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July 7, 2023 CERTIFIED MAIL Haley Swenson 18659 140th Avenue Northeast Theif River Falls, MN 56701 License Number 1076935 FCC ORDER OF LICENSE REVOCATION Dear Ms. Swenson: Based on the recommendation of Pennington County Human Services (Pennington County), the Department of Human Services (DHS) is revoking your license to provide family child care at 18659 140th Avenue Northeast, Thief River Falls, MN. Details of our findings are provided below. Our next steps and your options are also detailed. REASON FOR LICENSE REVOCATION 1. Commissioner’s evaluation of program In determining whether a licensing action is warranted, DHS evaluated the facts, conditions, and circumstances concerning your program’s operation. This includes consideration of the well-being of children served in your program, available evaluations from consumers of your program, and information about the qualifications of caregivers working in your program. Specifically, because you failed to comply with terms of your conditional license, because you repeatedly failed to provide documentation of training as required, and because you repeatedly failed to comply with correction orders. DHS has determined that revocation of your license is appropriate based on the violations identified below and the program evaluation. Legal Authority: Minnesota Statutes, section 245A.04, subdivision 6. 2. Failure to comply with licensing laws and rules Pennington County determined that you failed to fully comply with the laws and rules that apply to licensed family child care. DHS has considered the nature, chronicity, or severity of the violations that led to the revocation of your license. Legal Authority: Minnesota Statutes, section 245A.07, subdivision 3, paragraph (a), subparagraph (1). Nature, history and severity of violations On February 17, 2023, DHS issued you an Order of Conditional License. On April 19, 2023, Pennington County made an unannounced visit to your family child care program. During the visit, Pennington County observed that you did not have the Order of Conditional License posted as required. Pennington County also determined that you did not comply with terms 3, 4, and 6 of the conditional license which were as follows: 3. You must submit and comply with a written plan of how you will keep your training current. You must submit the plan to Pennington County by March 10, 2023. 4. You must complete outstanding training within 60 days of this order. You must submit documentation of completed training to Pennington County. 5. You must either provide a copy of the Order of Conditional License to parents of children in care or document that all parents have been given an opportunity to review the Order. You must obtain parent signatures of each currently enrolled child, indicating they have either received a copy of the Order or had an opportunity to review the Order. You must provide this documentation to Pennington County by March 10, 2023. For new families, you must submit documentation of compliance with this term to Pennington County within 5 days of any child’s admission to your child care program. Previously, on May 31, 2022, during a licensing visit, Pennington County determined that you failed to submit documentation of training on child development and learning and behavior guidance, sudden unexpected infant death (SUID) and abusive head trauma (AHT), 16 hours of annual training, and active supervision training as required. You were to respond to the correction order and submit documentation of completed training by July 31, 2022. You failed to respond to the correction order. On September 28, 2022, Pennington County attempted to contact you about the correction order and you did not respond. On September 29, 2022, you were issued a correction order for failure to comply. As a result, on October 14, 2022, you were issued a Order to Pay a Fine for failure to comply. Although the fine was to be paid by December 30, 2022, you did not pay the fine until March 29, 2023. On April 12, 2021, Pennington County made a visit to your family child care program. As a result of the visit, you were issued a correction order for failure to provide documentation of current training on cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and first aid training as required. On March 27, 2019, Pennington County made a visit to your family child care program. During the visit, Pennington County determined licensing violations. As a result, you were issued a correction order for the following licensing violations: · Failure to provide documentation of child development and learning and behavior guidance as required. · Failure to provide documentation of supervising for safety as required. · Failure to provide documentation of 11 hours of annual training as required. · Failure to provide documentation of training on AHT as required. Severity of violations Due to the serious and chronic nature of these violations and the conditions in the program, which impact the health and safety of children served in your care, your license to provide family child care services is revoked. YOUR RIGHT TO APPEAL You have the right to appeal the revocation. Your request must be in writing and clearly state that you are requesting a contested case hearing for this matter. Your request must be made before the deadlines provided below. If you do not meet this deadline, you