Inspection · 2023-08-21

Any abuse or maltreatment of a child is prohibited. A day care center must prohibit and may not tolerate or in any manner condone an act of abuse or maltreatment by an staff, 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.

In accordance with the provisions of Sections 413 and 415 of the Social Services Law, child care center staff must immediately report any suspected incidents of child abuse or maltreatment concerning a child receiving child care to the Statewide Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment, or cause such a report to be made, when such staff have reasonable cause to suspect that a child coming before them in their capacity as child care center workers is an abused or maltreated child. This must be done in the following manner:

The written medical statement from the health care provider must also state whether the child is a child with special health care needs and, if so, what special provisions, if any, will be necessary in order for the child to participate in child day care. When the written statement from the health care provider advises the day care program that the child being enrolled is a child with special health care needs, the day care program must work together with the parent and the child's health care provider to develop a reasonable health care plan for the child while the child is in the child day care program. The health care plan for the child must also address how the day care program will obtain or develop any additional competencies that the staff will need to have in order to carry out the health care plan for the child.

Child day care centers must review and evaluate the backgrounds of all applicants for staff and volunteer positions. All applicants whose backgrounds must be checked are required to provide the following: a sworn statement by the applicant indicating whether, to the best of the applicant's knowledge, such applicant has ever been convicted of a misdemeanor or felony in New York State or any other jurisdiction and fingerprint images as required to comply with the requirements of 413.4 of this Title;

Child day care centers must review and evaluate the backgrounds of all applicants for staff and volunteer positions. All applicants whose backgrounds must be checked are required to provide the following: The information necessary to complete the criminal history review and background clearance requirements as outlined in this Part. This information must be submitted to the Office on forms provided by the Office.

The program must immediately notify the parent and Office upon learning of the following events involving a child which occurred while the child was in care at the program or was being transported by the program: serious incident,

The program must maintain on file at the child day care center, available for inspection by the Office or its designees at any time, the following records in a current and accurate manner: personnel information including a list of all staff with job assignments and schedules; each staff and volunteer's final and, if applicable, provisional criminal history review and background check approval letter(s); staff resumes; medical statements; acceptable references and other information required by section 418-1.13 of this Subpart;

The following items must be used and stored in such a manner that they are not accessible to children: handbags, backpacks or briefcases belonging to adults; plastic bags; and toys and objects small enough for young children to swallow.

The child day care center must employ staff who will promote the physical, intellectual, social, cultural and emotional well-being of the children.

Day care centers that have been approved to operate a school-age children component in their day care center may only mix school age children with pre-school children at the very beginning of the day and the very end of the day. School age children may never be mixed with pre-school children for the entire period of time they are in care at the center.

A written assessment of the child's developmental readiness is required to be kept on file.

There must be a director, group teacher or assistant teacher supervising all applicants, volunteers and persons in the process of approval.

The use of any type of personal electronic media device for social or entertainment purposes, including but not limited to, listening to music on headphones, playing screen games, surfing the internet, sending e-mails, or making personal calls while supervising children is prohibited. The use of mobile phones is permitted as necessary to promote the children's safety and ensuring the orderly operation of the program.

The program must establish and follow a written plan for behavior management that is acceptable to the office. This plan must include how the staff will approach challenging behaviors, help children solve problems and encourage acceptable behaviors.

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