Children’s Garden
A licensed child care center in Des Moines, Iowa
Watch and the shortlist are kept with a free account, on every device. Your watch list. Iowa’s own record is on secureapp.dhs.state.ia.us.
The short answer
Each figure’s source sits beside it, in its section below.
What these words mean3
- 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.
What did inspectors find?
Iowa lists 8 reports: 4 compliance reports and 4 regulation checklists, the latest dated Apr 13, 2026.
On its 3 regulation checklists from the last three years, Iowa marked 14 rules not met, 5 of them on the latest, on Apr 13, 2026.
What its other reports found is in each one, linked with it; this page doesn’t count it.
Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, Childcare Compliance and Complaint Reports and Regulation checklists (PDF), Childcare Compliance and Complaint Reports. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
Each deficiency, in its source’s words
Grouped by visit, newest first, with the level its source gave it.
Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, Regulation checklists (PDF), Childcare Compliance and Complaint Reports. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
Apr 13, 2026: regulation checklist5 deficiencies
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The center shall have written emergency plans and diagrams for responding to fire, tornado, flood, and plans responding to intoxicated parents and lost or abducted children. Emergency plans shall include written procedures including plans for: •Evacuation to safely leave the facility. •Relocation to a common, safe location after evacuation. •Shelter in place to take immediate shelter when the current location is unsafe to leave due to the emergency issue. •Lock down to protect children and providers from an external situation. •Communication and reunification with parents or other adults responsible for the children, which includes emergency telephone numbers. •Continuity of operations. •To address the individual children, including those with functional or access needs.
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Emergency instructions, phone numbers, and diagrams for fire, tornado, and flood shall be visibly posted and documented at least once a month for fire and tornado. Records shall be maintained for current and previous year.
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Centers at ground level that use basement area as program space, or have a basement beneath program space: Testing and plan for remedy of radon is conducted.
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•Center shall serve each child a full, nutritionally balanced meal as defined by CACFP guidelines. •Staff shall provide supervision at table during snacks and meals. •Children at center two hours or longer shall be offered food of not less than two hours and no more than three hours apart unless child is asleep. •Menus shall be made available to parents and kept on file with substitutions noted. •Avoid foods with high incident rate of causing choking.
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All files contain: 1.Copy of a department criminal history record check form or any other permission form approved by Department of Public Safety for conducting an Iowa or national criminal history record check 2.Copy of a request for child abuse information form, when applicable. 3.Copies of results of Iowa record checks conducted through the SING for review by the department upon request. 4.Copies of national criminal history check results. 5.Any department issued documents sent to the center related to a record check, regardless of findings.
Apr 15, 2025: regulation checklist3 deficiencies
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Center shall ensure that: 1.Facility and premises are sanitary, safe, and hazard free. 2.Adequate indoor and outdoor space is provided. The outdoor area shall include safe play equipment and area of shade. 3.Sufficient space provided for dining. 4.Sufficient lighting shall be provided. 5.Sufficient ventilation. 6.Sufficient heating. 7.sufficient cooling. 8.Sufficient bathroom and diapering facilities. 9.Equipment, including kitchen appliances, are maintained so as not to result in burns, shock, or injury to children. 10.Sanitation and safety procedures for the center are developed and implemented to reduce risk or injury or harm to children and reduce transmission of disease.
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The provider shall follow safe sleep practices recommended by AAP for infants under one year of age: •Infants shall always be placed on their back for sleep. •Infants shall be placed on a firm mattress with a tight fitted sheet that meets Consumer Product Safety Commission federal standards. •Infants shall not be allowed to sleep on a bed, sofa, air mattress or other soft surface. No child will be allowed to sleep in any items not designed for sleeping but not limited to, an infant seat, car seat, swing, bouncy seat. •No toys, soft objects, stuffed animals, pillows, bumper pads, blankets, or loose bedding shall be allowed in the sleeping area with the infant. •No co-sleeping shall be allowed. •Sleeping infants shall be actively observed by sight and sound. •If an alternate sleeping position is needed, a signed physician or physician assistant authorization with statement of medical reason is required.
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•Sanitary and safe methods in food preparation, serving, and storage sufficient to prevent transmission of disease, infestation, and spoilage are followed. •Staff preparing food that have injuries on hands wear protective gloves. •Staff serving food use clean serving utensils and have clean hands/wear protective gloves.
