Tag: licensing

The purpose of our posting is just to point out the changes we have found in our first few read throughs of the proposed 10-148 CMR Ch. 33 Family Child Care Provider Licensing Rule published December 30, 2020. FCCAM is not making any statement of support or disagreement by the listing or omission of any proposed change .

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Section 7. Staff-Child Ratios, Supervision, and Qualifications

B/4 – In determining the number of Children for which a Provider is Licensed, the Department may factor in the needs of Children and Adults who reside in the home. The number of Children allowed may be restricted by the Department when any of the following circumstances are present:

• Space is limited or unusually configured;
• The Provider has physical limitations affecting their ability to care for Children; or
• There is a Child or Children who require exceptional amounts of care due to a health or other condition.

C/3/c – Special events occurring at the Provider location must provide supervision in accordance with this rule. A Child attending a special event in the care of a Parent or Legal Guardian will not be included in staff-Child ratios. Special events occurring outside of typical hours and days of operation are not subject to this rule.

D/1/a/ii – A Provider or Staff Member must be physically present outside when Children under the age of eight are outdoors.

D/1/a/iii – If Children over the age of eight are outside, and a Provider or Staff Member is not physically present, the play area must be enclosed by fencing.

D/2 – During napping and/or sleeping hours, the Provider or Staff Member must be awake and supervising all Children, and Child-staff ratios must be maintained. Dimmed, but adequate, lighting to allow visual supervision of all Children must be maintained at all times.

E – Crisis plan. The Provider must develop and follow a written plan for obtaining help in an emergency when only one provider is present, or when staff-Child ratios are exceeded.

F/5 – Staff Members must be properly immunized and provide documentation of immunizations to the Provider.

Section 8. Training

B/3 – All Providers and Staff Members must register with Maine’s Professional Development Network.

Section 9. Child Guidance (clarifying language)

Section 10. Rights of Children and Parents (This section is back within the Rule.)

A. – Rights of children. Children receiving childcare from Providers have the following rights.

• Children must be free from emotional, physical, sexual abuse, neglect and exploitation.
• Each Child has the right to freedom from harmful actions or practices that are detrimental to the Child’s welfare, and to practices that are potentially harmful to the Child.
• Each Child has a right to an environment that meets the health and safety standards in this rule.
• Each Child must be provided childcare services without regard to race, age, national origin, religion, disability, sex or family composition.
• Children must be treated with dignity, consideration and respect in full recognition of their individuality. This includes the use of Developmentally Appropriate practices by the Provider and Staff Members.
• Each Child has the right to the implementation of any plan of service that has been developed for that Child in conjunction with community or state agencies by the Provider.
• Each Child has a right to Developmentally Appropriate activities, materials, and equipment.
• Children with disabilities have the right to reasonable modifications to Provider policies and practices.

B. – Rights of parents and legal guardians of children receiving child care from Providers.

• A Child’s Parent or Legal Guardian must be fully informed of items or services which are included in the rate they pay for childcare services.
• A Child’s Parent or Legal Guardian has the right to be fully informed of findings of the most recent inspection conducted by the Department. The Provider must inform Children’s Parents or Legal Guardians that the licensing inspection results are public information and inspection results must be posted in a prominent place on the Premises.
• Parents or Legal Guardians must be notified by the Provider within two business days of any actions taken against the Provider by the Department, including but not limited to, decisions to issue conditional Licenses, refusal to renew a License, or to impose fines or other sanctions.

Section 11. Reporting Child Abuse or Neglect

D – Hotline number posted. The Provider must ensure that the telephone number of the Department’s Child Protective Intake hotline is posted in a readily accessible central location on the Premises.

Section 12. Health and Medical

A/1/c – No Child may be required to be immunized if religious, philosophical or medical reasons are documented. Effective September 1, 2021, exemption from immunization requirements are limited to medical reasons. The Child’s physician, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant must provide documentation that immunization is medically inadvisable.

A/2 – Unimmunized Children and Staff Members. The Family Child Care Provider must maintain a list of all unimmunized Children and Staff Members, regardless of age. In the event of a disease outbreak as defined by CDC reporting standards, a Child not immunized must be excluded from the Family Child Care Provider in accordance with CDC guidance or until the Child receives the necessary immunization or proof of immunity is on record.

