390-a. Standards and training for child day care. 1. All office of children and family services and municipal staff employed to accept registrations, issue licenses or conduct inspections of child day care homes, programs or facilities, subject to the amounts appropriated therefor, shall receive training in at least the following: regulations promulgated by the office of children and family services pursuant to section three hundred ninety of this title; child abuse prevention and identification; safety and security procedures in child day care settings; the principles of childhood development, and the laws, regulations and procedures governing the protection of children from abuse or maltreatment.
2. No license or registration shall be issued to a family day care home, group family day care home, school age child care program or child day care center and no such registration or license shall be renewed until it can be demonstrated by the employer or licensing agency that there is a procedure developed and implemented, in accordance with section three hundred ninety-b of this title and pursuant to regulations of the office of children and family services, to:
(a) review and evaluate the backgrounds of and information supplied by any person applying to be a child day care center or school-age child care program employee or volunteer or group family day care assistant, a provider of family day care or group family day care, or a director of a child day care center, head start day care center or school-age child care program. Such procedures shall include but not be limited to the following requirements: that the applicant set forth his or her employment history, provide personal and employment references; submit such information as is required for screening with the statewide central register of child abuse and maltreatment in accordance with the provisions of section four hundred twenty-four-a of this article; sign a sworn statement indicating whether, to the best of his or her knowledge, he or she has ever been convicted of a crime in this state or any other jurisdiction; and provide his or her fingerprints for submission to the division of criminal justice services in accordance with the provisions of section three hundred ninety-b of this title;
(b) establish relevant minimal experiential and educational qualifications for employees and directors of child day care centers or head start day care center programs;
(c) assure adequate and appropriate supervision of employees and volunteers of group family day care homes, family day care homes, child day care centers and school-age child care programs; and
(d) demonstrate, in the case of child day care centers, group family day care homes, family day care homes and school-age child care programs the existence of specific procedures which will assure the safety of a child who is reported to the state central register of child abuse and maltreatment as well as other children provided care by such homes, centers or programs, immediately upon notification that a report has been made with respect to a child named in such report while the child was in attendance at such homes, centers or programs.
(e) establish necessary rules to provide for uniform visitor control procedures, including visitor identification.
3. (a) The office of children and family services shall promulgate regulations requiring operators, program directors, employees and assistants of family day care homes, group family day care homes, school-age child care programs and child day care centers to receive thirty hours of training every two years; provided, however, that fifteen hours of such training must be received within the first six months of the initial licensure, registration or employment. Such training requirements shall also apply to any volunteer in such day care homes, programs or centers who has the potential for regular and substantial contact with children. The thirty hours of training required during the first biennial cycle after initial licensure or registration shall include training received while an application for licensure or registration pursuant to section three hundred ninety of this title is pending. The office of children and family services may provide this training through purchase of services.
(b) The training required in paragraph (a) of this subdivision shall address the following topics:
(i) principles of childhood development, focusing on the developmental stages of the age groups for which the program provides care;
(ii) nutrition and health needs of infants and children;
(iii) child day care program development;
(iv) safety and security procedures;
(v) business record maintenance and management;
(vi) child abuse and maltreatment identification and prevention;
(vii) statutes and regulations pertaining to child day care;
(viii) statutes and regulations pertaining to child abuse and maltreatment; and
(ix) for operators, program directors, employees and assistants of family day care homes, group family day care homes and child day care centers, education and information on the identification, diagnosis and prevention of shaken baby syndrome.
(c) For the thirty hours of biennial training required after the initial period of licensure or registration, each provider who can demonstrate basic competency shall determine in which of the specified topics he or she needs further study, based on the provider's experience and the needs of the children in the provider's care.
(d) Family day care home and group family day care home operators shall obtain training pertaining to protection of the health and safety of children, as required by regulation, prior to the issuance of a license or registration by the office of children and family services.
(e) Upon request by the office of children and family services, the child day care applicant or provider shall submit documentation demonstrating compliance with the training requirements of this section.
4. No license or registration shall be issued to a family day care home or group family day care home and no such registration shall be renewed if barriers, as defined in paragraph (d) of subdivision one of section three hundred ninety-d of this title, are not present around any swimming pool or body of water, as defined in paragraphs (b) and (c) of subdivision one of section three hundred ninety-d of this title, located on its grounds, pursuant to section three hundred ninety-d of this title.
5. a. The site provider of a family day care home or group family day care home shall provide that at least one employee who holds a valid certification in a course of study in first aid knowledge and skills and cardiopulmonary resuscitation, with an emphasis on providing that aid to children, as approved by the commissioner of the office of children and family services, be on premises during the operating hours of such family day care home or group family day care home.
b. The site supervisor of a school-age child care program shall provide that at least one employee who holds a valid certification in a course of study in first aid knowledge and skills and cardiopulmonary resuscitation, with an emphasis on providing that aid to children, as approved by the commissioner of the office of children and family services, be on premises during the operating hours of such school-age child care program.
c. The director of a child day care center shall provide that at least one employee who holds a valid certification in a course of study in first aid knowledge and skills and cardiopulmonary resuscitation, with an emphasis on providing that aid to children, as approved by the commissioner of the office of children and family services, be on premises during the operating hours of such child day care center.
Last modified: February 3, 2019