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Riverside County Family Child Care Association>
GENERAL HEALTH AND SAFETY INFORMATION
March 11, 2010
Care and Supervision
It is always a good time to discuss the seriousness of children being left unattended in vehicles; a lack of supervision leading to injury on playgrounds; bus drivers driving while under the influence; children wandering away from facilities, undetected; and unacceptable methods of child guidance. These are very serious incidents that are indicative of system failures.
The Legislature has established a zero tolerance policy for lack of care and supervision resulting in a child being left unattended or a child wandering away from a facility. Licensees are required to adhere to all licensing requirements which include, but are not limited to, providing appropriate care and supervision to all children in care, ensuring staff and volunteers do everything they can to prevent children from wandering away from the facility, and minimizing the risk of harm to children using positive methods of child guidance.
Staff are required to supervise indoor and outdoor play areas so that children’s safety can be easily monitored and ensured. This involves the establishment and implementation of proactive plans, strategies and standards of conduct which ensure that no child will be left alone or unsupervised. Such plans should be developed anticipating potential events and environments which could pose harm to children. Facility plans should also include specific actions and mechanisms for communication and parallel backups to minimize any chance for breakdowns.
The following are examples of Best Practices that could be put in place as part of a sound child protection system: ? When a facility provides transportation to and from a child’s home, the child care facility, public or private school, or a field trip/outing, there should be written consent and instructions from the child’s parents/authorized representatives
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regarding the times and locations for pick-up and delivery of the child. The instructions should be kept up-to-date with changing school schedules, different school tracks, minimum days, etc. ? A driver should have in the vehicle emergency information on each child A driver and assistant, independent of each other, should take attendance as children enter and exit the vehicle so that all children are accounted for at all times. A supervisor should review transportation attendance sheets on a regular basis. The teacher and teacher’s assistant should, aloud, count heads and agree that all children are accounted for prior to transitioning to a new area, whether it is at the facility, or another building offsite Licensees should establish policies that ensure outdoor play areas are enclosed by fencing which is at least four feet high, and staff are assigned to stay close so that children can be seen at all times and prevented from wandering off or getting into unsafe areas. Licensees should have a written, rehearsed plan in place that details the course of action when a child is missing. This should include identifying designated personnel positions assigned to:
? conduct a search
? supervise children while the search is being conducted
? contact local law enforcement by calling 911 and
? Notifying the missing child’s parents or authorized representatives of the situation and the steps being taken to locate their child Licensees should have systems in place to assess employees’ continuing fitness and suitability for their positions.
The above list is not exhaustive and represents examples of safety systems licensees may implement. There are many other strategies that may be effective. Each licensee must evaluate his/her own needs and risks and adopt appropriate strategies that meet licensing requirements.
Always remember that nothing takes the place of visual observation. The requirement for CCCs (Title 22 regulation, Section 101229) to include visual observation in their supervision responsibilities, means the facility is not just maintaining the staffing ratio required by regulations, but is also in the same area or play yard with the children.
We do not want to prevent children from being able to play freely in a playhouse or playground structure. The intent is to allow children to play freely while being continually observed. This can be accomplished if staff are physically near, readily available, continually panning and moving about the area, aware of the ongoing activity of each child, and able to intervene when needed.
This is an important responsibility in order to prevent children from leaving the facility due to lack of visual observation and to prevent injuries, accidents and other health and
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safety risks from occurring. Visual observation is not met by talking on a cell phone or having general/social conversations with another staff person, as this draws a staff person’s attention to something other than supervising children.
Mandated Abuse Reporting
Licensees are also required to comply with licensing regulations that mandate their use of positive methods of child guidance and prohibit them from engaging in corporal or unusual punishment, or emotional or physical abuse.
Licensees, staff and volunteers are Mandated Reporters who are legally obligated to report any known or suspected child abuse or neglect to the child protection agency for their jurisdiction and the local child care licensing regional office. This obligation includes known or suspected abuse or neglect that occurs when a child is in the care of the licensee, as well as when occurring outside the program Licensees may find it useful to provide staff and volunteers with an instruction sheet about child abuse reporting that contains a summary of the state child abuse reporting statute. Specific state laws governing mandated reporting can be found at: http://www.childwelfare.gov/systemwide/laws_policies/state/.
California state law also requires licensees to inform individuals, prior to employment, of the mandated reporting laws. The Department provides a form for this purpose: LIC 9108, Statement Acknowledging Requirement to Report Child Abuse.
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