Matthew Draxton
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — A local child care facility is under investigation by the Oregon Department of Early Learning and Care following allegations of mistreatment and neglect.
The Problem Solvers spoke with former employees, parents, and a grandparent of children who attended Mia’s Sprouts Early Child Development Center.
According to its website, Mia’s Sprouts describes itself as a team of “specialists in childhood development” seeking to “inspire students with a desire to continue learning and growing” and offering “the highest quality daycare.”
Parent Jake Steindorf and grandparent Sherenne Hagebach-Winters say their experiences sharply contradict those claims.
Hagebach-Winters said her granddaughter’s time at the facility involved “fear that was instilled in my granddaughter.”
Steindorf shared similar concerns: “They have now put a fear in me of anybody with my daughter. And that will be for the rest of my life.”
He recalled first learning of the abuse allegations and directly questioning the owner: “‘Are you abusing my daughter?’ They go, ‘no, no, no we wouldn’t do that. It’s just disgruntled employees.’”
But a former employee, Rachel, rejected that characterization. “I was never disgruntled,” she said. Rachel requested her last name and face not be shown for privacy reasons and expressed concern about being targeted for speaking out.
Former employees described mistreatment, neglect, and abuse allegations similar to what families reported.
Another former employee, Gabriella Emilie, said, “The way they have it set up is so appealing to the eye, and they’re very good at pretending.”
Emilie worked at the Bend location from April 7 to May 28 of this year, while Rachel worked from January through March. Both said they reported concerns to management but resigned when nothing changed.
“It was kind of my word against theirs,” Rachel said. Emilie added, “They’re really good at bending the truth.”
Emilie had two daughters enrolled at the facility during the same period she worked there. Steindorf’s daughter attended from December through April. Both families allege infants were bottle-propped while lying in bassinets.
“She would just keep giving them bottles to keep them content or whatever and not actually interact with them. She would just be on her phone the whole time,” Emilie said of certain staff.
Steindorf recalled, “I would go pick her up and she would have, like, a blanket, like rolled up or something. Like right on her chest, propping the bottle up.”
As an employee, Emilie said she saw her “daughter wandering in the lobby. The director was there, but she was on her computer, so basically she wasn’t paying attention to my kid.”
Rachel corroborated the allegations, saying the owner “sat there on her phone in between them and continuously overfed them. She wouldn’t pick them up. She didn’t change their diapers.”
Steindorf said his pediatrician raised concerns about his daughter’s weight due to overfeeding: “She was six months old in 12 months clothes.” He believes the overfeeding caused developmental delays. “It kind of delayed stuff like delayed her crawling. I mean, it was a lot of weight to roll over. I feel like she’s a little underdeveloped from them.”
Emilie also described inappropriate discipline practices. After hearing children cussing on the playground, she said she saw an employee, “out in the front in the parking lot with all these kids, and she was making them do jumping jacks and pushup.” The children were three to five years old. Emilie said she also witnessed a teacher shaming a two-year-old for an accident: “‘No, don’t help her. If she can wet her pants, she can change herself.’”
Rachel said the same teacher regularly shamed children: “She would not change kids if they peed in their pants, she would say, ‘well, that’s what you get for peeing in your pants. You get to sit in your pee all day now.’ And you could hear her yelling at them in the bathroom.”
According to Rachel, mistreatment occurred openly and without consequences. During nap time, she said the teacher would “go up and put their head back down saying, ‘you lay down right now’ and cover their face with a blanket.” She said managers “saw and heard this every day, and they still do and they don’t care.”
After allegations were first reported to the state, the owners of Mia’s Sprouts held a meeting with parents from both the Redmond and Bend locations. An estimated 50–60 parents attended, along with a state investigator.
Steindorf recalled the moment the teacher in question “admitted there that she held down kids when it was nap time if they wanted to get up and run around or do anything. She would forcibly hold them down.” Rachel said she had seen that teacher “pick them up and say, ‘you sit down right now,’ and put them in the chair. The child would get back up, she’d grab them again and smack them down in the chair instead of talking to them gently. And these are under two years old that she’s talking to.”
She also described other alleged physical abuse: “I saw the assistant director abusing the child by grabbing their arm and yanking them and dragging them across the playground. He was two.”
