Child care provider updates: Archive

DHS has been informed of a scam letter being mailed to family child care providers licensed in Washington County. The letter alleges sexual abuse of an unidentified child at the child care and demands a payment or the sender will contact police. More information about the scam and what you should do if you receive such a letter is in an alert. (August 2017)

Several Minnesota counties are experiencing a measles outbreak. As a licensed family child care provider, you must follow licensing requirements relating to child immunization records. Please read the following documents that pertain to the outbreak and immunization laws, and follow the instructions contained in the message to licensed providers.

•  Message to family child care providers (PDF)
• Family child care licensing requirements re: immunizations
• A guide to Minnesota’s immunization law for child care providers
• Child care immunization form

To complement the June 2023 Outreach Connection webinar, we have included an Outreach Connection - June 2023 handout with links to more information about referenced resources. In addition, our partners from DHS Child Development Services have created a new CDS and Partner Resource document.

The purpose of this Alert is to highlight areas where the Division of Licensing has seen injury or harm to children and to offer suggestions on prevention.  The suggestions do not replace rule and statute requirements.  Please review this information (PDF) and take precautions, including improving current procedures, orientation, and training.  

Implementing these suggestions does not mitigate the license holder’s responsibility to ensure compliance with licensing rules and statutes.  If an incident occurs, failure to address the topics in this Alert may contribute to findings of maltreatment under the Reporting of Maltreatment of Minors Act (Minnesota Statutes, section 626.556).  Findings of maltreatment at a center may result in the disqualification of one or more individuals and fines against the license holder.

Centers must use the fillable form Child Care Center Serious Injury and Death Reporting Form (PDF) to report any serious injury or death of a child in care.

The PDF version (when opened in Internet Explorer) is the preferred version for centers to use since it will automatically create an email and attach the completed form once the submit button is clicked. If you are unable to open in Internet Explorer or you need to use the Word DOC version, you will have to manually attach the completed form to the email before sending. 

A serious injury is an injury that requires treatment by a physician or dentist. This means that if a child sees a physician or dentist for evaluation of an injury, but no treatment is given, the injury does not meet the definition of serious and does not need to be reported to DHS. Treatment does not include application of or recommendation to use nonprescription medication or diagnostic testing (such as x-rays).

For additional information on other child care center reporting requirements, please see Minnesota Rules, part 9503.0130.  The Child Care Center Serious Injury & Death Reporting Form is to be used for reporting serious injuries and deaths only.  Other types of information required to be reported to DHS under 9503.0130 can be done by submitting your center-specific form by email or fax, by calling the center’s assigned licensor or by calling the main Licensing Division number at 651-431-6500.

A new Family Child Care Orientation is now available for potential applicants.

The Department of Human Services (DHS), Licensing Division is pleased to announce that we have completed Annual Certification Reviews for a pilot group consisting of 18 certified centers.  The goal of the pilot was to practice conducting annual reviews with a small group of centers to be able to assess the process and functions of our systems and to learn how to best prepare all certified centers for annual reviews.   

As a result of our pilot, we would like to share information with all center operators about how to prepare for an annual review, what to expect during the annual review, and share some key takeaways from the pilot.

Annual Review Process

Certified centers will have an inspection each calendar year to determine compliance with standards in 245H. Annual reviews will be announced and coordinated between center operators and DHS. The review process will begin with a phone call to the center operator from a DHS licensor to verify and gather information useful to scheduling the onsite visit such as:

• Age group(s) served
• Number of enrolled children
• Days/months/hours of operation 
• Location of personnel files
• Dates of center closure, if applicable

Following the phone call, the licensor will send an email requesting staffing information and schedule the visit(s).

In 2019, for certified centers who onboarded into certification in 2018, licensors will provide center operators documentation showing the results of the first monitoring review. This report will not be a correction order and will not be posted on the public Licensing Information Lookup website.  Additionally, after the visit(s), licensors will schedule an exit interview with the center operator to provide technical assistance and discuss findings. 

Preparing for your Review 

Checklist 

Licensors will be using an electronic checklist during annual reviews to monitor compliance with the requirements found in Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 245H.   We have posted a copy of the information from that checklist on our Certified Child Care Centers webpage.  It is recommended that site directors review the items on the checklist in preparing for our visit.

