Complaints

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• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/06/2024

  Type:Order Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  My son is being evaluated for autism, so we wanted to help him learn more social skills and learn a new routine of going to school. We were upfront about his delays based off the information we had at the beginning of his care what the facility in early December 2023 who'd indicated it was fine. After only a couple days of his care with the facility we received our first ultimatum that if he didn't stop taking off his shoes indoors, we wouldn't be able to bring him the following week. We worked with him over the winter break to keep his shoes on and he seemed better. He also attends a preschool through the school where these problems were not brought up, so we struggled to fit in with the militant requirements and schedule. After a review completed by CICC siting that our son would do better in a more comprehensive-facility that would provide more specialized-care and threats that we would have to start picking him up for nap time which meant the facility we paid an exorbitant amount watched him for all of 5 hours a day we started looking into alternative care. Once we confirmed our 2 weeks notice our son's care was terminated less than 48 hours later stating that he was too difficult to handle. Our son has a sensory silicone brush he carries with him everywhere like a security blanket which had been sent with him to preschool that morning and hadn't returned with him after daycare when he'd been particularly difficult to console. After speaking with the owner of the facility they stated that his care was terminated after we'd expressed that we were withdrawing from the program although we'd agreed upon a 2-week notice. His care was meant to continue until early May 2024 which was when his new babysitter was set to start watching him but was terminated within 2 days of the notice. Less than 6 months of care, 3 ultimatums of his behavior, and when we finally state they are not the best place for a child with special needs we are terminated with a 19 hour notice.

  Business Response

  Date: 05/14/2024

  I would like to start by addressing that the consumer was not upfront and honest about the extent of her childs delays, concerns about autism, or the level of care her child would require during the enrollment process as she indicated in her complaint.
  
  During the enrollment process **** sends out a parent questionnaire where parents have the opportunity to tell us about their childs likes/dislikes and behavioral tendencies.  At no time during any of our discussions or on the parent questionnaire did the parent mention that their child was being evaluated for autism or that there was a concern for autism and the **** staff did not meet the child prior to the child's start date. Mom disclosed that the child was attending the public school for a speech delay, but did not mention anything about any additional testing being done or any other possible diagnosis.
  
  After spending some time with the child, the teachers in the classroom had some immediate concerns about the childs development. I reached out to the consumer to talk about what we had seen in his first few days in our program and asked if she was seeing any of these same behaviors at home or in his other school. She stated that he was not exhibiting any of these behaviors (consistent removal of socks, shoes, clothing and diaper, hitting people that came near him, unwilling to engage with peers or teachers in either cooperative or parallel play, unwilling to wash his hands, sit at the table for meals, or join the group for circle time, taking food from others, throwing other childrens food, and more) and that the public school had not mentioned any of these behaviors to her.
  
  On January 4, 2024 I requested that the consumer sign a permission to exchange form allowing us to communicate with the public school that her child attended for a speech delay. She did not immediately sign the form and was reminded that we needed the form signed so that we can work together with the childs case manager and she had not done so. In late January an evaluation was sent home with the consumer to complete about her children. We complete these evaluations at the school four times per year but we did not feel that we could accurately complete this evaluation on her child given the short time he had been in our care. When she returned the form we observed that for the question: Has anyone ever expressed concerns to you about your child, the consumer wrote that everyone that meets either of her children always expresses concerns about their development. She did not elaborate about what concerns anyone had and did not indicate that she had these same concerns about her children.
  
  In late January 2024 we also sent another permission to exchange form home which was again not returned and on February 6, ********************************************************************* person, at which time the form was returned. I contacted the elementary school to discuss the childs behavior and see if they were seeing similar results in their program and if they had any advice on how to help the child be more successful in our program. When I reached out to the school I hit yet another road block and was informed that they had been wanting to speak with me as well but had not been able to get the consumer to sign their permission to exchange form either and that they would try to stop her in the carpool line to get her to sign it the following week. After some time, we were finally able to connect in March of 2024 with the special education case manager at the elementary school. She informed us that they were seeing all of the same behaviors in their program, including the removal of his socks and shoes, though it had improved, and that they are seeking additional testing. They informed me that the child was in a classroom with only about 6 other students and 2 teachers and they were requesting a one on one aid for him due to the amount of personalized attention he required. At **** he was in a classroom of 14 children with 2 teachers and the case manager agreed that this did not seem like the best fit for him developmentally to be in such a large group. The case manager mentioned that the child had been brought in without shoes on numerous occasions and that she had to have discussions with the parents about the need for shoes due to safety concerns in their program as well, and that they wanted to seek additional testing due to behaviors he was exhibiting that coincides with behaviors were were seeing in our program, despite the consumer indicating in her complaint that the school had not reached out to her about any of these same concerns.
  
