KDHE Proposed Regulations
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Recently, KDHE went around to local county health departments to update childcare providers about the proposed changes to the regulations. Part of Lexie’s Law is that KDHE needed to come up with changes to the regulations about supervision. These are the proposed regulations. Please note that they are not official yet. Every childcare provider has the opportunity to comment or attend the hearing about these proposed regulations. Comments will be allowed sometime after February 14th, 2011. I will update everyone as soon as comments are allowed. *I wrote this post based on the meeting I attended on December 15th. The information was in a PowerPoint, so I’ve done my best to put the points into sentences and organize it the best I can. This information is how I understood it at the meeting. I wrote everything down the best I could while I was at the meeting. If you have questions and leave a comment, I will do my best to answer them.You can see proposed regulations now here.
Proposed New Regulations:
K.A.R. 28-4-114 Definitions: KDHE wants to tighten up the language on some of the definitions to make sure everyone fully understands the language in the regulation. (These new definitions are important to later changes I will write about.)
Care provider: An individual who is 16 or older, cares for, and supervises children in a facility.
They are going to remove the definition of a kindergarten age child. This means that we will now be able to have children 5 and up as school-age children.
They are also going to add a definition for professional development.
K.A.R. 28-4-114 (licensing tables)
*KDHE seeks to change the licensing tables to 18months-5 years and 5-11yrs would be considered school-age children.
*They are going to incorporate the exceptions (such as being able to overlap on kids over the lunch hour) into the regulation so that providers don’t have to post exceptions any longer.
K.A.R. 28-4-114a Initial and Ongoing Professional Development
*All new providers will have to complete orientation before getting a license.
*All care providers (who will have sole responsibility for care and supervision—this means all substitutes) will have to meet the health and safety training requirements.
^^^New applicants and care providers will have 30 days to meet the requirements.
^^^^^Current providers will have up to 1 year from the date the regulation goes into effect.
This means that my substitute and I will have 1 year to meet the health and safety requirements. Since I have most of these already, I would just have to make sure my substitute completed the requirements.
Health and Safety Requirements:
-Signs of Child Abuse & Neglect
-Basic Child Development
-Safe Sleep/SIDS
-Pediatric First Aid/CPR—these certifications will have to be kept current.
*The requirement for the initial 15 hours of training with the subsequent 5 hours/year for renewal will not change. However, they want to eliminate the option of reading books and watching videos.
K.A.R. 28-4-115 The facility (home)
*Expand section on safety gates to prevent unsupervised access to stairways (children under 2 ½ years)
*Guns & weapons now must be kept in locked storage. (Current regulation requires locked or trigger lock.)
*Outdoor play area needs to have ground cover that meets the regulations set by the manufacturer. Any toy over 4 feet tall needs to have ground cover.
K.A.R. 28-4-115a Supervision
*KDHE wants providers to come up with a plan for competent supervision. Providers should have and follow a written facility plan. This should include a description of the areas (indoors & outdoors).
---Include the following:
~~~How supervision is provided.
~~~Any arrangements for evening or overnight care.
~~~The plan should be discussed with parents and updated as needed.
Supervision Regulations:
---Know the location of each child and the activities he/she is engaged in
---Interact and attend to needs
---Respond immediately
---Respond to crying/distress
---Changes in activity/noise level
---Be able to respond in an emergency
Children under 2 (who are inside and awake):
Provider needs to be within sight/hearing of children.
When attending to other duties, ensure the safety of the children first, be able to respond immediately, and remain within hearing distance.
Children 2 and older:
Under certain conditions, children may be permitted to go unattended to another room (if the provider can trust the child to be alone).
```Doors between rooms should be open.
```Within hearing distance.
```Conduct visual checks.
```Children ages 2-5 should stay on the same floor as the provider.
Outdoor:
Provider must be outside with the children if they are less than 5 years. If children are 5 or older, they can be outside if they are independent.
Evening/Overnight:
Provider must be awake the entire time.
*If a provider is not providing a regular service, there are exceptions (but the children cannot be enrolled in your daycare for these exceptions).
~~~Can be no more than 7 evenings/nights in a calendar year.
~~~Cannot include more than 1 sibling group
If a provider offers this service, a plan should be developed with parents.
***This proposed regulation caused problems with the providers. The KDHE representative said that any daycare child would not be able to stay overnight at a provider’s house without the provider being awake the entire time. This causes issues because it is restrictive. Some older children may have friends who are daycare children, so this regulation means that friends (who are in the provider’s daycare) would not be able to stay overnight.
