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March 6, 2024 Mary Lockhart-Findling Litchfield Head Start Center 101 Vesta Street South PO Box 36 Cosmos, MN 56228 License Number: 830654 (Child Care Ctr) Program Location: 307 E 6th Street, Litchfield, MN 55355 Dear Mary Lockhart-Findling: The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS), Division of Licensing, received your request for reconsideration of Citations 1, 2, and 3 from the Correction Order issued to you by DHS on May 1, 2023. SUMMARY OF CITATIONS AND RECONSIDERATION DETERMINATION: Citation 1. The program did not have documentation on site to show that a staff person (SP1) met the education requirements of the teacher job classification for which the staff person was employed. Your Response. As background, SP1 holds a bachelor’s degree from Trent University, which is in Ontario, Canada. SP1 was previously employed at another Head Start Center in Wilmar, where s/he was granted a variance from DHS to be teacher-qualified pending submission of his/her credential evaluation. The variance was granted on November 15, 2021, and expired on November 29, 2021. You argue that the citation was issued in error, because SP1’s Canadian undergraduate transcripts were available for review, and DHS should have maintained in its files SP1’s credential evaluation completed for his/her employment at the Wilmar location. Applicable Law. Minnesota Rule 9503.0032, subpart 2, specifies the credential, education, and experience requirements for a “teacher” designation at a licensed child care center. Under the rule, an accepted credential for a teacher position includes “baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university in any field.” An individual with such credential must have completed at least “18 quarter credits” of course work, and at least “1,040 hours as assistant teacher, aide, or student intern.” Minnesota Rule 9503.0120 requires license holders to maintain, at the child care center, certain personnel records for each staff person. The records to be maintained on site include documentation that a staff person meets the requirements of his/her job position and the education and experience requirements specified in parts 9503.0031 to 9503.0034. Reconsideration Determination. Licensed child care centers must employ staff persons who meet the educational and/or experiential qualifications specified in Minnesota Rules 9503.0031 to 9503.0034, or receive appropriate variances. With respect to candidates holding foreign credentials, it is reasonable to require the centers to evaluate and verify that the person’s credentials and qualifications satisfy the standards set forth by the Minnesota Rules. Rule 9503.0120 places the responsibility on the center to maintain documentation showing that a staff person meets the qualifications for his/her position. In SP1’s situation, his/her Canadian transcripts alone were not sufficient to make this showing, and the center did not have available for review any additional documentation confirming that SP1’s Canadian credentials and educational background satisfy the requirements here. Citation 1 is affirmed. Citation 2. The program did not comply with cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training requirements. Documentation was not available on site to show that a staff person (SP5) had satisfactorily completed the required pediatric CPR training before unsupervised direct contact with a child. Citation 3. The program did not comply with first aid training requirements. Documentation was not available on site to show that a staff person (SP5) had satisfactorily completed the required pediatric first aid training before unsupervised direct contact with a child. Your Response. As background, SP5’s orientation training record, personnel information form (PIF), and summary of personnel information for licensors (completed by you on January 4, 2023), show his/her first date of unsupervised direct contact with children as September 15, 2022. Per training records, SP5 completed pediatric CPR and first aid trainings on October 14, 2022. You contend that the citations should be rescinded, because there were three staff persons in SP5’s classroom every day, and so s/he did not have unsupervised direct contact with the children. In support, you submitted a staffing patterns form, completed by you on January 17, 2023, showing SP5 and three other staff persons (two teachers and one substitute) assigned to the Litchfield 1 preschool classroom from Monday to Friday. You also state that SP5’s PIF contained an error. Applicable Law. Under Minnesota Statutes, section 245A.40, subdivisions 3 and 4, unless training has been completed within the previous two years, the director, staff persons, substitutes, and unsupervised volunteers must satisfactorily complete pediatric CPR and first aid trainings prior to having unsupervised direct contact with a child. Minnesota Rule 9503.0120 requires license holders to maintain, at the child care center, certain personnel records for each staff person. The records to be maintained on site include documentation that the staff person has completed the required CPR and first aid training.
Reconsideration Determination. This analysis applies to both Citations 2 and 3. You have indicated that SP5’s PIF contained an error as to his/her date of first unsupervised direct contact with the children in the program. But DHS relies on the license holders to maintain accurate records of personnel information. Moreover, as enumerated above, multiple personnel documents regarding SP5—in addition to the PIF— show his/her first date of unsupervised direct contact as September 15, 2022. Lastly, a staffing patterns form prepared in January 2023 does not convincingly show that SP5 was supervised by other, CPR and first aid-qualified, staff persons at all times between September 15, 2022, and October 14, 2022. In all, there is sufficient evidence to support the violation. Citations 2 and 3 are affirmed. Disposition: The Commissioner has reviewed the relevant laws and all of the information you submitted in response to the Correction Order. Citations 1, 2, and 3 are affirmed. This is a final agency decision. The Commissioner appreciates your response and encourages you to continue to work cooperatively with your licensor to ensure the safety and well-being of the children you serve. Sincerely,  Afsheen Foroozan, Attorney Legal Counsel’s Office Office of Inspector General
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