NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to s.
48.67, Stats., and interpreting s.
48.67, Stats., the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services proposes to revise chs.
HFS 45,
46 and
55, relating to child care and affecting small businesses.
Hearing Information
Date and Time
|
Location
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December 3, 2007
4:00 - 7:00 PM
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Milwaukee County Zoofari
Conference Center
9715 W. Bluemound Road
Milwaukee
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December 10, 2007
4:00 - 7:00 PM
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Northcentral Technical College
Room E101-E102 Main Building
1000 W. Campus Drive
Wausau
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The hearing site is fully accessible to people with disabilities. If you are hearing impaired, do not speak English or have circumstances that might make communication at a hearing difficult; you require an interpreter or a non-English large print or taped version of the proposed rules, contact the person at the address or telephone number given below at least 10 days before the hearing. With less than 10 days notice, an interpreter may not be available.
Submission of Written comments
Written comments may be submitted at the public hearing or submitted to the contact person listed below. Comments may also be made using the Wisconsin Administrative Rule Website at
http://adminrules.wisconsin.gov. The deadline for submitting comments to the Department is 4:30 p.m. on Monday, December 17, 2007.
Analysis Prepared by the Department of Health and Family Services
The Department is required under s.
48.67, Stats., to establish, by rule, minimum requirements and standards for the operation of day care centers. These requirements and standards are codified under chs.
HFS 45,
46, and
55.
2005 Wisconsin Act 165 revised s.
48.67, Stats., to require licensees who are individuals, employees, and volunteers who provide care to children under 5 years old to receive training under s.
253.14 (4), Stats., relating to shaken baby syndrome and impacted babies before the individual is issued a license or before employment or volunteer work begins. The Department intends to modify these rules to conform to the new requirements under s.
48.67.
In addition, the Department intends to modify chs.
45,
46, and
55 to conform with s.
948.53, Stats., (created by
2005 Wisconsin Act 184) which prohibits a person from leaving a child being transported in a vehicle that is owned or leased by a child care provider or used to transport children to and from a child care provider. The Department specifically intends to incorporate requirements for procedures to ensure that children are tracked during transport and that parents are notified if a child does not arrive at a day care center as scheduled. Further changes intended for chs.
HFS 45,
46, and
55 are to ensure that the rules conform with the requirements under s.
347.48 (4) (as), Stats., for restraining children under 8 years old in motor vehicles used to transport children in care.
The Department also intends to generally update and clarify chs.
HFS 45,
46, and
55 as follows:.
Chapter HFS 45, Family Child Care Centers The Department proposes to modify ch.
HFS 45, to do the following:
• Revise the definition of a family child care center to mean a facility where the licensee resides. The intent of this change is to require family child care centers to be located in the licensee's residence.
• Prohibit family child care licensees from operating more than one family child care center at a time.
• Clarify when buildings used for family child care must meet commercial building codes.
• Create guidelines on when notification to a parent is required.
• Require additional licensee reporting to the Department and clarify existing reporting to the Department.
• Revise training requirements for providers to do the following:
• Require primary providers to have specified entry-level training before working with children. Other providers would have up to 6 months to get training.
• Require all providers to be trained in the business side of operating a child care center.
• Require staff at centers licensed to care for children under 5 years old to have training in Shaken Baby Syndrome and appropriate ways to guide children's behavior.
2005 Wisconsin Act 165 revised s.
48.67, Stats., to require licensees who are individuals, employees, and volunteers who provide care to children under 5 years old to receive training under s.
253.14 (4), Stats., relating to shaken baby syndrome and impacted babies before the individual is issued a license or before employment or volunteer work begins.
• Revise the provider to child ratios to allow providers to care for additional school-age children (age 5 and enrolled in school) rather than children who are age 7 and above.
• Require family child care centers that use on-premise play space to have a permanent boundary to protect children in care from any nearby hazards. Fencing and landscaping are two types of boundaries allowed by the proposed rules.
• Clarify requirements for child care business liability insurance if pets are accessible to children.
• Clarify rules related to pets and animals on the premises of a center.
• Require licensees to obtain driver records for persons who transport children for the center.
• Revise rules relating to car safety seat and booster seat usage to conform with s.
347.48 (4) (as), Stats.
• Require child care centers to have and implement procedures to ensure that no child is unattended in a vehicle.
Chapter HFS 46 Group Child Care Centers The Department proposes to modify ch.
HFS 46, Group Child Care Centers rules to do the following:
• Require licensees to create personnel policies pursuant to s.
HFS 12.07which require staff to notify the licensee of convictions, investigations, governmental findings of abuse and neglect, or restrictions on certain credentials.
• Require centers have and implement a policy on transporting children in order to ensure that children are safely transported while under the care of the center.
• Require additional reporting requirements and clarify existing reporting requirements to the Department.
• Require additional training for center directors. Center directors are allowed additional time to meet the additional training requirements.
• Require training in Shaken Baby Syndrome if the child care center is licensed to care for children under age 5.
• Clarify requirements for center personnel who have sole charge of children.
• Clarify requirements for persons who provide care to children during the center's opening and closing 2 hours.
• Require staff substitutes be at least 18 years old.
