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October 22, 2024 CERTIFIED MAIL Laurie Franklin 4994 Shady Lane North Branch, MN 55056 License Number 1048088 FCC ORDER OF CONDITIONAL LICENSE Dear Ms. Franklin: Based on the recommendation of Chisago County Health and Human Services (Chisago County), the Department of Human Services (DHS) is placing your license to provide family child care at 4994 Shady Lane, North Branch, MN on conditional status for one year beginning October 22, 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. 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 failed to follow terms of your conditional license and because you repeatedly failed to follow the capacity and distribution limits of your license. 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, Chisago 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 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 Chisago County licensor for assistance. DHS also considered this history as a factor when it determined that a conditional license is appropriate. Previously, on September 8, 2023, DHS issued you an Order of Conditional License and Order to Pay a Fine. The order was issued for your repeated failure to operate within your license capacity or distribution limits of your license. Subsequently, on August 8, 2024, Chisago County received information that while on the conditional license you failed to operate your family child care program within the distribution limits of your license when you were caring for 11 children under school age. You were allowed to care for no more than 10 children under school age. You were issued a correction order for this licensing violation. Additionally, Chisago County determined that you failed to follow your conditional license when you failed to provide documentation that a family had been notified or had reviewed the Order of Conditional License and Order to Pay a Fine. You also failed to post a copy of the order in a conspicuous place as required. You were issued a correction order for these licensing violations. · September 8, 2023, Order of Conditional License, which cited you for repeatedly failing to operate within the capacity and distribution limits of your license. · September 8, 2023, Order to Pay a Fine of $200 for repeated failure to comply with the license capacity and distribution limits of your license. · June 16, 2023, Correction Order, for failure to comply with distribution limits of your license. · June 1, 2023, Correction Order, for failure to comply with distribution limits of your license. · May 23, 2023, Correction Order, for the following licensing violations: o Failure to comply with distribution limits of your license. o Failure to provide documentation of training 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 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 submit weekly attendance records to Chisago County by Monday morning the following week. Records must include child’s name, child’s time in and out of care and a signature of the parent or guardian. 4. You must submit a detailed plan on how you will stay within the license capacity and distribution limits of your license. This plan must be submitted to Chisago County within 15 days of this order and must be approved by Chisago County. 5. You must notify and have any new children approved by Chisago County prior to enrollment. You will not be allowed any drop in children during the period of the conditional. 6. 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 Chisago County within 15 days of this order. For new families, you must submit documentation of compliance with this term to Chisago County within 5 days of any child’s admission to your child care program. Ongoing Monitoring Your Chisago 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. YOUR RIGHT TO REQUEST RECONSIDERATION You have the right to request reconsideration of this order 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 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 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 On September 8, 2023, DHS issued an Order of Conditional License and an Order to Pay a Fine 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 Conditional License 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 · The timeline to request reconsideration of the order is provided in Minnesota Statutes, section 245A.06, subdivision 4. · Minnesota Statutes, section 245A.03, subdivision 2a provides that an applicant for licensure who has received a conditional license order 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. · 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. 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: Lanay Miller, Chisago County Health and Human Services
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