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September 5, 2024 CERTIFIED MAIL Gloria Allie 1279 Cherokee Avenue West St. Paul, MN 55118 License Number 1080996 FCC ORDER OF CONDITIONAL LICENSE ORDER TO PAY A FINE Dear Ms. Allie: Based on the recommendation from Dakota County Community Services (Dakota County), the Department of Human Services (DHS) is placing your license to provide family child care at 1279 Cherokee Avenue, West St. Paul, MN 55118 on conditional status for one year beginning September 5, 2024. This means you must meet certain conditions to maintain your license, detailed below. This order is based on your level of noncompliance with family child care licensing requirements. Our next steps and your options are also provided below. In addition, DHS is ordering you to pay a fine of $200. Details of our findings are provided below. REASON FOR THE CONDITIONAL LICENSE 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 repeatedly failed to correct licensing violations and comply with a correction order, because you failed to submit documentation of training, because you failed to ensure that hazards were inaccessible to children in care, because you failed to provide documentation of crib safety inspections, and because you failed to submit a complete emergency preparedness plan. DHS has determined that it is appropriate to place your license on conditional status 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 As a result of previous licensing visits, Dakota County determined that your program failed to comply with the laws and rules for licensed family child care. DHS has considered the nature, chronicity, and severity of these violations, which are provided below. Legal Authority: Minnesota Statutes, section 245A.06, subdivision 1. Nature, history and severity of violations Violations determined The following violations summarize the nature of your previous licensing violations. Because these violations are now conclusive, the individual violations are not within the scope of your appeal rights. Please refer to the previously issued correction orders for further details on these violations. If you do not have copies of these orders, contact your Dakota County licensor for assistance. DHS also considered this history as a factor when it determined that a Conditional License is appropriate. On May 17, 2024, Dakota County made a visit to your family child care program. As a result of the visit, you were issued a correction order on June 6, 2024, for the following licensing violations: · Failure to provide documentation of monthly storm drill logs as required. · Failure to provide documentation of an emergency preparedness plan. · Failure to provide documentation of annual child development and learning and behavior guidance training. · Failure to provide documentation of 16 hours of on-going training. · Failure to provide documentation of crib safety inspections. · Failure to provide a complete first aid kit, when your kit was missing mild hand soap. · Failure to ensure that hazardous materials were inaccessible when children had access to a bag of concrete, construction debris, siding, ladder, and no railings on the deck stairs. Following the visit, Dakota county sent you an email requesting you to correct citations. You failed to respond. On May 23, 2024, Dakota County called you and left a message for you to verify that you had made the construction materials inaccessible to children. On May 30, 2023, Dakota County sent you an email letting you know you had until June 3, 2024, to correct the citations. You failed to respond. You continually failed to respond to Dakota County and on June 6, 2024, you were issued a correction order for the above licensing violations. You were to correct the violations and respond to the correction order by June 21, 2024. You failed to respond to the correction order. As a result, on June 27, 2024, Dakota County made a visit to your family child care home to follow up on the correction order. At that time, you had removed construction materials but were not in compliance with the rest of the correction order. June 27, 2024, a Correction Order for failure to comply with the June 6, 2024, correction order was issued. July 1, 2024, Dakota County made an unannounced visit to your family child care program. As a result of the visit, Dakota County determined that you still were not in compliance with the following licensing violations: · Failure to provide documentation of a complete emergency preparedness plan. · Failure to provide documentation of crib safety inspections. · Failure to provide documentation of monthly storm drill logs as required. · Failure to provide documentation of annual child development and learning and behavior guidance training. · Failure to provide documentation of 16 hours of annual on-going training. · Failure to provide a complete first aid kit, when your kit was missing mild hand soap. April 28, 2023, Correction Order, which cited the following licensing violations: · Failure to ensure ammunition was stored in a locked area. · Failure to provide documentation of annual child development and learning and behavior guidance training. · Failure to