• Clarify rules relating to the use of a dishwashing machine to clean soiled dishes.
• Prohibit trampolines and bounce surfaces as play equipment.
• Allow the use of shredded rubber and poured surfacing on play grounds.
• Require all group child care centers that use on-premise play space to have a permanent boundary to protect children in care from any nearby hazards.
• Revise rules requiring car safety seat and booster seat usage to conform with s.
347.48 (4) (as), Stats.
• Require centers to have and implement procedures to ensure that no child is unattended in a vehicle.
• Clarify requirements for entry level staff training requirements for staff who care for school-age children.
• Limit the maximum group size of school age children to 32 children with 2 adults.
• Allow school-age children to move between groups if the child care center has a procedure to track the children during movement.
The Department proposes to modify ch.
HFS 55, Day Camps rules to do the following:
• Prohibit children under age 3 years from being accepted enrollment in a day camp.
• Create rules related to enforcement actions, revocations, appeal language, general conditions for approval of a license.
• Clarify rules related to pets and animals on the premises of a center.
• Create rules related to car seat, booster seat and seat belt usage to conform with s.
347.48 (4) (as), Stats.
• Require driver records be obtained annually.
• Require licensees to have and implement procedures to ensure that no child is unattended in a vehicle.
• Expand the requirements for what must be included in camp policies and procedures.
• Add requirements for posting a license, any approved exceptions to a rule and enforcement actions.
• Require conformity with ch.
HFS 12 and s.
48.685, Stats., relating to caregiver background checks.
• Add additional items that must be reported to the department including:
• Any death of a child in care or any accident or incident that occurs while a child is in the care of a camp that requires professional medical treatment.
• Any known convictions, pending charges or other offenses of the licensee, an employee or other person subject to a caregiver background check which could potentially relate to the care of children or the activities of a camp.
• Any suspected abuse or neglect of a child by a staff member or any inappropriate discipline of a child in the care of the camp.
• Any incident involving law enforcement that involves a licensee, household member or an employee of a camp in an incident that causes or threatens to cause physical or serious emotional harm to an individual including a child in the care of a camp.
• Any changes in room usage at a camp.
• Any incident related to a child who leaves the premises of a camp without the knowledge of a provider or any incident which results in a counselor not knowing the whereabouts of a child in attendance at a camp.
• Any construction or remodeling that has the potential to affect an areas accessible to children or a condition of the license.
• Add rules related to recording a child's attendance and parental notification for certain circumstances.
• Clarify camp director and camp counselor responsibilities.
• Increase the annual pre-camp training time for staff from 18 hours to 24 hours .
• Revise the pre-camp training components to include Shaken Baby Syndrome prevention training and CPR.
• Require that a camp identify a base camp with a building or shelter available for use by the camp to be used during inclement weather.
• Require a working telephone on the premises.
• Add rules relating to safe food storage and preparation.
• Clarify requirements for safe drinking water.
• Require camps' program of activities be focused on out-door activities.
• Clarify what must be included in camp programs.
• Clarify rules on guiding children's behavior including a requirement that specifies that time outs, if utilized by the camp, must have a procedure included in the camp behavior guidance policy.
• Revise requirements for play equipment used by children.
• Revise requirements related to meal planning and special diets for children.
• Clarify requirements related to health supervisors, illness and communicable diseases and medication administration.
• Add requirements that define procedures to be used by caregivers who diaper children.
• Require that each child have a health history and emergency care plan on file at the camp with a procedure for sharing this information with counselors.
• Revise requirements when pools and beaches are on the premises. Including the following:
• Requirements for waterfront supervisors.
• Clarify requirements related to boats, waterfront activities and other swimming related items.
• Require adventure-based activities.
Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (Effect on Small Business)
The proposed changes to chs.
HFS 45,
46 and
55 will affect child care centers and day camps licensed to care for 4 or more children under age 7 for less than 24-hours per day. As of January 2007, there are 3,120 family child care centers licensed to care for between 4 and 8 children; 2,486 group child care centers licensed to care for 9 or more children and 78 day camps licensed to provide a seasonal program for 4 or more children. Most of these entities are “small businesses" as the term is defined under s.
227.114 (1) (a), Stats.
Chapter HFS 45 – Family Child Care Centers
Changes to ch.
HFS 45, would require that all family child care centers using on-premise play space have a permanent boundary protecting the children from any nearby hazards. Typically these boundaries are fences. The department estimates that approximately 80% of currently licensed family child care providers (2,500 of 3,124 licensees) already have outdoor play space enclosed by a fence or other permanent boundary. Another 1 to 2 % of facilities have permission to use off premises play space that is not required to be enclosed. The remaining 500 to 600 facilities currently utilize on-premises play space that is not enclosed. The current rules allow landscaping as a means to enclose outdoor play space as an alternative to putting up a fence. Depending on the type of material chosen, the department estimates the cost to purchase and install a fence start at $300 and could go higher depending upon the type of enclosure selected by the licensee. This would be a one-time expense. Some centers may qualify for an exception to the rule requiring enclosures on outdoor play space due to other protections that could be put in place to adequately protect the children who are playing outside. These exceptions would be considered on a case by case basis.
