The Department is removing the term ''designated responsible person'' and is replacing it with ''designated staff person who is responsible for compliance'' in this final-form rulemaking. (c)Classes may be organized to have separate or mixed age groupings. Further, child abuse reporting training is mandated by the CPSL and is not an annual requirement under either the CPSL or these regulations. Also, the Department is changing all references to a certificate of registration to certificate of compliance in this final-form rulemaking to clarify that the requirements are aligned with the requirements for child care centers and group child care homes. 3270.11(c) and (d)/3280.11(c) and (d)/3290.11(e) and (f)Application for and issuance of a certificate of compliance; and 3270.31(f),(g) and (h)/3280.31(f), (g) and (h)/3290.31(g), (h ) and (j)Age and training. Wall and floor coverings and furniture shall be of such type and quality as will assure safe and sanitary conditions. The provisions of this 53.41 adopted June 11, 1968, effective June 26, 1969; amended October 22, 1976, effective October 23, 1976, 6 Pa.B. The Department also acknowledges the request for assistance with costs and notes that operators that wish to provide higher quality child care through the Keystone STARS program may be eligible for assistance with costs. The commentator also noted that such staff and operators with their own children and grandchildren are ineligible for participation in the Department's subsidized child care program. The Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and pediatricians requested that the Department consider additional specificity regarding providers' responsibilities in caring for children and excluding children with symptoms of disease. If a preschool needs a license, school owners must comply with state law, submit an application and be approved before operating the preschool. IRRC also requests clarification on how the Department will implement the effective date for the completion of CCDBG-required professional development for current staff. However, the Department declines making changes because the current staff:child ratio appears to be adequate based on the Department's experience. For the purpose of this final-form rulemaking, ''certified'' refers to a child care center, a group child care home or a family child care home that has been granted a certificate of compliance by the Department. 13-1327 (b). On Feb. 10, 2022, the Department of Education submitted final-form regulation #6-349 to the House and Senate Education Committees and the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC). If an operator uses a video camera to see the children but can still hear, direct and assess the children, depending on how the rooms are configured, the operator may not need a video camera with audio capabilities. In addition, this final-form rulemaking, as it concerns monitoring means and the provision of 24-hour care, will impact the family child care home community. Next, the Department changed the term ''day care'' to ''child care'' throughout all three chapters of this final-form rulemaking except for instances referencing another agency, program office, title or other outside entity. The requirement for a monitoring device does not implicate privacy concerns because the purposes and uses of such a device is for the purpose of assisting the caregiver with supervision only and not to record. Full copies of all regulations are available online on the Department's web site at https://www.dhs.pa.gov/providers/Child-Care/Pages/Child-Care-Regulations.aspx and on the Pennsylvania Code's web site at https://www.pacodeandbulletin.gov/Display/pacode?file=/secure/pacode/data/055/articleVDI_toc.html&d=. 3270.11(g), (h) and (i)/3280.11(h), (i) and (j)/3290.11(i), (k) and (l)Application for and issuance of a certificate of compliance, and 3270.24(d)/3280.23(d)/3290.21(d)Departmental access. The Department acknowledges that providing care for more than 16 hours, regardless of whether those hours are consecutive, is a challenge for an operator. Web 3270.3. The Department is maintaining the wording in this final-form rulemaking. These requirements help ensure your child is healthy and safe in a child care program. The commentators noting disagreement primarily did so over financial concerns and concerns over the difficulty with securing additional staff. Most commentators agreed with the provision, although several commentators disagreed. This resource identifies the child care licensing language that impacts screen time in child care settings. (Be sure to factor in any security deposits, and insurance policies you may need to purchase, as well as the transportation expenses to get to and from the location each day.). The provisions of this 53.23 amended under the Private Academic Schools Act (24 P. S. 67016721). As such, the Department removed the registration provisions for family child care homes from Chapter 3290. The provisions of this Chapter 53 issued under the act of June 25, 1947 (P. L. 951, No. At this time, the Department recognizes that child care providers are experiencing operational and financial hardships during the COVID-19 pandemic. WebNo more than 12 preschoolers in a group or class. For these reasons, the Department will not adopt them in this final-form rulemaking. The Department determines that this final-form rulemaking provides essential protections to the health and safety of children in care by ensuring that family child care home operators and staff who are providing 24-hour care are always alert and sufficiently rested. The Pennsylvania Code website reflects the Pennsylvania Code Basic Education CircularsA Basic Education Circular (BEC) provides the Department of Education's guidance on the implementation of law, regulation and policy. 