Update background check provisions to conform to CCDBG requirements and s. 48.686, Stats.
Amend the existing emergency preparedness and response planning rule to comply with 45 CFR 98.41 and require that a licensee’s written emergency plan includes procedures for evacuation, relocation, shelter-in-place, and lock down; communication and reunification with families; continuity of operations; and accommodation of infants and toddlers, children with disabilities, and children with chronic medical conditions.
Ensure appropriate precautions when transporting children by clarifying the current transportation rules and creating the following provisions:o
A driver transporting children in care may not use a cell phone and other wireless device, unless the vehicle is out of traffic, not in operation, and the phone or device is used to communicate regarding an emergency. o
Before a driver transports children in care for the first time, the licensee shall review various safety-related requirements with the driver.
Consolidate all rules on supervision of children and staff-to-child ratios and maximum group size into one section. No change is made to the current staff-to-child ratios or maximum group size requirements.
Eliminate duplicative provisions and consolidate rules on the following topics:
Personal hygiene requirements, especially handwashing.DCF 250, Licensing Rules for Family Child Care Centers
The proposed rules revise ch. DCF 250, Family Child Care Centers, to do the following:
Amend the existing preservice or orientation training and continuing education requirements to comply with 45 CFR 98.44 as follows:
Within 3 months after obtaining a license or beginning to work with children in care, providers must obtain certification in infant and child cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). CPR certification is currently required within 6 months after licensure or beginning work.
Add continuing education topics to correspond to the list of health and safety standards that providers are required to maintain and update under 45 CFR 98.44 (b) (2) (i) and 45 CFR 98.41 (a) (1).o
Consolidate all requirements for staff into one section, including staff files, qualifications, and professional development requirements, and create alternative ways to meet the qualifications with the Wisconsin Family Child Care Credential or a child development associate credential in family child care.
Require that a family child care licensee be an individual and not a corporation, partnership, limited liability company, non-incorporated association, or cooperative. No corporation, partnership, limited liability company, non-incorporated association, or cooperative will be allowed to apply for continuation of a license. When the current licensing period ends for the corporation, partnership, limited liability company, non-incorporated association, or cooperative that is a licensee, an individual may apply for licensure.o
This provision is needed because individuals who were ineligible for licensure due to fraud in the child care subsidy program or convictions for other barred crimes have set up “strawmen” or “shell corporations” in the name of a friend or relative and fraudulently obtained a license, operated a child care center, and received child care subsidy payments. o
This provision does not affect a licensee’s ability to incorporate or otherwise form a business entity for other legal or tax reasons. It merely requires the individual actually responsible for the center to be the licensee.
Increase the number of hours that an individual provider in a family child care center may provide care for children from 12 hours to 16 hours in a 24-hour period and no longer allow a licensed family child care center under ch. DCF 250 and a certified family child care home under ch. DCF 202 to operate on the same premises.o
Currently, a certified provider may care for children for up to 16 hours in 24-hour period, while a licensed provider may only care for children for up to 12 hours in a 24-hour period. o
There are almost 80 providers that are both licensed and certified. These providers care for children as a licensed provider for 12 hours and as a certified provider for an additional 4 hours. o
This dual regulation creates overlapping roles and responsibilities for certification agencies and the department, as well as complex compliance and enforcement issues and costly automation needs.o
Allowing licensed providers to care for children for up to 16 hours in a 24-hour period will provide continuity under the more stringent health and safety rules of licensure and meet parents’ needs for child care during standard and nonstandard hours. o
The department will be contacting the dually-regulated providers during the summer of 2019 to inform them of this upcoming change. Licensees will be able to expand their licensed hours of operation to 16 hours in a 24-hour period effective September 30, 2019, when the department’s corresponding emergency rule including this provision is expected to be effective.
Consolidate the rules on information required to be in a child’s file.
Incorporate the state statutory requirements for vehicle liability insurance under s. 344.62, Stats., and carbon monoxide detectors under s. 101.149, Stats.DCF 251, Licensing Rules for Group Child Care Centers
The proposed rules revise ch. DCF 251, Group Child Care Centers, to do the following:
Amend the existing preservice or orientation training and continuing education requirements to comply with 45 CFR 98.44 as follows:o
Within 3 months after obtaining a license or beginning to work with children in care, providers must obtain certification in infant and child cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). CPR certification is currently required within 6 months after licensure or beginning work. o
Additional continuing education topics are added to correspond to the list of health and safety standards that providers are required to maintain and update under 45 CFR 98.44 (b) (2) (i) and 45 CFR 98.41 (a) (1).
Allow centers to move infants and toddlers between groups of children to accommodate staffing needs. Infants and toddlers are still required to have a consistent caregiver in a consistent room, but a center may move children to accommodate staffing needs.
Consolidate all requirements for staff into one section, including staff files, qualifications, and professional development and do the following: o
Add alternative ways to meet the qualifications without creating additional minimum qualifications for a center administrator, director, teacher, or assistant teacher. o
Repeal the requirement that a center director work a specified number of hours per week exclusively carrying out director duties. o
Expand the ways that staff may qualify for work exclusively with school-age children, including the Wisconsin Afterschool and Youth Development Credential.
Create exceptions for centers serving only school-age children to the following:o
The requirement regarding screens on doors and windows used for ventilation.o
The requirement for an energy absorbing surface at least 9 inches deep on playgrounds.
Move provisions related to child care programs established or contracted for by school boards from ch. DCF 252, Subchapter II, to ch. DCF 251. These programs are required to comply with the group child care center licensing rules. The department will conduct an annual inspection of the programs to monitor compliance with the rules.DCF 252, Licensing Rules for Day Camps
The proposed rules revise ch. DCF 252, Day Camps, to do the following:
Consolidate requirements on staff records and qualifications into one section and allow the Wisconsin Afterschool and Youth Development Credential as an educational qualification for camp directors.
Consolidate rules on the condition of the premises, including buildings and other spaces used by children. Summary of Data and Analytical Methodologies
The primary purpose of the proposed rules is to ensure that the department’s rules affecting child care certification and licensing comply with the health and safety requirements in federal regulations based on the Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act of 2014. The rules are also reorganized and “streamlined” to clarify requirements for child care providers.
Summary of Related Federal Law
Each state shall have statutes or rules applicable to child care providers that include requirements designed to protect the health and safety of children on, at a minimum, all of the following topics:
The prevention and control of infectious diseases, including immunizations.
The prevention of sudden infant death syndrome and the use of safe sleeping practices.
Administration of medication, consistent with standards for parental consent.
Prevention and response to emergencies due to food and allergic reactions.
Building and physical premises safety, including the identification of and protection from hazards, bodies of waters, and vehicular traffic.
Prevention of shaken baby syndrome, abusive head trauma, and child maltreatment.
Emergency preparedness and response planning for emergencies resulting from a natural disaster or a human-caused event within the meaning of those terms under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act. The following topics shall be included:o
Procedures for evacuation, relocation, shelter-in-place, and lock down. o
Staff and volunteer emergency preparedness training and practice drills.o
Communication and reunification with families. o
Continuity of operations.o
Accommodation of infants and toddlers, children with disabilities, and children with chronic medical conditions.
Handling and storage of hazardous materials and the appropriate disposal of biocontaminants.
