Hearth Record

The Next Step Learning Center at Camden

A licensed child care center in Camden, Delaware 19934

3377 S Dupont Hwy, Camden, Delaware 19934. (302) 899-8004.

Delaware’s own record, on data.delaware.gov

Watch and the shortlist are kept with a free account, on every device. Your watch list. Delaware’s own record is on data.delaware.gov.

The short answer

Record last released by Delaware Office of Child Care Licensing on Oct 23, 2026.

The last 24 months 11 violations in 4 months of the last 36. Last cited Apr 2026. Every month

Each figure’s source sits beside it, in its section below.

What these words mean4
Inspection (survey)
A visit by state inspectors, often unannounced, who check a place against the rules it must meet. For nursing homes and other places Medicare pays, CMS calls these visits surveys: a standard survey of a nursing home comes at least every 15 months, and a complaint survey whenever a complaint calls for one. Source: CMS; 42 CFR 488.308.
Deficiency, citation, violation
What inspectors write up when a place didn’t meet a rule: the rule, what they saw, and when. CMS calls it a deficiency; states may say citation or violation. It is the inspectors’ finding, not a court’s, and the place is usually asked for a plan to correct it. Source: CMS, statement of deficiencies (Form CMS-2567); each state’s licensing agency.
Licence status
Whether the state’s licence lets the place operate now, in the state’s own words: licensed, on probation (allowed to keep operating on conditions, after problems), provisional, pending or expired. Source: Each state’s licensing agency.
Capacity
The most people the licence or certification lets the place care for at once: residents, children, beds or apartments, as the state counts them. It isn’t how many are there now. Source: Each state’s licensing agency.

What did inspectors find?

5 visits with violations in the last three years, the latest on Apr 9, 2026; Delaware doesn’t list visits that found nothing.

11 violations cited in the last three years.

Source:

Delaware Office of Child Care Licensing, Child Care Licensing Compliance Review Information. Released Oct 23, 2026. Updated daily.

When those violations happened

11 violations in 4 months of the last 36. Last cited Apr 2026. The last 3 years, to Oct 24, 2026.

11 violations by month over the last 3 years. Each cell is one month.
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
2023 NovDec
2024 JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
2025 JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
2026 JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOct

Hover or focus a month to read it.

No visit on record Visited, nothing cited A stronger orange is more serious, on its source’s own levels, read onto four bands: from the least serious it publishes to the most
Source:

Hearth Record drew this from the dates and levels in the source’s own records.

Each violation, in its source’s words

Grouped by visit, newest first, with the level its source gave it.

Source:

Delaware Office of Child Care Licensing, Child Care Licensing Compliance Review Information. Released Oct 23, 2026. Updated daily.

Apr 9, 2026: unannounced Full Compliance Review3 violations
  • Personnel Files

    “Ensure staff files are complete. One staff member needs a complete adult health appraisal.”

    Rule 30U. Correction date, as Delaware Office of Child Care Licensing recorded it: Apr 13, 2026.

  • Outdoor Area

    “Ensure the gates to the outdoor play area are not locked during child care hours and are self-closing and self-latching. The gate in the garden area was observed locked. The gate closest to the parking lot was not self-closing.”

    Rule 53U. Correction date, as Delaware Office of Child Care Licensing recorded it: Apr 13, 2026.

  • Administration of Medication

    “Ensure written parent permission is obtained using a Medication Administration Record (MAR) for each medication. One child needs a MAR for an epi-pen. One child needs a MAR for sunscreen.”

    Rule 63U. Correction date, as Delaware Office of Child Care Licensing recorded it: Apr 13, 2026.

Apr 2, 2025: unannounced Full Compliance Review2 violations
  • Personnel Files

    “Ensure staff files are complete. One staff member needs administration of medication training and/or certification, orientation, OCCL’s Health and Safety Training for Child Care Professionals, and two references.”

    Rule 30U. Correction date, as Delaware Office of Child Care Licensing recorded it: May 8, 2025.

  • Child Files

    “Ensure child files are complete. One child needs an updated health appraisal. Two children need completed Medication Administration Records (MAR) for diaper cream.”

