I just came across this article for those of us who were unable to attend the May 17th hearing on the proposed regulations. I liked it because the article states some of the concerns that providers had about the proposed regulations. You can also download and listen to the hearing.

Some highlights I found from the live tweets were:

1:48 PM @KansasWatchdog: Insurance counselor at KDHE hearing says proposed regulations have good intentions but overly burden child care providers


2:22 PM @KansasWatchdog: Provider says touching a child every 15 minutes when napping is not common sense.


2:34 PM @KansasWatchdog: Child care provider at KDHE hearing concerned that new regulations will result in less diversity in services; wonders about KDHE’s purpose.


2:54 PM @KansasWatchdog: Child care provider says new touching regulation while sleeping would provide false sense of security to parents about SIDS issue.


Find the article here.

Source: Earl F Glynn. Concerns about new child care regulations at KDHE hearing. http://kansas.watchdog.org/6857/concerns-about-new-child-care-regulations-at-kdhe-hearing/

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According to KDHE's website, some of the forms were updated as of 8/2011. I get my renewal packet in the mail in July, so the new form was a surprise to me. I figured that some of you might not be aware of the change either. The only difference I could find was with the health assessment form that the doctor/nurse fills out. It has changed a lot. Find the new form here.

What this means for providers:

According to my local office, this new form is to be used for all new children in care. However, it was suggested that the new form be sent with parents if they are taking their child/children to the doctor. Also, if you do a yearly update of records to make sure that all contact information/shot records, etc. are correct, then you should update to the new health assessment form.

As far as I am aware, the KDHE surveyors will not require current children to have the updated health assessment. If you have questions on this, please let me know.

Also, as it is almost January, the new regulations are supposed to be start being enacted at the beginning of 2012. See my post about that here.

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Update: Find an article that details parts of the hearing if you are interested. 

I attended a meeting for home daycare providers a couple weeks ago at my local health department. I went to get information about the proposed regulations. So, this is what I was told:


KDHE is pushing the regulations back to the beginning of the year. It will likely be January 2012 (hopefully not later) before we know exactly what the new regulations will be. 

Other news:
The SG County surveyors were all supposed to be issued tablets, printers, and cameras at the end of Sept. The survey findings will be sent electronically to KDHE right away. With these tablets, some surveys are taking around 3 hours because the tablets keep having issues. Hopefully, the bugs will get worked out of this new system. Update: My surveyor said that they should be using the new tablets starting in January.

For a refresher on the proposed regulations, click here and look for the summary. They've taken down the information from KDHE's website about the actual wording of the regulations.

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I received this information in an email from my local office. This information concerns parents and caregivers of premature infants.

KDHE has been notified by the FDA to advise parents, caregivers and health care providers not to feed SimplyThick, a thickening product, to premature infants.

This product may be associated with necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), a life-threatening condition.

Since May 13, 2011 FDA has been notified of 15 cases of NEC, including two deaths, involving premature infants who were given SimplyThick for varying amounts of time. The product was mixed with mothers’ breast milk or infant formula products. In Kansas, two cases of NEC have been reported in premature infants that were given this product.

NEC most often occurs in premature infants while still hospitalized. The current situation is unusual because some of the infants had been discharged from the hospital on a feeding regimen that included SimplyThick and then developed symptoms of NEC while at home.

NEC is a life-threatening condition characterized by inflammation and death of intestinal tiss ue. Signs and symptoms of NEC include appearance of a bloated abdominal area, feeding intolerance, greenish-tinged (bile) vomiting and bloody stools.

SimplyThick is one brand of thickening agent available to medical centers and consumers. The product is sold in packets of individual servings and in 64-ounce dispenser bottles. The product can be purchased from distributors and local pharmacies throughout the United States. Images of the SimplyThick label and packaging can be viewed at: www.flickr.com/photos/fdaphotos/sets/72157626641899297/.

Health care professionals and patients are encouraged to report adverse events or side effects related to the use of this product to the FDA's MedWatch Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting Program by:
• Completing and submitting the adverse report online: www.fda.gov/MedWatch/report.htm
• Downloading the pre-addressed, postage-paid FDA Form 35003 at: www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/HowToReport/DownloadForms /default.htm (or calling 1-800-332-1088 to request the form), completing it and faxing it to 1-800-FDA-0178; or Mailing the completed form to MedWatch 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857.

For additional information on this investigation please call the FDA at 888-INFO-FDA or the KDHE Epidemiology Hotline at 877-427-7317.

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So, I normally just delete the emails about crib standards because my father-in-law built mine; it isn't a drop-side either. However,  I decided to read the one today from my health department. I'll just copy and paste the text from the email and highlight the important information:


The Consumer Product Safety Commission has added additional guidance material to their crib information center webpage   http://www.cpsc.gov/info/cribs/index.html .    For your convenience I have attached a copy. Our website has been updated to include the latest information.