2665; reserved August 26, 1988, effective August 27, 1988, 18 Pa.B. The suggestions were neither a part of the proposed rulemaking nor are they CCDBG requirements, and so the Department will not add them here. ; 24 P.S. The Department concurs with the observations of the IRRC and other commentators regarding the calculation of professional development costs in the proposed rulemaking. Notably, the overwhelming majority of comments were with respect to regulations that are shared commonly across the three chapters. Provisional clearances are available for non-resident volunteers who may serve as volunteers within the Commonwealth for up to a total of 30 days in one calendar year provided that the volunteer is in compliance with the clearance standards of the jurisdiction where the volunteer is domiciled and provides documentation of this compliance to the person responsible for selection of volunteers. (b)The Secretary of the Department shall submit this order and Annex A to the Office of General Counsel and the Office of Attorney General for approval as to legality and form as required by law. [emailprotected]. Pennsylvanias Promise for Children, known as PA Promise, is a campaign to help families make good choices about their childs early learning and choose quality early learning programs that are right for their family. A commentator also requested that the Department clarify how the regulation impacts transportation, supplies and medications. The provisions of this 53.31 amended under the Private Academic Schools Act (24 P. S. 67016721). Of that number, 43% of family child care home operators indicated they would use a baby monitor, 28% would use a video camera and 5% would use a mirror. 3805. The Department, however, may address the suggestion during training or technical assistance by advising child care providers that they must emphasize the parents' responsibility to review the regulations and how to access them electronically. The Private Licensed Schools Act, Act 174 of 1986, created the State Board of Licensed Schools with the authority to license and regulate private career and trade schools. One other commentator disagreed with the increased requirement and expressed that the Commonwealth should reimburse these extra costs by at least 50%. All facility persons at all child care facilities are mandated reporters. The Department agrees with the commentators that it is not prudent, in all instances, to require that children be present during the drills because the types of emergencies vary and it could be unnecessarily disruptive for the children. The concern that the subsidy reimbursement rate may not rise to cover the additional costs for meeting the increased professional development requirement is outside the scope of this final-form rulemaking, but the Department's program for child care operators that receive a subsidy to serve low-income children will address subsidy reimbursement rates at a separate time, as stated previously in this Preamble. Family child care homes are now certified like other child care providers. Please note that that sharp increase in the number of applicants for these clearances and background checks has slowed the processing time. The Department's final-form rulemaking requires monitoring assistance when an operator cannot meet the supervision requirements in 3290.4 and 3290.113(a), which includes the ability to see, hear, direct and assess the children at all times, because of restroom breaks or preparing meals or snacks. Because of these differences of facility staffing and layout, the Department cannot prescribe required locations for all children in care at all child care facilities throughout the Commonwealth. There shall be at least one flush toilet and one washbowl for every 15 children. The Department will not consider grandfathering in any operators that began operating after the effective date of the 2008 regulatory revisions. The Department is making significant changes to this section to address the concerns of the commentators and the IRRC. The Department, however, is retaining the requirement for annual emergency drills in paragraph (6). As well, the allowance of a 10-day inspection window would conflict with the CCDBG requirement that the annual inspection be unannounced. The source of the wage data in formulating the estimate is the Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) Center for Workforce Information & Analysis, found on its web site at http://www.workstats.dli.pa.gov/Products/Occupational%20Wages/Pages/default.aspx#.Vz8JtvkrLRa. The following is a summary of the comments received and the Department's response to those comments. The rationale of this final-form rulemaking is to permit family child care operators the option to utilize a monitoring means to address potential lapses