lose your right to an administrative appeal. The timeline to appeal began when you received this order. If you are mailing your request, it must be sent by certified mail and postmarked within 10 calendar days from when you received this order. Please send it to: Commissioner, Department of Human Services Office of Inspector General Legal Counsel’s Office Attention: Licensing Legal Unit PO Box 64953 St. Paul, MN 55164-0953 If your request is being personally delivered, it must be received by DHS within 10 calendar days from when you received this order. Please bring it to: Commissioner, Department of Human Services Office of Inspector General Legal Counsel’s Office Attention: Licensing Legal Unit 444 Lafayette Road North St. Paul, MN 55155 Upon DHS’ receipt of your timely appeal, your case would be scheduled for a contested case hearing in front of an Administrative Law Judge. Following this hearing, the Commissioner of DHS will issue a final order. If you do not appeal or if the order is affirmed by the Commissioner following a hearing, DHS is prohibited from issuing you a license for five years. In addition, any additional licenses held by you shall also be revoked. Legal representation at the contested case hearing: You do not need a lawyer to appeal. However, a lawyer can help you with your appeal. The state or county will not get you a lawyer and will not pay for a lawyer. If you cannot afford a lawyer, you may be able to get free legal advice or help with your appeal. To find out if free help is available, contact: Volunteer Lawyers Network at 612-752-6677; Central Minnesota Legal Services at 612-332-8151; Southern Minnesota Legal Services at 651-222-4731; or go to www.lawhelpmn.org to find a local legal services program that may be able to help you. You can also find information on contested cases from the Office of Administrative Hearings website at https://mn.gov/oah/self-help. Click on Administrative Law Overview, then click on Administrative Law Contested Case Hearing Guide for a list of frequently asked questions. Operating the program pending the outcome of the appeal: If you file an appeal within the timeframes described above, you may continue to operate pending the outcome of your appeal. If you continue to operate, you must do so in full compliance with all licensing laws and rules. Failure to follow a law or rule that may impact the health or safety of children served by your program could result in the immediate suspension of your license. Questions about CCAP If you are a provider authorized to receive Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) payments, this revocation order could impact your ability to receive CCAP funding. If you have questions about CCAP, contact the County or CCAP agencies where you are authorized to receive CCAP funds. Prohibition against providing legally unlicensed child care On February 17, 2023, DHS issued an Order of Conditional License to your family child care program, which disqualified you from providing legally unlicensed child care. You remain prohibited from providing legally unlicensed child care even if you appeal this order. Posting of this Licensing Action You are required to place this Order of License Revocation in a place that is clearly noticeable to the people receiving services and all visitors to the facility for two years, even if you appeal. Legal authority for this licensing action · This action is taken under Minnesota Statutes, section 245A.07, subdivision 3, which describes under which conditions DHS may revoke a license. · Minnesota Statutes, section 245.095 defines which programs administered by DHS are included in the exclusion provision, and further defines “excluded,” “individual,” and “provider.” · License holders have a right to appeal licensing actions and request a contested case hearing, under Minnesota Statutes, chapter 14, Minnesota Rules, parts 1400.8505 to 1400.8612, and Minnesota Statutes, section 245A.08. · Under Minnesota Statutes, section 245A.04, subdivision 7, paragraph (d), clause (3), the commissioner shall not issue or reissue a license if the applicant, license holder, or controlling individual has had a license issued under this chapter revoked within the past five years. · Under Minnesota Statutes, section 245A.04, subdivision 7, paragraph (d), clause (5), when a license issued under this chapter is revoked under clause (1) or (3), the license holder and controlling individual may not hold any license under chapter 245A for five years following the revocation, and other licenses held by the applicant, license holder, or controlling individual shall also be revoked. · Minnesota Statutes, section 245A.03, subdivision 2a provides that an applicant for licensure who has received a license revocation that has not been reversed on appeal may not operate as a legally unlicensed child care provider. Operating an unlicensed family child care is a misdemeanor under Minnesota Statutes, section 245A.03, subdivision 3. · The requirement to post this order in a clearly visible location is required under Minnesota Statutes, section 245A.07, subdivision 5. Questions If you have any further questions regarding this matter, you may contact Beth Donahue, Supervisor at 651-431-6565. Sincerely,
Barbara Wagner, Unit Manager Licensing Division Office of Inspector General cc: Jamie Danzl, Pennington County Human Services
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