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October 29, 2025 CERTIFIED MAIL Michelle Faye Lee 305 3rd Street Southeast Blooming Prairie, MN 55917 License Number 1096227 FCC ORDER OF LICENSE REVOCATION Dear Ms. Lee: Based on the recommendation of Minnesota Prairie County Alliance (MN Prairie), the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) is revoking your license to provide family child care at 305 3rd Street Southeast Blooming Prairie, 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, DCYF evaluated the facts, conditions, and circumstances concerning your program’s operation. This includes consideration of the well-being of children in your program, available evaluations from consumers of your program, and information about the qualifications of caregivers working in your program. Specifically, because you have failed to comply with the Conditional License and Fine Order and because you have failed to comply with multiple correction orders. DCYF has determined that revocation of your license is appropriate based on the violations identified below and the program evaluation. Legal Authority: Minnesota Statutes, section 142B.10, subdivision 13. 2. Conditional license violations MN Prairie determined that you failed to follow 4 of 5 terms of the Order of Conditional License that is in place from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026. The first two attempts to deliver the Conditional license and Fine via certified mail were unsuccessful. The Order was then personally served on August 18, 2025. Term #1: You follow and comply with all applicable Minnesota Rules and Laws. You have failed to comply with the previously issued Correction Orders and the previously issued Conditional license and Fine Order. Term #3 – You must submit all outstanding paperwork to MN Prairie within 30 days of the issuance of this order. This includes all Corrections Orders, training, and any other items that you have been cited for but have failed to correct. You were to have submitted all outstanding paperwork to MN Prairie by September 17, 2025. You submitted some information on August 20, 2025, and September 30, 2025, but there are still items needing to be sent in. Your licensor reminded you of this deadline on August 21, 2025, August 25, 2025, September 19, 2025, September 26, 2025, and September 30, 2025. Term #4 – You must work with MN Prairie to obtain a mentor to work on ensuring you are following all family child care rules and laws. The mentor must be obtained within 30 days of the issuance of this order and must be approved by MN Prairie upon completion of working with the mentor you must submit a summary to MN Prairie of what you learned and changes you will implement into your program to support required compliance with licensing regulations including record keeping and paperwork. You were to obtain and work with a mentor by September 17, 2025. You have failed to do so. Term #5 – You must either provide a copy of the Order to Pay a Fine and 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 and submit documentation of compliance with this term to MN Prairie within 30 days of this order. For new families, you must submit documentation of compliance with this term to MN Prairie within 5 days of any child’s enrollment to your child care program. You were to obtain parent signatures and submit as documentation to MN Prairie by September 17, 2025, you have failed to do so. Legal Authority: Minnesota Statutes, section 142B.16, subdivision 3; and 142B.18, subdivision 4, paragraph (a). 3. Failure to comply with licensing laws and rules MN Prairie determined that you failed to fully comply with the laws and rules that apply to licensed family child care. DCYF has considered the nature, chronicity, or severity of the violations that led to the revocation of your license. Legal Authority: Minnesota Statutes, section 142B.18, subdivision 4, paragraph (a), subparagraph (1). Nature, history and severity of violations New violations determined MN Prairie has determined the following are new violations that have not been the subject of a previous correction order. If you appeal this order, the following violations will be reviewed as a part of the appeal. DCYF considered these violations, as a factor when it determined that revocation of your license is appropriate. MN Prairie determined that you repeatedly failed to comply with the Conditional license and Fine Order. Statute Violated: Minnesota Statutes, section 142B.16 subdivision 3 Previous licensing actions 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 MN Prairie licensor for assistance. DCYF also considered this history as a factor when it determined that revocation of your license is appropriate. · July 1, 2025, Conditional License and Fine for chronic non-compliance. · You were then issued a failure to comply Correction Order on April 21, 2025, which was hand delivered to you. These items remain out of compliance. · A Correction Order was issued on March 26, 2025, citing you for failing to store records in a manner that allowed for the commissioner to review them. You were to correct the items and submit documentation by April 4, 2025. The Correction Order was sent via certified mail. You signed for it on April 4, 2025. You failed to correct the items and submit documentation. · On March 6, 2025, a letter was sent to you requesting the paperwork again with a deadline of March 16, 2025. You failed to return the paperwork. · On December 18, 2024, a follow up email was sent requesting the paperwork from the visit. You failed to return the requested paperwork. · On October 25, 2024, the licensor sent you an email requesting paperwork from the visit be sent and you were given a list of items. You failed to return the paperwork. · On September 11, 2024, an unannounced licensing visit was completed at your program. The licensor found the program to be in disarray. It was discovered that a family emergency was happening. The licensor recommended that you close for the day to get the situation resolved. · February 10, 2023, Correction Order, which cited you for failing to submit background studies 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 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 Children, Youth, and Families 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 DCYF within 10 calendar days from when you received this order. Please bring it to: Commissioner, Department of Children, Youth, and Families Office of Inspector General Legal Counsel’s Office Attention: Licensing Legal Unit 444 Lafayette Road North St. Paul, MN 55155 Upon DCYF’s 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 DCYF will issue a final order. If you do not appeal or if the order is affirmed by the Commissioner following a hearing, DCYF 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 registered to receive Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) payments, this revocationorder could impact your ability to receive CCAP funding. If your CCAP registration is closed or denied as a result of this Licensing action, you will get a separate notice(s). If you have questions about: · Your CCAP registration, and you get a notice telling you your registration is being closed or denied, contact the agency that sent the notice. · Billing or payments for specific children, contact the county or CCAP agency where the children get CCAP. Prohibition against providing legally unlicensed child care On July 1, 2025, DCYF issued an Order to pay a Fine and Conditional 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 142B.18, subdivision 4, which describes under which conditions DCYF may revoke a license. · Minnesota Statutes, section 245.095 defines which programs administered by DCYF 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 142B.20. · Under Minnesota Statutes, section 142B.10, subdivision 14, paragraph (d), subparagraph (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 or chapter 245A revoked within the past five years. · Under Minnesota Statutes, section 142B.10, subdivision 14, paragraph (d), 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 142B or 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 142B.05, subdivision 4, provides that child care provider who has received a license revocation that has not been reversed on appeal may not provide unlicensed child care to non-relatives. Operating a prohibited unlicensed family child care is a misdemeanor under Minnesota Statutes, section 142B.05, subdivision 5. · The requirement to post this order in a clearly visible location is required under Minnesota Statutes, section 142B.18, subdivision 6. Questions If you have any further questions regarding this matter, you may contact Beth Donahue, Supervisor, at 651-431-6565. Sincerely,
Alexandra Keys, Unit Manager Licensing Division Office of Inspector General cc: Bernadette Metzger, Minnesota Prairie County Alliance
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