B – Evaluation requirements. When the Department has reasonable cause to believe that an Applicant, Provider or Staff Member may be unable to provide safe care for Children, the Department may request a report from a qualified professional or an appropriate official that includes the evaluator’s determination of the person’s ability to safely care for Children.

1. A physical examination or other evaluation is not required if the Applicant, Provider, or Staff Member states in writing that it is contrary to the person’s religious teachings and practice.
2. If the Applicant, Provider, or Staff Member refuses to be evaluated, the Department shall determine whether sufficient evidence exists to ensure that the person can safely care for Children.

C – Health care consultation.

1. The Provider must have a manual of written guidelines for the prevention and control of communicable diseases and other appropriate health practices for childcare.
2. The Provider must ensure that the manual be available to and read by all Staff Members.

D – Health monitoring. The Provider must observe Children in care each day at the time of arrival and throughout the Child’s stay for obvious signs of illness such as fever, diarrhea, vomiting, or skin rashes. In the event of an apparent illness of a Child, the Provider must comply with the guidance in the manual described in Section 14(C)(1) above.

When a Provider knows or suspects that a Child has contracted a notifiable disease or condition, the Provider must notify the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (MECDC). The Provider must notify the MECDC immediately by phone for Category 1 conditions, and within 48 hours for Category 2 conditions. MECDC contacts: Phone: 1-800-821-5821 (24 hours a day); FAX: 1-800-293-7534 (24 hours a day); or TTY: Maine relay 711 (24 hours a day). For a list of Category 1 and 2 notifiable diseases and conditions, see 10-144 CMR Chapter 258, Rules for the Control of Notifiable Conditions, Chapter 2(I). http://www.maine.gov/sos/cec/rules/10/144/144c258.doc

K – Emergency procedures. Providers must have a procedure for responding to situations when an immediate emergency medical response is required. Staff-Child ratio must be maintained during all medical emergencies. Staff Members may be called in as necessary to maintain the required ratio. Every Staff Member must be trained to manage an emergency until emergency medical care becomes available.

Section 13 Drinking Water and Wastewater (clarifying language)

Section 14 Environment and Safety

A/9 – A Provider may Lock the main entrance of their home and/or the Premises to prevent access from the exterior, provided that the door can be freely opened from the interior and there is a means to inform the Provider of the arrival of Parents/Legal Guardians or other visitors.

B/1 – Children in attendance for more than four hours and over the age of 12 months shall have a minimum of 60 minutes outdoors daily, barring weather that presents a risk to Children in accordance with Child Care Weather Watch and the Air Quality Index as provided below. Gross motor activity will be substituted for outdoor time when weather does not permit outdoor time. Infants must go outside at least once daily in accordance with Child Care Weather Watch and Air Quality Index

B/3 – Provider must monitor the local air quality index as reported by the United States Environmental “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups” (USG) or higher, Children must be kept indoors.

C/1 – Providers will have an annual screening for potential lead hazards due to chipped and/or peeling paint. (exemptions follow in the Rule)

D – Carbon monoxide. Providers must be equipped with a working carbon monoxide detection system.

E/1 – A minimum temperature of at least 65o Fahrenheit measured within two feet of the floor must be maintained in spaces occupied by Children.

F/2/a – Windows should be open when outside temperature and air quality allow.

H/1/c – There must be an exit from the playground other than through a building.

Section 15 Swimming and Wading (Organized differently, but majority of material appears the same)

K –

Non – swimmers. All Non-swimmers must be clearly identified as Non-swimmers in a way that is visually and easily recognized by Providers, Staff Members, water safety attendants and Certified Lifeguards as applicable.

Section 16 Food and Kitchen Facilities

A – clarity around food options, portions, drinking water

D – Provider Responsibilities

• Providers or Staff Members who are ill must not work in the food preparation area. Providers or Staff Members with open sores that cannot be covered must not handle or prepare food.
• Children may be allowed in meal preparation areas only when under the direct supervision of a Provider and there is no danger of injury from kitchen equipment.
• Children must be within sight and sound of the Provider during meal and snack times.
• Any food served to one Child must not be re-served to another Child.

