A recent inspection of the First United Methodist Church daycare by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services revealed instances of ‘failure to comply with minimum licensure standards.’
The inspection was conducted on the afternoon of June 24, with the report noting several issues.
In the area of general administration, the report notes that day care director Cynthia Dougherty “firmly grabbed two four-year-old children’s arm and pulled each child to her to talk directly to the children because the children had inappropriate behavior while in the hallway of the child-care center.”
It goes on to say, “The director tapped one of the two four-year-old children on the mouth with a white envelope.”
The inspector writes the alleged incidents were captured on video surveillance.
Dougherty also documented that she took two children to an unapproved child-care space in the building known as Little Chapel. She reportedly instructed two four-year-old children to put their heads and hands on chairs as they kneeled in front of an adult-size chair in the Little Chapel as a form of discipline.
Dougherty “flicked” the left ear of a child when the child continued to act out while kneeling in front of the chair, according to the inspection report. She also allegedly placed her left foot on the back of both calves of a four-year-old’s legs because the child would not remain still while kneeling in front of the chair.
The church responded with, “First United Methodist Church Daycare considers the health and safety of our children and trust of our parents of utmost importance. The Director’s actions on June 20, 2019 compromised both of these values. As a result a letter of written reprimand will be entered into the Director’s personnel file.”
The center’s discipline policy of the employee handbook stated, “Under NO circumstances are children at First United Methodist Church Daycare disciplined with corporal punishment, verbal abuse, humiliation or withholding of food or toys.”
Other violations include an infant sleeping in a crib with a loose blanket, using the Little Chapel space when it’s not approved for the day care, and four children not being properly supervised while an employee sat on a couch using a cell phone.
The church says a new employee handbook and discipline policy have been approved and all staff, including the director and assistant director, was required to attend a required three-hour training program for the staff.
Application was also made to formally make the Little Chapel part of the approved day care space.
Former First United Methodist Church Day Care employee Allision Simpson is under grand jury indictment for criminal child abuse and wanton endangerment for incidents in January of this year. She is alleged to have “subjected a 10 month old baby in her care to cruel confinement and punishment and wantonly engaged in conduct toward another baby, 8 months old, which created a substantial danger of serious physical injury to both babies.”
Commonwealth’s Attorney Rick Boling recently said he expect additional indictments of a similar nature in her case.
Click here to read the inspection report.