Rachel said staff were instructed to feed children rotten fruit: “It was mostly pears that they bought and didn’t use in time. At a certain point, they started giving it to us to serve the kids. And it was black, like the black mushy.” She said multiple teachers experienced this.
After witnessing what she believed were state violations, Rachel began taking photos: “There was a snack sitting on a changing table. I took pictures of bottle propping, of a baby in bassinet with a bunch of blankets in there. All the things that were illegal by the state law.”
She filed mandated reports on February 25 and March 13, 2025. She said the investigator texted, “‘I’m out of town right now, but I’d love to talk to you.’ And I responded, and he never responded. I think I texted him again, like, ‘hey, just want to let you know, I would love to give you the information that I have.’ And he never responded to me.”
Steindorf also expressed frustration with the investigator’s conduct at the parent meeting. “He was so underprepared. He sat there quietly the entire time… you had to engage with him to get him to even talk.”
After removing his daughter from the facility, Steindorf said the owner asked him to speak favorably to the investigator: “She would make it, like, make it up to me which is what? Free day care or whatever… If you are mistreating kids… I’m not going to cover for you and that’s not how that works.”
Emilie said she filed her own report on May 31, 2025, but “when I made my report to the state, they dismissed it because it was a duplicate complaint. I don’t know what exactly that means.”
Hagebach-Winters also reported concerns on June 9. She said she picked up her granddaughter on May 28 after Emilie discovered her own daughter with a blanket covering her head during nap time. Hagebach-Winters said, “I could immediately see my granddaughter’s port-a-crib. And she had a blanket over her head… saying ‘gummy.’”
After the pickup, she said her granddaughter was “dehydrated. Her diaper was dry… It shows that whoever was in charge of her care wasn’t giving her any liquid.” She also raised concerns about bottle propping after another grandchild developed an ear infection — something she had never had before or since attending Mia’s Sprouts.
“For ear infections specifically, infants don’t have that canal. It isn’t developed. So the liquid going back as the infant is laying down would cause, ear infections.” She added “pediatricians have told many, you know, that’s what they tell parents. Don’t put your kiddo to bed with a bottle.”
In June, the state conducted a separate investigation into the Redmond facility. Rachel said a photo circulated of “a little boy at the Redmond location tied to a chair.” Hagebach-Winters said the owner claimed the grandparents had approved it: “‘Well, we were told by the grandparents that that was okay to tie him up.’”
According to the Department of Early Learning and Care, the claims were substantiated. Oregon rules state that even with parental permission, “the action is prohibited. And facility must not bind or restrict a child’s movement.”
Hagebach-Winters said, “I don’t care what parents say… You as a facility, you know, that’s illegal to do.”
At the time of her KTVZ interview, she had not heard from the original investigator. “I believe the individual investigator was negligent. But because he works for the state… then becomes the state being negligent as well.”
The Department of Early Learning and Care confirmed an investigation is underway at Mia’s Sprouts. When asked why reporters had not been contacted, the agency said it began placing follow-up calls on October 13.
Hagebach-Winters later confirmed that communication. She said the department “apologized for the way I was communicated with and that the investigation hadn’t gone anywhere still.”
She said she spoke with the new investigator and the director of the Child Care Licensing Division. “There were a lot of apologies… and so I think that they may be trying to work harder on this particular case now to try to rectify some of what happened.”
The renewed communication comes four months after Hagebach-Winters’ official report, five months after Emilie’s, and eight months after Rachel’s first report.
“You wonder if it’s really going to go forward or if they’re, you know, doing it because the spotlight is on them,” Hagebach-Winters said.
Steindorf added, “I was let down through the entire thing.” Gabriella said she felt, “disappointed that I fell for all their lies in the beginning.”
Rachel emphasized, “the kids need to be put first.”
Hagebach-Winters said state investigators are now reopening previous investigations, and a new investigator has been assigned. An attorney is also representing families and former employees, as well as pursuing negligence claims against the state.
KTVZ reached out to Mia’s Sprouts for an interview or statement; they declined to comment.
The Problem Solvers have submitted a public records request to the Department of Early Learning and Care regarding the investigation and alleged mishandling. As of November 13, the request is scheduled to be fulfilled on December 3, 2025.
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(Courtesy ODOT)