provide documentation of current cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training as required. · Failure to provide documentation of 16 hours of annual on-going training. · Failure to provide documentation of active supervision training. · Failure to provide documentation of immunization records for one child in care. April 19, 2022, Correction Order, which cited the following licensing violations: · Failure to ensure ammunition was stored in a locked area. · Failure to ensure your fire extinguisher was maintained as required. March 7, 2019, Correction Order, which cited the following licensing violations: · Failure to ensure that bleach mixture was inaccessible to children in care. · Failure to ensure that knives were inaccessible to children in care. · Failure to notify families annually of not having liability insurance. 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 is placed on a conditional status. Conditional License Terms In addition to the licensing rules and statutes for family child care, you are required to comply with the following terms: 1. You will follow and comply with all applicable Minnesota Rules and Laws. 2. No variances to age distribution or capacity will be granted during the conditional period. 3. You must work with Dakota County to obtain a mentor to work on ensuring you are following all family child care rules and laws in particular pertaining to documentation and organization. You must also work to develop a system for your paperwork to ensure it is accessible and complete on time. The mentor must be obtained within 30 days of receiving this order. You must report to Dakota what changes you have made to come into compliance. 4. You must submit documentation of all passed due training to Dakota County within 30 days of this order. 5. You must submit a completed emergency preparedness plan to be approved by Dakota County with 15 days of this order. 6. You must attend Dakota County licensing orientation within 30 days of the issuance of this order. 7. You must complete 3.5 hours of training every two months from July 2024-February 2025 and provide proof of completion to Dakota County. Training must be completed and submitted as follows: · September and October 2024- submit by November 5, 2024 · November and December 2024- submit by January 5, 2025 · January and February 2025- submit by March 5, 2025. · March and April 2025- submit by April 5, 2025. 8. You must either provide a copy of the Order of Conditional License and Order to Pay a Fine 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 Dakota County within 15 days of the issuance of the is order. For new families, you must submit documentation of compliance with this term to Dakota County within 5 days of any child’s admission to your child care program. Ongoing Monitoring Your Dakota County licensor will monitor your compliance with these terms and with all of the family child care rules and laws. This will include unannounced visits. If you fail to demonstrate substantial compliance with family child care requirements or with the terms of your conditional license that are provided above, DHS may take an additional licensing sanction, including a revocation of your license. REASON FOR FINE Failure to Comply with Correction Order On May 17, 2024, Dakota county made a visit to your family child care home. As a result of the visit, Dakota County determined seven licensing violations. Following the visit, Dakota county sent you an email requesting you to correct citations. You failed to respond. On May 23, 2024, Dakota County called you and left a message for you to verify that you had made the construction materials inaccessible to children. You failed to respond. On May 30, 2023, Dakota County sent you an email letting you know you had until June 3, 2024, to correct the citations. You failed to respond. On June 6, 2024, Dakota county issued you a correction order for the licensing visits determined on May 17, 2024. You were to correct the violations and submit documentation of compliance by June 21, 2024. You failed to respond. As a result, on June 27, 2024, you were issued a correction order for failure to comply. Additionally, on July 1, 2024, Dakota County made a visit to your family child care program. During the visit, it was determined that you still were not in compliance with six of the licensing violations determined on the May 17, 2024, visit. Statute Violated: Minnesota Statutes, section 245A.06, subdivision 3. Fine: $200 Total Fine Amount $200 YOUR APPEAL/RECONSIDERATION RIGHTS If You Wish to Appeal the Fine and the Conditional License, or Just the Fine You have the right to appeal both the fine and the conditional license, or only the fine. 