VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES

AlphaBEST Education, Inc. - Southwestern Elementary
150 Pioneer Road
Suffolk, VA 23437
(757) 635-1338

Current Inspector: Melinda Popkin (757) 802-5281

Inspection Date: May 9, 2024

Complaint Related: No

Areas Reviewed:

8VAC20-780 Administration. 8VAC20-780 Staff Qualifications and Training. 8VAC20-780 Physical Plant. 8VAC20-780 Staffing and Supervision. 8VAC20-780 Programs. 8VAC20-780 Special Care Provisions and Emergencies 8VAC20-780 Special Services. 8VAC20-820 THE LICENSE. 8VAC20-820 THE LICENSING PROCESS. 8VAC20-820 HEARINGS PROCEDURES. 8VAC20-770 Background Checks 20 Access to minor's records 22.1 Early Childhood Care and Education 63.2 Child Abuse & Neglect

Technical Assistance:

Effective January 1, 2025, the VDOE will begin determining compliance with ? 22.1-289.057 of the Code of Virginia, which is legislation passed by the General Assembly in 2020. The law requires all licensed child day programs, religious exempt child day centers that serve preschool age children, and certified preschools to test potable drinking water. The law requires that programs submit their plans and test results to the Virginia Department of Health Office of Drinking Water (VDH ODW) and the Superintendent. If the results of the testing indicate elevated lead levels, the program shall remediate, retest, and resubmit results to VDH ODW and the Superintendent. There is an additional alternative bottled water option that comes with additional requirements. The statutory requirement can be found online at https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title22.1/chapter14.1/section22.1-289.057/. Resources are now available for providers on the "What's New" webpage on the ChildCareVA website at https://www.childcare.virginia.gov/providers/what-s-new.

Comments:

An unannounced monitoring inspection was conducted on 5/9/2024 from 3:15pm- 5:35pm. At the time of entrance, 37 children, ages 4 to 11 years old, were in care with 3 staff members present. The sample size consisted of 5 children?s records and 5 staff records. The inspector reviewed compliance in the areas of administration, physical plant, staffing and supervision, programming, medication, special care and emergencies and nutrition. Children were observed arriving to the program, washing hands, having an afternoon snack, completing homework assignments, socializing and playing games. Medication administration was not observed. However, 7 medications kept on site were reviewed with regard to storage, written authorizations and other required documentation. Information gathered during the inspection determined non-compliance with applicable standards or law and violations were documented on the violation notice issued to the program

Violations:

Standard #:	22.1-289.035-B-4
Description:	Based on a review of records and interview, the licensee did not always obtain copy of the results of a criminal history record information check and a sex offender registry check, prior to the first day of employment, from any state in which the individual has resided in the preceding five years. Evidence: Five staff records were reviewed. The record for staff #1, whose date of employment was documented as 2/27/2024, contained documentation that staff #1 lived in Texas, North Carolina and Florida within the last 5 years. The Criminal History Results from Texas were dated 5/18/2024. The Abuse and Neglect Registry Results have not been received as of 5/9/2024 and were not sent / requested until 4/15/2024. The National Search of the Sex Offender website was run for Texas, North Carolina and Florida on 5/8/2024. All of these items should have been obtained prior to an employee's first date of employment (sex offender search and Criminal History) or within 30 days of employment (Abuse and Neglect Search).
Plan of Correction:	Not available online. Contact Inspector for more information.