A day care center is under a licensing investigation by the state Department of Human Services, the agency confirmed Wednesday.
Department spokesman Marci Manley said the investigation stems from a complaint about the staff-to-child ratio at Kid's Academy in Bryant. She would not release additional information. Officials were on-site at the Evans Loop business Tuesday afternoon, she said.
The Human Services Department report after the visit shows that the child care center had fired a staff member for not being able to account for all of the children she was responsible for.
In describing what happened, the report says two children ran out when a parent opened a door, and the assigned teacher did not realize a child was gone and failed to complete the "appropriate counting and accountability procedures."
One of the Department of Human Services' licensing regulations states that children must be supervised at all times.
The investigation is ongoing.
The agency's three visits to the day care center before Tuesday show no violations, according to Human Services Department records, although there have been at least four complaints about the staff-to-child ratio since June.
One complaint received in June shows that 25 children ranging in age from infants to 4-year-olds were left with one staff member.
Another report shows that the day care was put on increased monthly monitoring in September after a child was left unattended in a restroom, then hit his head and flooded the area. The child's parent did not find out about the incident until months later, according to the report. The staff member involved was fired.
The agency last week ordered that another day care -- Lil Angels at Levy Baptist Church in North Little Rock -- must close by Tuesday. An investigation revealed the employment of a person with a criminal record, improper medication labeling and an employee's use of marijuana.
State Desk on 02/01/2018