Inspection · 2023-11-15

Any abuse or maltreatment of a child receiving child care or residing in the home, including the provider's children and any foster children, is prohibited. A group family day care home must prohibit and may not tolerate or in any manner condone an act of abuse or maltreatment by an employee, volunteer or any other person. An abused child or maltreated child means a child defined as an abused child or maltreated child pursuant to section 412 of the Social Services Law.

The Licensee must prepare a health care plan on forms furnished by the Office. Such plan must protect and promote the health of children. The health care plan must be on site, followed by all caregivers and available upon demand by a parent or the Office. In those instances in which the program will administer medications, the health care plan must also be approved by the program's health care consultant unless the only medications to be administered are:

The provider, assistant(s), and substitutes must each meet the following qualifications: be capable of providing, and agree to provide, safe and suitable care to children which is supportive of the children's physical, intellectual, emotional and social well-being;

A group family day care home must admit inspectors and other representatives of the Office onto the grounds and premises at any time during the hours of operation as documented with the Office on the application for group family day care. Such inspectors and representatives must be given free access to the building, the caregivers, employees and volunteers, the children and any program records.

The caregivers, employees, volunteers and all members of the household must be in good health and be of good character and habits.

Information relating to an individual child is confidential and cannot be disclosed without written parental permission to anyone other than the Office, its designees or other persons authorized by law.

The program must maintain on file at the group family day care home, available for inspection daily attendance records that are filled out at the time a child arrives and departs, and must include arrival and departure times;

Children cannot be left without competent supervision at any time. Competent supervision includes awareness of and responsibility for the ongoing activity of each child. It requires that all children be within a caregiver's range of vision except as provided in section 416.8(b) of this Part and that the caregiver be near enough to respond when redirection or intervention strategies are needed. Competent supervision must take into account the child's age, emotional, physical and cognitive development.

The provider must be the primary caregiver of children in a group family day care home.

The group family day care licensee must establish and follow a written plan for behavior management that is acceptable to the Office. This plan must include how the program will approach challenging behaviors, help children solve problems, and encourage acceptable behaviors.

The caregivers must use acceptable techniques and approaches to help children solve problems.

Discipline must promote positive self-esteem in children and guide children in such a way as to help each child develop self-control and assume responsibility for his or her actions through clear and consistent rules and limits appropriate to the ages and development of the children in care.

Corporal punishment is prohibited. For the purposes of this Part, the term corporal punishment means punishment inflicted directly on the body including, but not limited to, physical restraint, spanking, biting, shaking, slapping, twisting or squeezing; demanding excessive physical exercise, prolonged lack of movement or motion, or strenuous or bizarre postures; and compelling a child to eat or have in the child's mouth soap, hot spices, irritants or the like.