    Rule 40U. Correction date, as Delaware Office of Child Care Licensing recorded it: Apr 17, 2025.

Sep 26, 2024: unannounced1 violation
  • Ratios, Group Size, and Supervision

    “Ensure maximum group size is maintained at all times. A group of 13 one and two year olds were observed with two staff members. This was corrected when a third staff member arrived and took the two year olds to the two-year-old classroom.”

    Rule 27U. Correction date, as Delaware Office of Child Care Licensing recorded it: Sep 26, 2024.

Sep 19, 2024: unannounced Full Compliance Review3 violations
  • Ratios, Group Size, and Supervision

    “Ensure staff-to-child ratios are maintained through qualified staff. A staff member, who does not have eligibility determination was observed with a group of four one year olds. This was corrected when a qualified staff member entered the classroom and the staff member left. A second staff member, an intern with provisional eligibility was observed alone with two infants. This was corrected when a qualified staff member entered the classroom.”

    Rule 27U. Correction date, as Delaware Office of Child Care Licensing recorded it: Sep 19, 2024.

  • General Qualifications

    “Ensure staff complete a comprehensive background check and eligibility determination or provisional eligibility notification on file. A staff member, who does not have eligibility determination was observed with a group of four one year olds. This was corrected when a qualified staff member entered the classroom and the staff member left. A second staff member, with provisional eligibility was observed alone with two infants. This was corrected when a qualified staff member entered the classroom.”

    Rule 28U. Correction date, as Delaware Office of Child Care Licensing recorded it: Sep 19, 2024.

  • Personnel Files

    “Ensure staff files are complete. One staff member needs two references and an eligibility letter. One staff member needs two references. One staff member needs a service letter from Beach Babies or two additional references. One staff member needs two references, an eligibility letter, and a health appraisal.”

    Rule 30U. Correction date, as Delaware Office of Child Care Licensing recorded it: Oct 10, 2024.

Jul 2, 2024: unannounced2 violations
  • Personnel Files

    “Ensure staff files are complete. One staff needed an eligibility letter and one staff needed one service letter.”

    Rule 30U. Correction date, as Delaware Office of Child Care Licensing recorded it: Jul 17, 2024.

  • Lesson Plans

    “Ensure lesson plans for children two and older have the required once-a-week components. Two lesson plans were missing them.”

    Rule 74U. Correction date, as Delaware Office of Child Care Licensing recorded it: Jul 17, 2024.

All 5 visits on record
Visits on record
DateVisitWhat the record says
Apr 9, 2026Unannounced Full Compliance Review3 violations cited
Apr 2, 2025Unannounced Full Compliance Review2 violations cited
Sep 26, 2024Unannounced1 violation cited
Sep 19, 2024Unannounced Full Compliance Review3 violations cited
Jul 2, 2024Unannounced2 violations cited

Is it licensed?

  • Licensed Child Care Center.
  • Ages served, in Delaware’s words: 6 weeks through 5 years.
  • Takes part in: Purchase of Care (state-subsidized child care).
  • Licence number 1559979.
  • Capacity: 75 children.
Source:

Delaware Office of Child Care Licensing, Licensed Child Care Providers and Facilities. Released Oct 23, 2026. Updated daily.

Has Delaware acted against it?

  • 4 complaint investigations in the last three years. Results, in Delaware’s words: No Evidence to Substantiate (3), Substantiated (1).
Source:

Delaware Office of Child Care Licensing, Child Care Licensing Complaint Reviews and Licensed Child Care Providers and Facilities. Released Oct 23, 2026. Updated daily.