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 receive 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 receive 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 Wish to Only Appeal the Conditional License If you are not appealing the fine, you do not have a right to a contested case hearing. However, you have the right to request reconsideration of the conditional license and the cited violations. Your request must: · Be in writing · Clearly state that you are requesting reconsideration of the conditional license · List each citation you are challenging and identify what is inaccurate or incomplete about the information in the order · Supply information that is accurate or more complete · State why you believe your license should not be on a conditional status · Be made before the deadlines provided below 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. If you do not meet this deadline, you lose your right to request reconsideration. The timeline to appeal began when you received this order. Please send it to: Commissioner, Department of Human Services Office of Inspector General Licensing Division Attention: Legal Unit PO Box 64242 St. Paul, MN 55164-0242 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 Licensing Division Attention: Legal Unit 444 Lafayette Road North St. Paul, MN 55155 Billing and Payment of the Fine DHS will send you an invoice for the $200 fine. Payment must be made as directed on the invoice. If you request a contested case hearing, as described above, do not pay the fine at this time. Following the contested case hearing, the Commissioner of DHS will issue a final order on this matter. Please note, you may not avoid payment of this fine by closing, selling, or otherwise transferring the license to a third party. If this occurs, you are personally responsible for payment. If you do not pay the fine on or before the date specified on the invoice and you did not request a contested case hearing, as described above, the Commissioner may issue a second fine, may not issue or reissue a license, or may suspend the license until the license holder pays the fine. Conditional license stayed pending reconsideration If you request reconsideration within the timeframes described above, the terms of the conditional license will not take effect until a decision is issued by DHS. If the conditional license is affirmed on reconsideration, the terms would take effect on the date of the reconsideration decision, and run for one year from that date. You continue to be required to comply with all family child care laws and rules. Prohibition against providing legally unlicensed child care If this action is not reversed on appeal, you will not be allowed to provide legally unlicensed child care to unrelated children. Operating an unlicensed family child care home is a misdemeanor offense. Posting of this licensing action You are required to place this Order of Conditional License and Order to Pay a Fine 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 1, paragraph (a), which describes under which conditions DHS may impose a fine against a license. · DHS may impose a $200 fine for each health, safety, or supervision licensing violation under Minnesota Statutes, section 245A.07, subdivision 3, paragraph (c)(4)(iv). · Minnesota Statutes, section 245A.07, subdivision 3, paragraph (c)(5) states that license holders may not avoid payment of a fine by closing, selling, or transferring a license. · Minnesota Statutes, section 245A.04, subdivision 7, paragraph (d)(4), states that DHS shall not issue or reissue a license if the applicant, license holder, or controlling individual has an outstanding debt related to a license fee, licensing fine, or settlement agreement for which payment is delinquent. · Minnesota Statutes, section 245A.07, subdivision 3, paragraph (c)(2), states that that the license holder shall pay the fine assessed on or before the payment date specified, and if the license holder does not do so the commissioner may issue a second fine or suspend the license until the license holder complies. · The timeline to request reconsideration of the order of conditional license is provided in Minnesota Statutes, section 245A.06, subdivision 4. · License holders have a right to appeal licensing actions and request a contested case hearing, under Minnesota Statutes, chapter 14 and Minnesota Rules, parts 1400.8505 to 1400.8612. · If a license holder files a timely reconsideration request, the terms of the conditional license are stayed pending a decision by DHS under Minnesota Statutes, section 245A.06, subdivision 4. · Under Minnesota Statutes, section 245A.06, subdivision 4, if DHS issues a dual order to pay a fine and a conditional license and the license holder appeals both the fine and the conditional license, DHS will not do a separate reconsideration of the conditional license. If the license holder does not appeal the fine but requests reconsideration of the conditional license, then the license holder does not have a right to a hearing and DHS will conduct a reconsideration of the conditional license. · Minnesota Statutes, section 245A.03, subdivision 2a provides that an applicant for licensure who has received a conditional license or an order to pay a fine 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.06, subdivision 8 and Minnesota Statutes, section 245A.07, subdivision 5. Questions If you have any further questions regarding this matter, you may contact me at 651-431-6565. Sincerely,
Beth Donahue, Supervisor Licensing Division Office of Inspector General cc: Sarah Callahan, Dakota County Community Services
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