Mandated Training Requirement Added to Child Care Regulations
Mandated Training Requirement Added to Child Care Regulations Compliance Required by September 30th, 2017!
The federal Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) requires certain licensed, registered, and legally exempt child care employees, caregivers and volunteers to complete health and safety training by September 30, 2017. These requirements have been adopted as emergency regulations in Title 18 of New York Codes, Rules and Regulations and a notice of proposed rulemaking was filed with the New York State Register on 3-20-2017. The effective date of the emergency regulations is March 20, 2017. Training must be completed by September 30, 2017.
Those child care employees, volunteers and legally exempt programs affected by this federal law are:
- caregivers in family day care and group family day care programs (providers, assistants, substitutes);
- caregivers in small day care centers (providers, assistants, and substitutes);
- directors in day care centers and school age child care programs;
- teachers and assistant teachers in day care centers and school age child care programs;
- substitute teachers and substitute assistant teachers in centers and school age child care programs;
- volunteers in all programs, who have the potential for regular and substantial contact with children at the child care program; and
- legally exempt group, family and in-home providers, caregivers, employees, and volunteers with the potential for regular and substantial contact with children. The only exception to this is that a grandparent, great-grandparent, sibling (if living in a separate residence), aunt or uncle who provides care for ONLY a child(ren) related to them will NOT be required to complete this requirement.
To implement this new federal requirement, OCFS developed an e-learning session that, once completed by participants, will satisfy all required health and safety topics. This OCFS health and safety e-learning is named Foundations in Health and Safety e-learning. There is no charge for the training, which can be found at the following website: https://www.ecetp.pdp.albany.edu/elearn_catalog.shtm. This fully-narrated five-hour course offers important information and strategies to facilitate and improve the safety and health of children in regulated child care programs and enrolled legally exempt programs. Child care providers and caregivers completing this course will receive training credit in federally mandated health and safety topic areas.
This training is available in English and Spanish. A Chinese version of the training should be available by September 13th, 2017.
Licensed and registered programs needing more information: go to "Letters to Providers" at: ocfs.ny.gov/programs/childcare/letters.php or call your regional office: ocfs.ny.gov/programs/childcare/regional-offices.php.
Enrolled legally exempt programs needing more information may contact the enrollment agency.