Example: Johnny is 7 years old and in my daycare. He is best friends with my 7-year-old, Cooper. According to this new regulation, I would not be able to sleep while Johnny was at my house because KDHE considers Johnny to be in the care of his childcare provider. I’m not getting paid to watch Johnny tonight; he’s over at my house to be with his friend. However, KDHE considers him to be in my care regardless of if I am getting paid or not.
K.A.R. 28-4-116 Daily Care
*KDHE wants to expand the regulation to focus more on indoor/outdoor activities to promote healthy growth and development.
They want to:
~Limit “screen time”
~Update nutrition and food service (they want to make sure we’re serving healthy meals, such as what is regulated with a food program)
^This would include a regulation that says water should always be available.
^This would also include a regulation promoting low fat milk.
K.A.R. (I'm unsure of the regulation # on this one) Education and Training
Providers will need to be trained in Safe Sleep practices and crib safety.
```I wrote this post based on the meeting I attended on December 15th. The information was in a PowerPoint, so I’ve done my best to put the points into sentences and organize it the best I can.
Next Steps:
The proposed regulations are currently being reviewed by the Department of Administration and the Attorney General’s office.
KDHE will publish a notice of hearing sometime between 2-14-11 and 3-11-11. After the notice is published, providers may comment. I will let everyone know as soon as I do when comments can be sent to KDHE about these proposed regulations.
Providers will have around 61 days to make comments before a hearing is held. Providers may attend the hearing or send in comments before the hearing. KDHE does have to consider every comment/person at hearing, so please let your voices be heard. They want you to comment.
For commenting, they would like to know:
--What you like
--What you’d like changed
Be specific and provide an alternative if you would like something changed.
If you have questions about this information I have provided and leave a comment, I will do my best to answer them.
If you have questions about this information I have provided and leave a comment, I will do my best to answer them.
Posts
Thank you for your notes.
Didn't she say we had to put how we are going to supervision the children into our policy or contract? And telling the parents when we interview them how we are going to keep them in our sight/hearing?
Do the parents have to sign this too? I guess they would be signing it if it's our contract right?
The way overnights were explained at our meeting (KC Metro area) overnight restrictions applied to all children sleeping over in a licensed facility - even children not enrolled. Meaning overnight slumber parties that my children (elementary aged) might have. We would be limited to 7 a year, and the sibling rule would apply as well (so no Slumber Parties of more than one sibling group invited into our house). It was confirmed that as it is currently drafted this does include parties for my own children even if I am not being compensated or the children are not enrolled in my day care. I need necessary emergency forms, and all rules & regs apply.
What do you mean by *Expand section on safety gates to prevent unsupervised access to stairways (children under 2 ½ years)?? What are they trying to change on that now?
I've done daycare for 16 years.. How did know find out about all this that KDHE is trying pass? I haven't got anything in the mail telling me that I could attend this meeting.
Anonymous #4,
That's where some of the information got brief. The KDHE representative did not expand on "Expand section on safety gates to prevent unsupervised access to stairways (children under 2 ½ years)"
That was just the wording on the PowerPoint. I'm hoping they have actual wording when they try to pass the regulations.
I found out about the meeting because I received a postcard in the mail with the information. I live in Wichita, so that's how I think the cards were sent out here. I'm not sure how the information was sent out in other areas of KS.
I'm also part of a group of providers that is a Yahoo group. Another provider reminded me of the meeting. If you would like to join the group, you can email Dayna at dayna@daynasdaycare.com. It's a great group because we ask questions of each other and share information!
Anonymous #3,
I dislike the overnight restrictions as it has been drafted. I don't think that my own children should suffer and not be able to have friends over because I have a daycare in my home. This is one of the parts I will comment about in hopes that they will change the wording. My daughter actually is only 20months, so I don't have to worry about her having sleepovers yet. But, regulations don't change often, so I need to do what I can now.
If my daughter stays overnight at a friends' house someday, the parents won't need to fill out paperwork first and stay awake the entire night.
Okay I agree. If our kids have their friends over night and their not in daycare then they shouldn't be considered like they are. That is not fair to your children.