in supervision inherent to family child care homes. (5) An enrichment program. Finally, this final-form rulemaking reflects the requirements under section 1016(c) of the act, which requires child care facilities to maintain an operable fire detection system, test the system every 30 days and maintain written documentation of the testing of fire detection systems in the facility's fire drill logs. Tax Guide for Churches Since family child care homes may not offer the care daily throughout the year because of holidays and other scheduling arrangements, the Department determines that, on average, family child care homes offer the care 180 days annually. The Commonwealth is not empowered to approve the faculty or staff of any registered, nonlicensed religious school. Next, the topics described in 3270.31(f), 3280.31(f) and 3290.31(g) are clear, acceptable and sufficiently broad to encompass a broad array of topics related to health and safety, as well as early childhood development. Web20 Erford Road Suite 302 Lemoyne, PA 17043 Phone: (717) 657-9000 Fax: (717) 657-0959 Toll Free: (888) 296-1917 www.pacca.org. How a Year Without Roe Shifted American Views on Abortion To that end, the Department continues to work closely with the Department of Health regarding guidance and any updated regulation changes the Department of Health issues for child care providers who may be serving children with symptoms of COVID-19. The portions of the child protection statutes particularly applicable to churches are summarized below, with significant updates noted. Also included is a summary of IRRC's comments and the Department's responses to those comments. As mentioned previously, the Department understands that the requirement for a monitoring means may increase costs but notes that this final-form rulemaking strikes an appropriate balance between the added protection to the health and safety of children in care and any added costs to ensure supervision. The intent of the legislation is to protect student records, facilitate the investigation of complaints, provide for enforcement action, and facilitate the collection of statistical data on private licensed schools. Characteristics CERTIFICATION Regarding regulatory alternatives, the Department considered the regulatory alternative of requiring the operator to have an additional staff person to ensure supervision. The request for the Department to provide an Excel spreadsheet to operators for ease of tracking staff's progress in taking the required professional development, the Department may address the concerns through training or technical assistance so that providers can create forms that best meet their needs and preferences. Pennsylvania Bulletin full text database. Five commentators commented on this provision and they all agreed with the proposed changes clarifying the requirements for mandatory child abuse reporting. A few commentators disagreed with the requirement, with most expressing concern over costs. IRRC also directs the Department to provide more specificity in the final-form regulation or to explain how it plans to address the regulated community's concerns regarding these requirements. The ELC agreed with the Department's revised calculation methods. Religious Educational Facilities October 29, 2013 - PA General Minor Employees IRRC also inquired whether the costs for an additional caregiver were considered and whether the costs for an additional caregiver can be included in the calculations for the cost of implementation of the regulation. Children are directly impacted by this final-form rulemaking. Another commentator advised that it performs monthly fire drills and lock-down drills within the confines of the school property and that they are also subject to a School Safety Plan. As such, these comments are outside the scope of this final-form rulemaking. Sample policies are also available on this site. 9858c(c)(2)(G) and (K)(i)(II)(bb)) to ensure that the prescribed health and safety standards are being met. Reports may be made electronically at http://www.compass.state.pa.us/cwis/public/home or by calling 1-800-932-0313. However, at this time, the Department declines adding these additional topics because this final-form rulemaking parallels requirements from the CCDBG and the Department needs to conduct additional research and seek input from providers and stakeholders regarding how to best implement additional topics. IRRC also requested the Department review its calculations for determining the costs of the increased professional development requirements. There are important differences that impact the health and safety of children such that there is regulatory justification for different requirements among the three chapters. 22 Pa. Code Chapter 53. Nursery Schools And Kindergartens As currently required, an applicant must complete orientation training and provide documentation of its completion as a part of the application process in order to receive a certificate of compliance. 3805. Other commentators agreed with aligning the family child care home requirements with the group child care home and child care center requirements so that all facilities throughout this Commonwealth are subject to the same regulatory requirements and are certified.
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