On record, newest first
DateWhatDetail
Apr 15, 2025OCCL Standards Complaint: No Evidence to SubstantiateOn March 26, 2025, the Office of Child Care Licensing (OCCL) received a complaint regarding improper staff-to-child ratios. An investigation was conducted on April 2, 2025. There is no evidence to substantiate for improper staff-to-child ratio because attendance records and video footage for March 26, 2025, showed the opening classroom and the one-year-old classroom were following proper staff-to-child ratio. Additionally, all classrooms were observed following proper-staff-to-child ratio during the complaint investigation.
Jan 9, 2025OCCL Standards Complaint: No Evidence to SubstantiateOn December 6, 2024, the Office of Child Care Licensing (OCCL) received a complaint regarding administration of medication procedures. An investigation was conducted on December 11, 2024. There is no evidence to substantiate this complaint because staff denied the allegation, and LS #1 observed a written Medication Administration Record (MAR) for Child #1 s prescription cream.
Dec 12, 2024OCCL Standards Complaint: SubstantiatedOn November 18, 2024, the Office of Child Care Licensing (OCCL) received a complaint regarding accident/injury procedures. An investigation was conducted on November 20, 2024. The complaint is substantiated for accident/injury procedures because Administrator #1 stated Child #1 received the injury to his eye at approximately 9:30 am and she did not notify Parent #1 until 1:26 pm via the ProCare app.
Nov 4, 2024OCCL Standards Complaint: No Evidence to SubstantiateOn October 17, 2024, the Office of Child Care Licensing (OCCL) received a complaint regarding possible improper discipline. An investigation was conducted on October 18, 2024. There is no evidence to substantiate this complaint because staff denied the allegations.

Who does the caring?

  • Delaware doesn’t publish staffing levels for individual providers.

Who owns it?

  • Delaware’s open data doesn’t list owners.

How is it rated?

  • No facility injuries reported. No facility deaths reported.
Source:

Delaware Office of Child Care Licensing, Licensed Child Care Providers and Facilities. Released Oct 23, 2026. Updated daily.

How does it compare nearby?

  • Providers aren’t compared: Delaware lists only the visits that found violations, so a count can’t tell a clean record from one never visited.
Source:

Delaware Office of Child Care Licensing, Child Care Licensing Compliance Review Information. Released Oct 23, 2026. Updated daily.

12 compared
PlaceViolations cited in the last three years
Shell’s Early Learning Center - CamdenNot given
St. Paul’s Nature PreschoolNot given
The Next Step Learning Center at Camden This child care providerNot given
Shell’s Early Learning Camden CenterNot given
Sandra LayteNot given
Gwendolyn RashNot given
Annette D RadcliffeNot given
Mary SkodzinskiNot given
Whatcoat Christian PreschoolNot given
Angela SmithNot given
The Children’s Place II, Inc.Not given
Boys & Girls Club @ W. B. Simpson Elementary SchoolNot given

What the record doesn’t say

  • Delaware doesn’t grade violations by severity, so read what was cited.
  • Delaware’s open data lists a visit only when a violation was cited there, so visits that found nothing aren’t shown.
  • Delaware publishes five years of reviews and complaints; this page shows the last three.
  • Delaware doesn’t publish staffing levels or owners for individual providers.
  • Delaware lists only the visits that found violations, so a provider with none listed may not have been visited at all: no count of violations is used to headline, filter or compare its providers.

Sources

If you believe something here is wrong, a correction starts with the agency whose record this copies: Delaware Office of Child Care Licensing. Delaware’s own record is on data.delaware.gov. If Hearth Record copied something wrongly, it will fix it and log the correction publicly, with its date: how corrections work.

Source:

This copy of the record was made on Oct 24, 2026.

From the provider

The public record above comes first. Anything the provider adds will appear here, below it, and say who wrote it.

Replies

None. Replies aren’t open yet. When they open, the provider will be able to answer any finding for free, and the reply will show beside that finding, unedited and dated.

Paid listing

None. Paid listings aren’t open yet. When they open, anything paid for will say “Paid by the provider”, and paying will never change a finding, a rating or the order of results.

How to read a record

Four things every record does, shown on an example record made up for this guide.

An example record, made up for this guide

An example nursing home

Made up for this guide: no real place is shown

Not fully inspected in over two years (CMS flag)

11 health citations at the latest inspection cycle

The state average is 14.3.

Source:

CMS, State and US Averages and Health Deficiencies. Released Oct 28, 2026. Updated monthly.

From the homeNone yet. Replies and paid listings aren’t open, and when they open they will sit here, below the record.

1 of 4

Every fact names its source.

Who published it, when, and how often it changes sit beside each fact, with a link to the agency’s own file.

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