Staff Records

Records can be reviewed at a central location or at each individual site.  The licensor will coordinate with center operators prior to the visit to arrange the review of staff records. 

In preparing documentation, be aware that licensors will be looking for both training and staff file information.  

• Staff file requirements in 245H.16 include staff person’s names, birth dates, addresses, and telephone numbers.
• 245H requires documentation of required trainings in the personnel record.  Licensors will need to see documentation of training, however the actual training certificates are not required IF the training is documented in a log/list.  This can be logged by training topic for all staff or logged for each staff person with multiple trainings. Training documentation needs to include the staff person’s name, date of the training, and length of the training. 

If substitutes are used, they should be included in your list of staff and documentation of their required trainings should be kept in the personnel records.

Helpful Tips and Hints

A couple suggestions that came from the pilot participants:

• Remind site directors and staff that licensors seek to partner with centers and staff to ensure safe environments for children.  Setting the tone for a positive interaction with licensors will help put staff at ease.
• Share the checklist with site directors so they are prepared for what licensors will be looking at/for when on site.

Mandated reporting suggestions:

• It is required that the staff are aware of their individual requirement to report. 
• Licensors will ask staff on site about mandated reporting.  A question that they might ask would be, “What would you do if you suspected a child was neglected or abused?”  
  • An appropriate answer would be, “I would report it to licensing, the police, and/or child protection services.”
  • An incorrect answer would be, “I would report it to my director.”  Mandated reporters cannot shift their responsibility of reporting to their supervisor or to anyone else at the center.

Clarifications and Helpful Information

Calendar year vs. school year

245H calls for specific documents to be reviewed each year and trainings to be completed each year.  We learned in the pilot that there could be confusion in the interpretation of “year” for programs who operate during the school year.  For the purposes of certification, each year means each calendar year and not each school year.

Centers are also required to conduct, at least quarterly, one evacuation drill and one shelter-in-place drill.  We will implement the quarterly system to be seasonal quarters.  Fall, winter, spring, and summer quarter will be as follows:

• Fall – September, October, and November
• Winter – December, January, and February
• Spring – March, April, and May
• Summer – June, July, and August

As a result of the pilot feedback, we are working on creating an optional form that centers can use to track these drills.  Centers can use their own documentation system as well.  During annual reviews, licensors will look for documentation of one evacuation drill (such as a fire drill) and one shelter-in-place drill (such as a tornado drill) conducted quarterly.  Drills need to be conducted during the center’s hours of operation and documentation of the drills needs to include the date and time the drill occurred.

Posting of contagious illness 

In 245H.13, it states that centers “must post or give notice to the parent or legal guardian of an exposed child the same day the program is notified of a child's contagious reportable disease.”  It was brought to our attention that this is difficult for some centers due to it being in conflict with district directions/requirements.  Until there is a law change, licensors will monitor for compliance with this requirement. 

Immunization reports access

In 245H.13, it states “by a child's date of attendance, the certified center must maintain or have access to a record detailing the child's current immunizations or applicable exemption.”  Licensors will monitor for compliance with this requirement by checking immunization records for a random sample of children in attendance.  This will be a small sample, but we will need to see the actual immunization record for a sample of children which will demonstrate a center’s overall compliance.  We will not be evaluating the immunization records for accuracy regarding the immunization information, but rather simply verifying that there is a record for each child in the sample.  

Allergy information 

245H.13, subdivision 4 contains information on requirements for preventing and responding to allergies.  If a child has a known allergy the center must:

• Maintain current information about the allergy.
• Ensure that each staff person is informed of and has documented training about each specific child’s allergy information
• Keep the child’s allergy information available at all times including onsite, field trips, transportation, and food allergy information where food is prepared and served.
• Allergy information is defined as “a description of the allergy, specific triggers, avoidance techniques, symptoms of an allergic reaction, and procedures for responding to an allergic reaction including medication, dosages, and doctor contact information.”

Medication 

245H.13 states that the center must document administration of medication that includes the “name and signature of the person who administered the medicine.” We will accept name and initials, but the form cannot have initials only.  If there is only space on the form for initials, there needs to be a key that indicates the name associated with the initials.

Make sure you are disposing of or returning any expired medication or medication for a child who is no longer in attendance. 