Apr 16, 2024: regulation checklist6 deficiencies
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All centers: Annual inspection prior to heating season of all fuel-burning appliances to reduce risk of carbon monoxide poisoning and shall install one carbon monoxide detector on each floor that conforms to UL Standard 2034.
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•Center shall serve each child a full, nutritionally balanced meal as defined by CACFP guidelines. •Staff shall provide supervision at table during snacks and meals. •Children at center two hours or longer shall be offered food of not less than two hours and no more than three hours apart unless child is asleep.
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All files contain: 1.A signed copy of DHS criminal history record check or any other permission form approved by the Department of public Safety for conducting an Iowa or national criminal history check. 2.A copy of Request for Child Abuse Information. 3.Copies of the results of Iowa records checks conducted. 4.Copies of national criminal history check results. 5.Any Department-issued documents sent to the center related to records check.
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All files contain a pre-employment physical exam report completed within six months prior to hire and at least every three years. Physical exams shall be documented on form 470- 5152, Child Care Provider Physical Examination Report.
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All files contain parent authorization for attendance at center-sponsored field trips and non- center activities. If an inclusive authorization form for activities is used, a copy is kept on file at the center.
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Information regarding a child in a child care center or their relative is confidential. If this information is released by visual, verbal or written means, written consent from the parent or guardian is in the file or a court order allowing the release of the information.
All 8 visits on record
| Date | Visit | What the record says |
|---|---|---|
| Apr 13, 2026 | Child Care Center Evaluation and Recommendation for License | Findings are in Iowa’s report |
| Apr 13, 2026 | Regulation checklist | 5 rules marked not met |
| Apr 15, 2025 | Child Care Center Evaluation and Recommendation for License | Findings are in Iowa’s report |
| Apr 15, 2025 | Regulation checklist | 3 rules marked not met |
| Apr 16, 2024 | Child Care Center Evaluation and Recommendation for License | Findings are in Iowa’s report |
| Apr 16, 2024 | Regulation checklist | 6 rules marked not met |
| Apr 5, 2023 | Child Care Center Evaluation and Recommendation for License | Findings are in Iowa’s report |
| Apr 5, 2023 | Regulation checklist | Findings are in Iowa’s report |
Is it licensed?
- Licensed Center, Iowa provider number 26358.
Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, Childcare Compliance and Complaint Reports. Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily.
Has Iowa acted against it?
- Iowa’s report list doesn’t show enforcement actions; any are written in the reports themselves.
Who does the caring?
- Iowa’s report list doesn’t show staffing. State rules set staff-to-child ratios by age.
Who owns it?
- Iowa’s report list doesn’t name owners.
How is it rated?
- Iowa’s quality rating (IQ4K) isn’t in its report list, so it isn’t shown here.
How does it compare nearby?
- Providers aren’t compared: Iowa’s checklists don’t cover every visit, and complaint findings aren’t on them.
| Place | |
|---|---|
| Children’s Garden This child care provider | Not given |
What the record doesn’t say
- Findings here are the rules Iowa’s regulation checklists from the last three years mark as not met, in the checklists’ own words. What evaluations, letters and complaint investigations found is in those reports, linked with each one, and isn’t counted here.
- Iowa lists a report once it is written up: most within two weeks of the visit, some six weeks or more after it, so a recent visit may not be listed yet.
- Each report is dated the day Iowa created it, which can be weeks after the visit; a checklist is dated the day of the inspection it records.
- Iowa’s report list gives only a provider’s city and county, not its street address, ZIP code or phone number.
- Iowa’s report list doesn’t show quality ratings (IQ4K), capacity, ages served, hours, owners or enforcement actions.
Sources
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Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, Childcare Compliance and Complaint Reports.
Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily. No licence stated.
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Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, Regulation checklists (PDF), Childcare Compliance and Complaint Reports.
Checked Oct 19, 2026. Updated daily. No licence stated.
If you believe something here is wrong, a correction starts with the agency whose record this copies: Iowa Department of Health and Human Services. Iowa’s own record is on secureapp.dhs.state.ia.us. If Hearth Record copied something wrongly, it will fix it and log the correction publicly, with its date: how corrections work.
This copy of the record was made on Oct 19, 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.