I live in Manhattan..I didn't recieve anything in the mail or by email..But that's how the KDHE works..they tried not to draw to much attention to themselves in hopes to get regulations passed! If providers don't know about it, how can they stand against it! I just went thru that the last 2 years here, I didn't know about a meeting that was being held here till the week before it went to the city commissioners. But by the grace of God I found out from a former city commissioner and I showed up to it and also had alot of other providers show. Their plan didn't go as they thought it was going to go. It got shot down. I don't have a problem with change...but I do have a problem with to much goverment control. I think if the KDHE is going to implement changes, it needs to be open to the public and especially us that have been providing care for our community for 16 years! I'm glad my only child is 17 years old. I'm gonna try and do daycare for 10 more years, but I tell ya, the more rules and regulations they keep passing, the more I start to wonder if I'm gonna make it! Good luck to you all that have small children of your own.
In the KC Area (at least for the Johnson County Providers) an email blast was sent out from our health department. It was titled something like "good training.." and came out the first few days of Dec. for a Dec. 13th (?) meeting - a Monday Night. To actually see what the "training" was about you had to open an attachment. With so many of us taking care of the Holidays with our day cares and own families - if you didn't need hours you may not have opened the attachment! Very suspicious to a great many providers and MISSED by even more. As Anon #8 says - "that's how KDHE works". The meeting was in KCK at 7:00pm. It served Leavenworth, Wyandotte, & Johnson Counties. When you all write into the Committee & KDHE on the regulations - you need to open with how you were informed about the meetings, I think it is important for them to know how it was handled. Better yet, write in and GO TO THE HEARINGS to. It is not as scary as you might think and we bring REAL LIFE to the table.
Your right..go to the hearings!! I go if I know about them. It seems to me, that they work on the larger cities first, then hit on the smaller ones. Maybe they haven't sent us an email out yet? I will be checking into that.I think if they have hearings that we can attend...they really ought to make a very clear invitation to us. They want to improve the quality of childcare right?
No they have finished their "trainings" and there was only a few, with very little notice given. It seems odd to be. There will be ONLY ONE public hearing. I agree, GO TO THE MEETING if you want to be heard. Or want to know the full facts.
Thank you for posting your notes and keeping everyone up to date.
KDHE is very careful not to let the public know about any discussions regarding changes. They don't want us, the providers, to point out how these proposals are flawed. I do hope they pass the change to allow 5yr olds to be counted as kinder. age and not fall in the preschool count.
The proposal of "evening/overnight care" obviously, someone, somewhere abused the situation and now we are ALL going to pay for this ridiculous ruling.
Common Sense does not work with this entity of KDHE.
Please everyone attend meetings when they are held and let your voices be heard. If they don't hear us then they don't realize our point of views.....I have stood up and fought before our city and county commission.
I'm upset about the sleepover part as well. I have girls 9, 14, and 16. Every weekend is a sleepover. :) Also the meeting in kck covered a lot of people and it was not in the best area to drive to at night especially if you had not been there before. I called to see if there would be any other meeting and there were not.
Anonymous 12 makes a great point about us attending meetings and letting our voices be heard. BUT the meeting that we need to be at will be the hearing meeting in Topeka for the proposed R&Rs - and BEING THERE will be much much better than just submitting testimony in writing (via email) to just KDHE and the Committee - go and stand up. Get on the list to testify for or against proposed changes. They want to hear from us. That's why they extended one day to a whole extra day the last round of open hearings on the Bill that became Lexie's Law - that's how they knew what needed to be changed!
I agree with Anonymous #12 and #15. We need to be there, however, I do hope the dates are posted early enough. Like everone else, I have to take that day off.
how about the part that for every infant we need to not only visually check on them every 15 minutes but TOUCH them as well? it wasn't in their presentation, but it is included in their 'working draft' that is posted to the kdhe website. don't know about you all, but out of all the infants i've ever cared for - maybe i've had one that would sleep through me touching them every 15 minutes! ridiculous.
What does every one think about having our sub's having to take these extra hours. My huband said he could do it, but most providers don't have that option.
HELP!! Can anyone tell me if it is illegal for my licensed daycare provider to #1 post pictures of my kids online without my consent, and #2 to take my children off their property without consent? And what s considered consent? Does it have to be written and signed?
THanks!
I am not sure if it's illegal or not to post pictures without parental consent. I have my parents sign a form in order to post the pictures on my daycare's Facebook page. I never post pictures on my website or when I'm advertising. Parents are supposed to sign a consent form in order for the child/ren to be taken off the provider's property. This is regulated by KDHE so you could call to report the provider if your child/ren are being taken off the property. This even goes for walks. Parents should be notified about this.
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