It is important to note that Beginning June 28, 2011 all cribs manufactured and sold (including resale) must comply with the new standards. Child care facilities have until December 28, 2012 to phase out non-compliant cribs.  This is more than a “drop-side’ issue and it is unlikely that cribs currently in use comply with the new standards.  The attached material includes information for providers on how to obtain documentation that a crib in current use or one considered for purchase meets the new federal standards.

You can find the "attached material" mentioned above here. It's the pdf about New Federal Crib Standards.

Next Steps:
1. Determine if your current crib meets the new standards.
2. Decide if you want to buy a whole new crib if your current crib does not meet the new standards. You might decide that you would like to use a pack n play instead of a crib due to the cost of cribs.

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Yoplait is committed to making it easier for women to add more calcium to their diet every day with the newly reformulated Yoplait Original style yogurt.

Congrats to Karin for winning the prize!!!

Now with two times the amount of calcium of the leading yogurt, that’s 50 percent of the Daily Value in one convenient 6-ounce cup, Yoplait Original yogurt provides women with an easy and delicious way to get the calcium they need. Yoplait Original also contains 50 percent of the Daily Value of vitamin D, which helps with the absorption of calcium. Yoplait is committed to women’s health and is proud to offer a product that has even more of the calcium and vitamin D they need for strong, healthy bodies.

In an effort to further educate women about the importance of maintaining strong, healthy bones through an active lifestyle and a diet rich in calcium, Yoplait is partnering with TV host and celebrity mom Nancy O’Dell on a one million cup giveaway of Yoplait Original yogurt, beginning December 13th. Visit Yoplait on Facebook to sign up for your free cup and make a personal commitment to meeting your calcium needs each day. While you’re there, take a moment to enjoy daily calcium tips from Registered Dietitian Katherine Brooking and healthy lifestyle advice from Nancy O’Dell.

Yoplait Original Style yogurt is available in 4-cup packs and easy-to-store 8-cup fridge packs in 23 delicious flavors including Strawberry, French Vanilla, Harvest Peach, and Blackberry Pomegranate. 



My daughter loves Yoplait yogurt. She downed this cup in about a minute because she loves this yogurt so much! That's a fairly amazing feat for an almost 2-year-old!


If you would like to win this prize pack, leave a comment with your email address. This giveaway ends at 11:59 on March 27th. The winner will be announced on March 28th.

(The above information, coupon, prize pack, and giveaway were all provided by Yoplait through MyBlogSpark.)

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They have finally posted the date for the hearing on the new regulation changes:

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment,
Division of Health, Bureau of Child Care and Health Facilities,
will conduct a public hearing at 1 p.m. Tuesday,
May 17, in the Memorial Hall Auditorium, 120 S.W. 10th
Ave., second floor, Topeka, to consider the revocation of
family day care home regulations

Please try to attend the hearing if possible.  If you cannot attend the hearing, you can email (dtenney@kdheks.gov) or write a letter with your thoughts on these regulations. They are not finalized yet--providers have a chance to be heard at the hearing. If you would like something changed though, make sure to say how you would like it changed. The panel must take every comment into consideration, so let your voices be heard!

Information on comments:
The time period between publication of this notice and
the scheduled hearing serves as the required public comment
period of at least 60 days for the purpose of receiving
written public comments on the proposed amended
regulations. At any time during the public comment period
any interested parties may submit written comments
to Dorothy Tenney, KDHE, Child Care Licensing and
Registration Program, 1000 S.W. Jackson, Suite 200, Topeka,
66612-1274, by fax at (785) 296-0803, or by e-mail to
dtenney@kdheks.gov. During the hearing, all interested
parties will be given a reasonable opportunity to present
their views orally on the proposed new regulations as
well as an opportunity to submit their written comments.
In order to give each individual an opportunity to present
their views, it may be necessary for the hearing officer to
request that each presenter limit any oral presentation to
an appropriate time frame.



For now, this is the summary that is listed on the Kansas Register. (I like the more detailed PDF):

