Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1240-04-01-.05 - OWNERSHIP, ORGANIZATION, AND ADMINISTRATION
(1) Child Care
Agency Program Description.
(a) An applicant
shall submit a written program description to the Department that includes the
following information:
1. All services and
types of care to be offered;
2.
Ages of children accepted;
3. Hours
of operation;
4. Description of
food service; and
5. If applicable,
plans for sharing outdoor equipment and space with children not enrolled in the
child care agency.
(b)
Notification of changes to the program description shall be submitted to the
Department at least ten (10) calendar days prior to making the
change.
(2) Finances.
(a) The applicant shall provide a proposed
budget that demonstrates adequate funding for both preliminary and ongoing
costs associated with staffing, equipment and safe operation.
(b) Relevant financial records of the child
care agency shall be immediately available to the Department upon
request.
(3) Records of
Subsidized Child Care and Food Supplement Payments.
(a) A child care agency that receives any
funding from the Department or its contractors to subsidize the cost of child
care or the cost of providing meals or snacks shall maintain and make available
immediately upon request of any auditing or licensing authority the following:
1. Complete and accurate record of payments
received;
2. Children's
attendance;
3. A record of food
served for each program in which the child care agency participates;
and
4. Any other records required
by the Department or any other child care agency for reimbursement for the
child's care and/or feeding.
(4) Liability and Medical Payment Insurance
Coverage.
(a) General liability, automobile
liability and medical payment insurance coverage shall be maintained on the
vehicles owned, operated or leased by the child care agency and on the
operations of the child care agency's facilities as follows:
1. Family and Group Child Care Homes: General
liability coverage on the operations of the child care agency facilities shall
be maintained in a minimum amount of:
(i)
Three Hundred Thousand Dollars ($300,000) per occurrence; and
(ii) Three Hundred Thousand Dollars
($300,000) general aggregate coverage.
2. Child Care Centers and Drop-In Child Care
Centers: General liability coverage on the operations of the child care agency
facilities shall be maintained in a minimum amount of:
(i) Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($500,000)
per occurrence; and
(ii) Five
Hundred Thousand Dollars ($500,000) general aggregate coverage.
3. Medical payment coverage for
injuries to children resulting from the operation of the child care agency
shall be maintained in the minimum amount of Five Thousand Dollars
($5,000).
4. Automobile Coverage
for Child Care Agencies that Transport Children:
(i) Automobile liability coverage.
(I) Family and Group Homes: Automobile
liability coverage shall be maintained in a minimum amount of three hundred
thousand dollars ($300,000), combined single limit of liability.
(II) Child Care Centers: Automobile liability
coverage shall be maintained in a minimum amount of five hundred thousand
dollars ($500,000), combined single limit of liability.
(ii) Medical payment coverage for injuries to
children being transported in vehicles owned, operated or leased by the child
care agency shall be maintained in the minimum amount of five thousand dollars
($5,000).
(b)
A standard homeowner's policy is not sufficient to provide the coverage
requirements for a child care facility outlined in this section.
(c) The requirements of this paragraph shall
not apply to a child care agency that is under the direct management of a
self-insured administrative Department of the state, a county or a
municipality, or any combination of those three (3), or that has, or whose
parent entity has a self-insurance program that provides, as determined by the
Department, the coverages and the liability limits required by these
rules.
(d) Unless subparagraph (c)
is applicable, non-profit corporations that administer Head Start child care
programs and are defined as government entities for the purposes of the
governmental tort liability act (T.C.A. §§
29-20-101 et
seq.) shall have the insurance required by subparagraph (a) above.
(e) Documentation that the necessary
insurance is in effect, or that the administrative Department or other entity
is self-insured, shall be maintained in the records of the child care agency
and shall be available for review by the Department. Documentation shall
include the declarations page of the insurance policy and this documentation
shall reflect, at a minimum, the requirements described above.
(5) Enrollment Restrictions.
(a) Enrollment of children under six (6)
weeks of age is prohibited.
