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Child Care Updates - January 2005

Happy New Year! Hope you all enjoyed a happy, healthy holiday season. This is the first Update for 2005 and begins the twelfth year of our efforts to keep the child care community informed about licensing programs and services. The Updates continue to be an important method for sharing information. We appreciate your support in sharing these Updates with those in your organization and others interested in child care issues.

TOPIC INDEX

Those of you who receive these Updates via email can find the topic of your choice in each Update without having to scroll down. Just put your cursor over the blue highlighted subject heading that you wish to review, hold down the control and shift buttons at the same time, and you will be taken to that area of the Update. Below is the Topic Index:

GOVERNOR SCHWARZENEGGER APPOINTS NEW CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES DIRECTOR

Dennis Boyle is our new Director of the California Department of Social Services (CDSS). Mr. Boyle is a graduate of California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo, and earned a certificate in Total Quality Management from the University of California, Riverside. He has more than 30 years of experience in social services. He has served as Director of the Riverside County Department of Public Social Services for the past nine years. In that capacity, he oversaw all social service programs for the county's 1.6 million residents with a staff of nearly 3,000 and a budget of approximately $500 million. Governor Schwarzenegger states "Dennis is an individual with not only the experience, but also the compassion necessary to effectively serve the most vulnerable residents of our state." Dennis shares the Governor's commitment to protecting California's children, strengthening our families and encouraging every individual to become independent. Please join us in welcoming Dennis to his new position!

NEW DEPUTY DIRECTOR FOR THE COMMUNITY CARE LICENSING DIVISION

"Happy New Year! I'm Jo Frederick, recently appointed as the new Deputy Director of the Community Care Licensing Division (CCLD). I am pleased to be working with such a dedicated and caring group, one that strives on a daily basis to build capacity, provide adequate resources, and help the Division oversee the care and safety of our most vulnerable resource-our children. I thought you might like to know a bit about my background too. I have over 25 years of senior level experience in human services, most recently as the Department's Deputy Director of Legislation, where I regularly worked on matters directly related to community care. I've worked in a variety of other legislative and policy areas as well; in my earlier days in a community based setting and later as Chief or Principal Consultant to Legislative Committees in both the California Senate and Assembly. I look forward to our collaboration in promoting the health and safety of all children in licensed child care in California."

LICENSING MANAGEMENT CHANGES

We are pleased to announce the appointment of Colleen Young to the Regional Manager (RM) position in the Central Coast Area Child Care Regional Office in Santa Barbara. Colleen has been with the Licensing Program for a number of years, most recently as a supervisor in the Senior Care Licensing Program in the Central Coast Office. Myron Taylor, former RM for this office has transferred to San Diego to be RM of the Senior Care Licensing Office there.

CHILD CARE WEBSITE 

We are very excited that the Child Care Program is developing a new website for child care licensing. The new website will provide license applicants, licensees and parents with information regarding the orientation and application process, orientation registration and schedules, licensing requirements, how to become a licensed Family Child Care Home (FCCH) provider, easy access to licensing forms, information regarding financial assistance, training and educational resources, child health and safety, filing facility complaints, and more. Eventually, it will include an online orientation for FCCHs. The new website will be a significant undertaking and will be developed in phases. We hope to have the first phase up and running sometime in January, 2005, so keep an eye out for it. The next Update will be in April and we will bring you up-to-date on this project at that time.

CHAPTERED LEGISLATION

AB 72 (Bates), Chapter 358, Statutes of 2004 is effective January 1, 2005. This bill requires Resource and Referral (R&R) Agencies to remove from their referral lists any child care facility whose license has been suspended (issued a Temporary Suspension Order (TSO)), or has been revoked or placed on probation. The R&R Agencies are required to notify Alternative Payment Programs (APP) of any of the actions against a child care facility's license. APPs are required to discontinue payment when a facility license is TSO'd or revoked and are required to notify parents when a facility is placed on probation. For probationary facilities, parents may continue with the same provider or move their child to a different facility.

AB 72 requires the Department to notify the local R&R, within specific timeframes, when a license is TSO'd, revoked, or placed on probation; when a complaint of physical or sexual abuse has been substantiated; disposition of any of the above occurrences; and when a license has been issued or denied.

AB 72 also requires FCCH licensees to post their license in a prominent place in the facility at any time children are in care.

AB 1240 (Mullin), Chapter 653, Statutes of 2004 is an urgency bill and is effective immediately. This bill increases the civil penalty (CP) for allowing an individual, who does not have a criminal record clearance or exemption, to work or reside in a licensed facility. The existing immediate $100 CP has been increased to an immediate and ongoing $100 per day CP for a maximum of five days for the first violation and a maximum of 30 days for subsequent violations.

