Brunswick daycare loses application to open during death investigation

The Kid’s Nest Learning Center in Brunswick will remain temporarily closed after its owners lost an appeal to keep the center open on Thursday following a child’s choking death there. In October, the daycare was ordered to train its staff in CPR after inspections last year found training was inadequate.

At the hearing before an administrative law judge of the Office of State Administrative Hearings (OSAH), the state’s order to close the center for 21 days while the investigation continues was affirmed.

Jamal Bryant Jr. was dropped off at the center by his parents on May 21. He died later that day after choking on a two-inch piece of watermelon. Staff attempted life-saving measures, but the child later died in the hospital, according to an inspection report.

According to the report from the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL), video surveillance showed three center staff members talking to each other separately from the toddlers during afternoon snack time. The children were given pieces of watermelon and allowed to walk around and eat them – a violation of state-mandated daycare rules that require students to be seated while eating, the report said.

According to the report, a video showed the staff’s conversation being interrupted at 3:15 p.m. by 16-month-old Bryant walking toward two staff members, choking on watermelon. When one of the staff members realized the child was in distress, he picked him up and attempted to resuscitate Bryant, it said.

The inspection report also states that a staff member picked Bryant up and patted him on the back before eventually placing the child on her lap and attempting to pat him on the back. The DECAL report states that a staff member attempted to put her finger over his mouth and perform the Heimlich maneuver, but noted that staff appeared “disorganized” given the urgency of the situation and the maneuvers did not meet American Red Cross CPR guidelines for a child or infant.

Less than four minutes after the toddler signaled that he was in distress, staff called 911. Emergency services treated Bryant on scene. He was transported to Southeast Georgia Health System in Brunswick accompanied by a staff member from the center. Once at the hospital, Bryant suffered two cardiac arrests before dying at 6 p.m. Initial reports indicated that a piece of watermelon had penetrated his lungs.

CPR training already under scrutiny

This is not the first time The Kids Nest and its owners have come under scrutiny. After an annual state licensing visit in October, the center was ordered to recruit trained staff to provide first aid and CPR. A second visit in April delayed the training order.

“The improvement plan stated that they would obtain first aid and CPR certification for all employees by the dates set, as required by regulations,” wrote Reg Griffin, DECAL’s Chief Communications Officer. “Their next visit, a CI (Complaint Investigation) follow-up visit, was April 1, 2024, and the first aid and CPR training was postponed because we do not review all rules on follow-up visits. This would be reviewed on the next unannounced regulatory visit.”

DECAL rules and regulations for child care centers state that an employee trained in CPR and first aid must be present on the center premises and on every outing when a child is present. All employees who provide direct care to children must obtain first aid and CPR certification within the first 90 days of employment.

In March 2022, Glynn County Police were called to the Kid’s Nest Learning Center because a child had been assaulted there. Upon arrival, officers learned from a mother that her child had been punched in the face by the center’s director, Manjeet Grant, who co-owns the center with his husband, Charles Grant.

In the emergency call to The current The mother of the child who was hit told Glynn County Police dispatch that she had worked with Grant in previous years and that she had seen Grant hit children “hard.”

According to the police report, Grant denied hitting the child in the face and said, “I made a mistake.” She told officers the child took off her shoes and she responded by hitting her on the foot.

The report states that an officer interviewed a teacher at the center in front of Grant, who said Grant punched the child in the face and knocked her to the ground. When the teacher was interviewed away from Grant, she said she was shocked by Grant’s behavior. The officer interviewed the child, who confirmed the statement and pointed to her face when asked where Grant hit her.

Grant was arrested for assault and later released on bail.

On April 1, 2022, a DECAL investigation/visit found that Kids Nest Learning Center did not meet standards. A follow-up visit was conducted on April 11, 2022 as part of a Plan of Improvement (POI).

The report found that violations of rules continued and that the facility had not taken appropriate action to correct them. The center was fined $299 for several violations, including observing an infant sleeping in a crib with a pacifier and a small stuffed animal attached, posing a potential hazard.

“We conduct two unannounced visits to child care programs each year. One is a licensing study, which involves reviewing a child care program on-site rule by rule to ensure it complies with all current rules and regulations,” Griffin wrote in an email to The current. “The other is a monitoring visit, which is an on-site inspection to assess core rules and determine whether previous violations have been remedied. In addition to these twice-yearly visits, we carry out complaint and incident investigations and technical assistance visits.”

On July 11, 2022, a complaint investigation/license study was conducted at Kids Nest Learning Center. It was found that the center had not corrected the violations and DECAL fined the center $598 for numerous violations, including an investigation where, according to the fine notice, a bag containing Gripe Water, Tylenol, bug spray, and Desitin was kept in a classroom and accessible to the one-year-old children.

A further investigation into a complaint received by DECAL on October 28, 2022, led to another investigation at the center. According to the summons letter, the investigation revealed that on October 24, 2022, a two-year-old child suffered a serious eye injury when he emerged from inside a closet and struck his eye on a broken child safety latch on the closet door. The child required professional medical attention, and the center was fined $499 for this incident.

What’s happening now?

Under Georgia state law, an immediate closure order is issued when there is suspicion of injury or a life-threatening situation for one or more children.

The order required the center to immediately notify the parents or guardians of each child participating in the program of the closure.

A representative of DECAL who attended the hearing said Charles Grant had no problem with the daycare being closed for 21 days. It is unclear whether the facility will be allowed to reopen after the investigation.

“I don’t want to speculate at this point,” Griffin said in an email Thursday. “First, we must continue our investigation into everything that happened in this incident.”

State business records show the center was established in August 2019 and offers daycare for infants (0-12 months) and toddlers (up to age four). It also offers afterschool care for school-age children.

The center charges a weekly fee of $150 for all children over one year old and a $10 surcharge for children under one year old, but low-income parents were able to offset the cost because the center participated in the Childcare and Parent Services (CAPS) program.

The program covers a fixed reimbursement rate depending on the type of care, place of residence and age of the child, minus the amount that the family has to pay (the so-called family contribution), which, according to the website, is capped at a maximum of 7% of a family’s annual income.

Families affected by the closure can access child care resources at www.qualityrated.org or by calling 1-877-ALL GA KIDS. CAPS families will be contacted directly to select an alternative child care provider that accepts CAPS.

The grants did not respond to The current Request for comments.

Related