  It was not until after she signed the permission form at the elementary school in March and after I expressed to her that I thought it would be best to speak with her pediatrician about a possible autism evaluation that the consumer finally disclosed that she believed both of her children were autistic and that they were seeking evaluations but that they are on a 10 month waiting list and that they were scheduled to be evaluated twice before but that those appointments had been canceled by the hospital that planned to administer the test. Again, she was not upfront about any of this testing or concerns about autism during enrollment or during the numerous conversations we had previously had. I offered her resources where she could contact to possibly get an evaluation done sooner and tried to support her through this process.
  
  In her complaint she states that we had militant requirements and schedule. We required that the child have shoes on his feet at all times or hard soled slippers in case of an emergency or evacuation. It was also winter time and the child would not be able to safely evacuate with nothing on his feet, and if a teacher needed to carry him out, that would leave only one teacher to help the other 13 children posing a major safety risk. In regards to the schedule, we were extremely flexible with the child and that was expressed to the consumer both in writing, in person, and over the phone. We allowed the child to engage in play while the other children ate lunch and snack and would offer him food at a later time unless he showed or express interest in eating with them. We gave him his own space during rest time where he could get up off of his cot and play quietly allowing the other children to rest but also allowing him the freedom to not rest and to play instead. We encouraged him to join us during group times such as circle time but never forced him to join us. We allowed him to play with toys while the 13 other children engaged in the group time. During center times we allowed him to freely roam the classroom and join in a group center even if it that play area was full because we were proud and excited that he showed an interest in what other children were doing. We maintained a very flexible schedule with the child and did not hold the child to the same expectations as his other peers.
  
  In her complaint she also states that the child had a sensory silicone brush that he carried with him everywhere like a security blanket. Until the week before his termination I had never seen this silicone brush and I had been teaching in the classroom for over a month and a half. The previous teachers were no longer working at **** so I do not know if they ever saw this sensory item brought in. The child had found an object in our classroom (a plastic tree) that he used as a security item and he would search for it when he came in each day since his first day in our care. In the weeks leading up to his termination, the childs behavior had quickly become increasingly aggressive towards the other children. He was hitting and kicking children that were within his reach whenever he would get upset. The plastic tree needed to be taken away because he began stabbing the pointy end of it into his teachers bodies, the wall and the shelving and himself. It was returned when he calmed down. The silicone brush, which was about a one foot long silicone item was also being used as a weapon in that final week. The child was swinging it at and hitting others with it when he was upset. For the safety of everyone else, it was put on top of the cubbies near the childs cubby bin for his parents to get at pick up but was never taken home by his parents, nor did they ask us for it in the following days when dropping off or picking up the childs brother.
  
  I did express that I did not feel that our program was the right fit for the child despite our best efforts and our flexibility over the previous 4 months but that we would continue to communicate with the parents and the school and try to find ways to help the child be successful. After numerous difficult days, the consumer mentioned that she had made the decision to withdraw the child from our program and would be enrolling him full time with the babysitter and that the babysitter was flexible regarding a start date. I expressed genuine concern to her that I thought he would do best in a smaller group setting with someone who has experience with special needs children and the patience to allow him to go at his own pace. She assured me that the babysitter had experience with special needs children and was great with the child and she seemed very secure in her decision to move him.
  
  While the consumer appears to see our communication regarding our inability to meet her childs needs as threats, we were simply trying to have an open conversation about what we thought was best for the child and we did not feel that our program could give him the care he needed long term and that we had made reasonable accommodations to try to meet his needs with the little information we were provided. In the best interest of the child, the other children, and the staff, we decided to not carry out the final two weeks of care due to the significant increase in the childs aggressive behaviors towards other children and the staff and knowing that his parents had secured care for him in an environment that they led us to believe would be a better fit for him and that the start date was flexible. We could not continue to have other children or staff harmed by him and we did not have the resources to provide him with a one on one to aid him through those difficult days.  
  
  Furthermore, the consumer filed this complaint for reimbursement after she had already emailed the owner regarding a request for a refund and it was granted. She was informed that I, the owner, was out of the country and that I would mail her a refund when I returned to the office. She sent a follow up email and I did not engage further with her during my vacation as I had expressed to her previously that it would be handled upon my return. Today is my first day back in the office and I had full intentions of issuing her refund. I would also like to dispute the authenticity of the information the consumer provided in this complaint as she was not forthcoming about her concerns about autism until 3 months into his care at ****, and we did provide numerous accommodations for her child as noted above.

  Business Response

  Date: 05/14/2024

  I would like to dispute the authenticity of the information provided in this complaint by the consumer. Please see my response back to the consumer for additional information. In short, the consumer is claiming that she was upfront and honest regarding her child's possible autism diagnosis during enrollment when in fact she did not share that she felt he was autistic until 3 months into his care at CICC when we encouraged her to reach out to her pediatrician for further evaluation. During her time at CICC there were many conversations where she contradicted herself, and in her complaint she stated that her child's other school did not see these same behavioral problems. I spoke with the child's case manager during the child's time at CICC and she confirmed during that conversation that she had expressed concerns to the parents about the child's behavior, all of which coincides with the behaviors we were seeing in our program. The consumer is not being truthful in her statement, nor was she denied a refund.