The following section have clarifying language:

F – Food Preparation

G – Equipment and Utensils

H – Kitchen facilities

The purpose of our posting is just to point out the changes we have found in our first few read throughs of the proposed 10-148 CMR Ch. 33 Family Child Care Provider Licensing Rule published December 30, 2020. FCCAM is not making any statement of support or disagreement by the listing or omission of any proposed change .

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Providers want to read through the “Definitions”. There are significant changes there with changes to older definitions, deleted and new additions.

Section 2. Licensing Requirements and Procedures

Providers should make note of the usage of “Child’s Parents/Legal Guardians”. These were also changed in “Definitions”. When Providers are making changes to their contact/handbook policies they might want to align their language to this.

G. Administrations/4 – A copy of the Provider handbook will be made available to all Parents or Legal Guardians at the time of enrollment. The handbook must contain, at a minimum:

• Ages of Children served;
• Hours of operation and daily schedule;
• Numbers of Children served;
• Specific focus if applicable, such as educational focus, religious focus, Montessori, after-school, summer recreation, teaching site, etc.;
• Opportunities for Parent/Legal Guardian involvement;
• A description of the Child guidance methods used by Staff Members;
• Services offered, such as: basic childcare, care for Children with special needs, part-time care, Infant/toddler care, pre-school care, school-age care, etc.;
• Fees (if any) including charges for late pick-up of Children;
• Vacation policy;
• Terms of any contract or placement agreements;
• The rights of Children;
• Emergency procedures and relocation information;
• Incident reporting and mandatory reporting of Child Abuse or Neglect;
• Expulsion and suspension practices;
• Management of communicable illnesses;
• Medication administration;
• Annual calendar of closure dates (if applicable);
• Resources available for developmental screenings; and
• Reporting of Child death and serious injury.

G/7 – The Provider must maintain a staff manual that addresses the following:

a. Policies and their implementation. This must include, at a minimum, policies for the following:

• Mandated reporting, Child guidance,
• Child illness,
• Fire drill procedures,
• Emergency and disaster procedures,
• Staff Member qualifications and training,
• Supervision of Staff Members/interns
• Reporting licensing violations,
• Inclusionary practices for Children with disabilities,
• Safe sleep policy,
• Serious injury and Child death reporting,
• Expulsion and suspension prevention,
• Interpretation for English Language Learners,
• Release of Children, and
• Transportation of Children (if applicable).

G/8 – The Provider must adopt a written policy for handling all suspected instances of Child Abuse or Neglect in accordance with Maine statute.

G/10 – The Provider must develop a written policy to follow if an allegation of Child Abuse or Neglect is made against the Provider, any Staff Member, or Household Member in the Provider’s home.

G/12 – The Provider must register for Maine’s Quality Rating and Improvement System.

Section 3. Fees

B – Change in License. The fee to issue a revised License is $10.00. An application to revise a License is required when an Applicant seeks to increase the capacity of the Provider or the Applicant requests approval for construction, or a heating system requires replacement.

Section 4. Inspections and Investigations

C. Elements of an inspection. In order to determine compliance with this rule, the Provider must provide access to all records and any part of the Premises occupied or used by Children.

• The Department may speak with Children, Parents, and providers during inspections.
• The Department may photograph any part of the Premises or make a photographic record of documents. The Department will provide copies of photographs upon request.

Section 5. Record Management and Retention

A/3 – Record of actual hours worked and breaks daily. This record must be available for inspection by the Department and be kept on site for three years.

A/5 – A record of fire drills for the preceding three years must be available for inspection…

A/7 – Providers that offer swimming and wading activities must keep a written record of the type, date, time and duration of the water safety emergency procedures training and drills required in Section 15 of this Rule.

A/8 – The Provider must draft and follow a records management and retention policy, which must include provisions for access to Child records by Legal Guardians.

C – Inspection of records. Records must be made available for inspection by Providers and Staff Members upon request by the Department.

D/1/u – Written permission from the Parent/Legal Guardian for use of sunscreen;

H – Code compliance. The Provider must maintain, and provide to the Department on request, documentation that indicates that the Provider complies with local codes and ordinances, including zoning, or a statement from the locality that no approval is required.

Section 6. Reporting Requirements

A – Provider changes. Providers must notify the Department in writing of any of the following changes or occurrences within 24 hours of occurrence. …..