioning was beneath the playground
structure and inadequate fall zone cushioning, broken equipment, toys, tubs were present and green posts posed a injury risk. The
multi bike go round has a number of broken pedals and parts missing. Playground gates are not catching and not working either
preventing opening and /or closing. (Violation of 109.11(3)a(2))

I was unable to verify the complaint allegation of a lack of adequate staff on school-aged field trips.
Special Notes and Action Required:
The center is found in violation of all but one of the identified complaint allegations.

I also identified failure to meet requirements for staff records in the three staff records reviewed. One staff member lacked a file
totally. The other two lacked adequate training and physical and TB report as required. (Violation of 109.7(2), 109.9(1)e, and
109.9(1)d)

The infant room had a number of restrictive devices, three bouncy seats, 1 exersaucer and 1 jumper. Additionally two car seats
were placed in individual cribs. The use of restrictive devices shall be implemented. The center is in violation of 109.12(5)
109.12(5)e.

Posted snacks showed popcorn as a snack. Although popcorn may be served, it poses a choking hazard in children under four years
of age. (Violation of 109.15(2))

The center shall submit within 30 days of receipt of this report, a letter outlining the date of each correction made to the identified
violations in both Inspection Findings and Special Notes and Actions.

This report also serves as an off year unannounced report for the center.

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Consultant's Signature: Date:
08/10/2009

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