Summary of Regulations:
K.A.R. 28-4-93. Online information dissemination
system. Provides definitions of terms used throughout
the regulation; requires applicant or licensee to notify the
department if requesting that facility address and telephone
number be withheld from publication.
K.A.R. 28-4-113. Definitions. Provides definitions of
terms used throughout the day care and group day care
home regulations.
K.A.R. 28-4-114. Applicant; licensee. Describes application
process for license and applicant and licensee
requirements; addresses operation of more than one facility
and prohibits licensure concurrently for more than
one type of child care or child and adult care on same
premises; lists license capacity, counting a child not functioning
at developmental level, capacity not to be exceeded,
provision for emergency care, and additional
children on premises; requires appointment of substitute
for primary care provider; requires posting of temporary
permit or license and availability of current regulations;
addresses closure.
K.A.R. 28-4-114a. Initial and ongoing professional development.
Requires orientation for applicant and anyone
caring for children; describes health and safety training;
requires first aid and CPR; lists initial and annual
professional development requirements; requires documentation.
K.A.R. 28-4-115. Facility. Describes water and sewerage
systems requirements and drinking water for infants;
addresses general environmental requirements, fire
safety approval, fire inspector approval for use of basement
or second floor, and prohibits use of third floor;
requires refrigerator and storage of refrigerated medications
in locked box; addresses storage of hazardous items
and storage of guns and other weapons; requires designated
outdoor play area.
K.A.R. 28-4-115a. Supervision. Requires and describes
contents of a supervision plan; describes requirements for
general supervision of children, indoor and outdoor supervision,
and evening and overnight care.
K.A.R. 28-4-116. Daily care of children. Requires communication
with parents; addresses requirements for
daily schedule of activities; assisting child with personal
care, hand washing; prohibits smoking; lists requirements
for nutrition and food service; requires recordkeeping.
K.A.R. 28-4-116a. Napping and sleeping. Requires rest
period for each child; describes elements of safe sleep
practices, lists requirements for sleeping surfaces and
consumer warnings or recalls; addresses transition from
crib or playpen to other surface.
K.A.R. 28-4-120. Family day care home certificate of
registration. Revoked effective July 1, 2011.
K.A.R. 28-4-121. Required immunizations for children
under 16 years of age. Revoked effective July 1, 2011.
K.A.R. 28-4-428a. Education and training requirements.
Requires orientation for applicant and staff; describes
health and safety training, requires first aid and
CPR; lists education and annual in-service training
requirements; requires documentation.
K.A.R. 28-4-440. Infant and toddler programs. States
program requirements, including use of ground floor
only, separate units from those for older children; prohibits
floor furnaces; for infants, requires separate sleeping
area and crib or playpen for each infant; lists requirements
for cribs and playpens and consumer warnings or
recalls; lists elements of safe sleep policies and practices;
requires attendance to children when awake; requires
adult-size rocking chair for each unit and chairs, tables,
etc., for children not held for feeding; requires provision
of towels and washcloths or disposable products; addresses
cleaning of items that children may place in their
mouths; lists staff requirements; addresses program
requirements; lists food service requirements; lists
requirements for toileting; requires daily communication
with parents and guardians.

Economic Impact:

Cost to the agency: There is no additional cost to the
agency. Any costs will be absorbed in the current budget.
Cost to licensees: There is no cost for licensees pertaining
to the online information dissemination system.
For the professional development and training requirements
(K.A.R. 28-4-114a and K.A.R. 28-4-428a) a number
of current licensees and care providers, as part of their
own professional development, already meet these
requirements. For those who do not meet the requirements,
there are low-cost training opportunities through
resource and referral agencies, county health departments,
and other community partners. The proposed new
regulations allow current licensees and staff up to one
calendar year to complete the requirements.
K.A.R. 28-4-116a and K.A.R. 28-4-440 prohibit the use
of drop-side cribs in child care facilities after December
28, 2012. This prohibition is due to a recent change in
federal standards for the manufacture and sale of cribs,
which include a requirement that child care facilities
phase out the use of drop-side cribs by that date. The
purpose of the delayed compliance date is to provide adequate
time for the manufacture of complying cribs and
for facilities to obtain complying cribs. In Kansas, licensed
day care homes, group day care homes, and child care
centers with infants enrolled may use either cribs or playpens
for napping or sleeping infants. It is unknown how
many facilities currently have cribs that must be replaced
by December 28, 2012. For those facilities replacing noncompliant
cribs, the estimated cost per crib is $200-$500.
Child care facilities will continue to have the option to
use the less expensive playpens.
Costs to other governmental agencies or units: There is
no known additional cost.

As always, this is the information I have. If you have questions/comments, let me know. I'll do my best to respond.

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 First of all, this is just a bill. It may or may not be passed, so please do not PANIC. I would just like everyone to be aware of what is happening in KS in regards to child care.

I received an email today from my county office about two new bills that have been introduced into the House. This is the exact wording in the email I received:

HB 2111 was introduced Thursday and has been assigned to Health and Human Services. The bill proposes to reinstate registered family day care homes and repeal the other provisions of Lexie’s Law.  

Find the bill information here.

HB 2094 was introduced Wednesday and referred to Health and Human Services. The bill proposes an additional exemption to the requirement that children in child care facilities and schools have current immunizations. A parent or guardian would be permitted to decline immunizations for reasons o conscience or personal beliefs. Currently, a child may be exempted from immunizations based on a physicians statement concerning the health of the child or based on the religious beliefs of the parent/guardian. 

You can go here and find the bill.

Again, these are bills that have just been introduced.

I found an article on the repeal of Lexie's Law:

http://www.khi.org/news/2011/jan/27/legislator-calls-repeal-lexies-law/

Let me know in the comments what you think about these 2 proposed bills.

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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. 

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