Certified License-Exempt Child Care Centers: 2019 Guidance Document

DHS is preparing to implement the enhanced background studies that will impact all licensed child care programs starting this fall. This also impacts all certified licensed-exempt centers. (Non-licensed providers participating in the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) are also impacted by these changes.) These new enhanced background studies are required by changes in federal law. For more information on the new study requirements, go to Minnesota child care provider background studies.  

The federal Office of Child Care has informed states that they are able to use certain child care block grant funds to help providers pay for the new enhanced background studies.

Accordingly, DHS will pay for the cost of the new background studies for existing providers and their staff/family members who already have a current background study when the new enhanced studies are rolled out. (Non-licensed providers participating in CCAP will also have their costs covered and will receive a separate letter from DHS.) 

• If you hire new staff or there are new household members after the roll-out date of the enhanced studies, those individuals will need the enhanced study and DHS funds will not cover the costs.   
• In the case of licensed family programs, when a minor who has had a name and date of birth study turns 18 years old, that person will need an enhanced study, and DHS funds will not cover the costs.
• When the new background studies are implemented, the cost for adults will be $49.10 ($40 for the study plus a fingerprinting fee of $9.10), and the cost for a name and date of birth study for minors residing in licensed family programs will be $20. The costs will apply to new staff and/or family members who are not covered by the DHS one-time funding, as described above.
• For most people, the new enhanced background studies will be good for five years before they have to be repeated and updated, and DHS one-time funding will not cover the cost of that updated study.  As DHS rolls out the new studies later this fall, staff will host stakeholder sessions and online webinars, finalize information on the DHS website and provide more information about when a new study might be required in the future.  

A February 2017 letter to authorized agent email addresses informed license holders about changes in the federal Child Care Development Block Grant program and changes affecting child care centers in Minnesota. A video explains those same changes.

The Minnesota Legislature made a number of changes in 2017 for licensed child care centers. For further information, see A Guidance Document for Licensed Child Care Centers (PDF).

For more information about certification and the new requirements set forth in Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 245H, please review this guidance document. The purpose of the guidance document is to share key information about certification, including any specific action a center will need to take in order to comply with the new certification requirements.

DHS sent a mailing to all license-exempt centers that participate in the CCAP on November 1, 2017 regarding next steps for certification. This mailing contained a letter with additional information about the certification process as well as program specific information. The intent of this mailing is to learn more about the license-exempt centers that are planning to become certified and ensuring DHS has accurate information about each of these centers.

A February 2017 letter to authorized agent email addresses informed license holders about changes in the federal Child Care Development Block Grant program and changes affecting child care centers in Minnesota. A video explains those same changes.

Changes for certified license-exempt child care center providers - effective Sept. 30, 2019

• Due process rights: Certified centers that are denied certification may request reconsideration. Those that lose certification, including due to a finding of maltreatment or revocation of child care assistance payment authorization, may request reconsideration.
• Risk reduction plan: Certified centers must create a basic plan to minimize risks focusing on traffic, water, and electrical hazards. 
• Supervision of children: Certified centers must follow basic supervision requirements. Staff may allow for variation based upon the ages and needs of the children and must intervene when necessary to ensure a child’s safety.
• Emergency plan: Certified centers must include accommodations for infants and toddlers in their emergency plan if their program serves those ages.
• Behavior guidance: Certified centers must ensure staff and volunteers use positive behavior guidance and prohibit staff from engaging in behavior that may harm children. 
• Written policies: Certified centers must maintain written health and safety policies and reporting abuse and neglect policies.
• Fire marshal inspection options: Certified centers that need a fire inspection will be required to pay $50 to the state fire marshal for the inspection.
• Training requirements: The certified center director, all staff, substitutes and unsupervised volunteers must receive Pediatric First Aid and CPR, Child Development, Orientation and In-Service training initially and ongoing. If applicable, these individuals must also complete Sudden Unexpected Infant Death and Abusive Head Trauma Prevention training. There is no minimum number of hours required for substitutes or unsupervised volunteers. These changes bring Minnesota into compliance with the federal Child Care Development Block Grant Reauthorization Act of 2014.
• Renewal deadlines: All training and reviews of policies are moved from annual to calendar year.