AB 1240 also permits the transfer of criminal record clearance and exemption information between contracting county licensing offices and between contracting counties and state licensing offices, as long as the clearance is for the same facility type.

AB 1697 (Pavley), Chapter 225, Statutes of 2003 is effective January 1, 2005. The amendments to the Vehicle Code apply to parents, legal guardians, and any driver transporting a child in a motor vehicle, including child care providers, unless the parent or legal guardian is also present in the car. Children under the age of six who weigh less than 60 pounds must ride in the rear seat of a motor vehicle in an appropriate child passenger restraint system, except under certain circumstances. Additionally, a child under the age of one, or weighing less than 20 pounds, or riding in a rear facing child passenger restraint system may not ride in the front seat of a motor vehicle with an active passenger air bag.

SB 1104 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review), Chapter 229, Statute of 2004 was urgency legislation and became effective August 16, 2004. This bill required the Department to increase existing licensing fees and charge new fees for the purpose of financing licensing activities.

SB 1313 (Kuehl), Chapter 842, Statutes of 2004 is effective January 1, 2005. This bill amends the Penal Code to implement recommendations made by the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act (CANRA) Task Force. The CANRA Task Force included 16 various State and County department members and stakeholders to correct defects in the Child Abuse Central Index (CACI) reporting process by improving and streamlining procedures.

For implementation details related to any of the above legislation, please see the 2004 Chaptered Legislation, attached.

GLUCAGON ADMINISTRATION

Glucagon is an emergency intervention injected into a child diagnosed with diabetes in the event of a severely low blood sugar level resulting in disorientation, seizures, convulsions, or unconsciousness. Without this emergency intervention, a diabetic child could sustain brain damage or die; therefore, it is important to know when this intervention is necessary. Licensees must request an exception from the local RO for each child accepted into care who may require this emergency intervention. For further information, contact your local RO.

CHILD CARE FOOD PROGRAM ROUNDTABLE

The Child Care Food Program Roundtable is dedicated to improving the health and well-being of our nation's children. Their goal is to ensure that every child:

• Has access to sufficient nutritious foods;
• Receives consistent, positive messages by caregivers knowledgeable in good nutrition practices;
• Has a nurturing and supportive environment that provides for an enjoyable mealtime experience;
• Has a variety of healthy foods that reflect cultural and family values and allow for individual choices

We encourage you to visit their website at: www.ccfproundtable.org .

FORMS

CDSS warehouse is no longer providing copies of the licensing forms. Licensees are encouraged to download forms from the Internet at www.ccld.ca.gov . Licensees with no direct access to the Internet can obtain a master copy of the forms from their local licensing office or may choose to access our website via the Internet at public libraries, photocopy stores, local colleges, etc.

FACILITY VISIT SUMMARY REPORT (LIC 809S)

The CCLD and American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFCSME) have worked together to develop a field alternative that would effectively reduce the weight impact of the laptop system on Licensing Program Analysts (LPAs) and help to reduce work-related injuries. This system is for voluntary use by LPAs.

If an LPA voluntarily opts to use this alternative:

1. The LPA will carry the laptop but no printer with cables, battery, etc. and less paper resulting in a significant reduction in the weight of the equipment carried into the field.
2. The LPA will compose the full report on the laptop which will be read and reviewed by the licensee on the laptop screen.
3. The licensee will be provided with a hand written LIC 809S which summarizes the visit, including any deficiencies.
4. The full report will be printed from the lap top and mailed to the licensee within five working days of the visit along with a copy of the signed LIC 809. The LPA will certify on the bottom of the LIC 809 that the copy of the full report is a true and correct copy of the report completed at the facility.
5. The LPA will attach and file the LIC 809S with the full licensing report in the file.

LICENSED CHILD CARE STATISTICS

Enclosed are the most recent statistics on licensed child care facilities and capacities. Further breakouts by category and location are available.

SUMMARY

If you have questions about items included in this Update, or suggestions for future topics, please contact Melissa Miller at (916) 229-4500. You may also visit our internet website at www.ccld.ca.gov to obtain copies of licensing Updates, office locations, provider letters, regulations, forms, the Licensing Evaluator Manual, or to learn more about licensing programs and services.

Sincerely,

(original signed by J. Frederick) JO FREDERICK
Deputy Director
Community Care Licensing Division

Enclosures