(b) Any
child care agency licensed by the Department shall place the following children
ahead of any civilian (non-military) parents or guardians on a waiting list,
including: children who have a parent or legal guardian who is an active duty
member of the armed forces; children who have a parent who was killed or died
as a direct result of injuries received during a qualifying period of armed
conflict; children who have a parent who has been reported as a prisoner of war
or missing in action while serving honorably during a qualifying period of
armed conflict; and children who have a parent who was a former prisoner of war
or was formerly missing in action while serving honorably during a qualifying
period of armed conflict.
(c)
Children shall not be in care for more than twelve (12) hours in a twenty-four
(24) hour period except in special circumstances.
(d) Individualized plans for the care of a
child in excess of twelve (12) hours due to special circumstances shall be
signed by the parent/guardian and primary educator/director and approved in
advance by the Department. Plans shall be updated annually.
(e) The child care agency shall not admit a
child into care until the parent/guardian has supplied the child care agency
with a completed application, valid Tennessee Department of Health Official
Immunization Certificates record (for children over two (2) months of age), and
a health history. There is an exception after an initial eligibility
determination for children who are homeless and/or children in state custody.
Those children may receive care prior to providing all required documentation
as determined by the Department. Care without such documentation of
immunizations shall not exceed sixty (60) days.
(f) The child care agency shall maintain
written documentation that the parent/guardian performed an on-site visit to
the child care agency prior to the child being enrolled into care and that the
child care agency provided and reviewed parent engagement strategies recognized
by the Department with the parent during the required preplacement visit. A
pre-placement visit is not required for children of homeless
families.
(6) Home
Schooling.
(a) Home schooling shall not take
place during child care hours unless a qualified primary educator, in addition
to the home schooling parent/guardian, is available to supervise the child care
agency and to care for the enrolled children.
(b) Home schooling conducted during child
care operating hours shall be conducted in a space separate from the designated
child care space.
(7)
Extended Care.
(a) Extended care services may
be offered by a child care agency as an additional component to conventional
care services, or the child care agency may exclusively provide extended care
services.
(b) In order for a child
care agency to offer extended care services, the Department shall issue a
license bearing a notation that the child care agency is authorized to provide
extended care services.
(c) A child
care agency may not offer extended care services without the Department's
approval.
(8) Child Care
Agency Drug Testing Policy.
(a) Child care
agencies shall establish a drug testing policy for all staff that have direct
contact with children, as defined by the Department, with a child in the care
of the child care agency.
(b) The
policy shall:
1. Specify when and how testing
should be completed;
2. Provide for
immediate and effective enforcement action in the event of a positive drug
test; and
3. Require drug testing
based upon reasonable suspicion that employees, directors, licensees, or
operators of a child care agency, or other persons providing services under
contract or for remuneration for the agency are engaged in the use of illegal
drugs.
(c) The child
care agency shall provide the policy to all staff that have direct contact with
children upon the individual's employment with the child care agency.
(d) The child care agency shall maintain drug
test results for all currently employed staff members who are subject to drug
testing and for five (5) years after employment is terminated. All drug test
results shall be immediately provided to the Department upon request.
(e) Drug testing results are confidential and
may be disclosed only for purposes of enforcing this part.
(f) The Department may require the licensee
or operator of a family child care home who has direct contact with children to
submit to a drug test at the expense of the licensee or operator, when
reasonable suspicion exists.
(g) A
child care agency that does not comply with this section is subject to the
Department:
1. Denying the application for a
license or;
2. Suspending or
revoking a license issued.
(9) Parent Communication and Engagement.
(a) The child care agency shall ensure that a
copy of the child care agency's policies, procedures, and the Department's
Summary of Licensing Requirements is supplied to the parents/guardians upon
admission of the child.
(b) The
child care agency's policies shall include, at a minimum:
1. Criteria for the disenrollment of
children;
2. Specific criteria
concerning the release of children;
3. Written parental permission for
observation of children by non-child care agency staff;
4. Behavior management techniques;
5. Hours of operation;
6. Late fees;
7. Rates;
8. Inclement weather;
9. Emergency policy;
10. Whether the environment is smoke
free;
11. Meal service policy;
and
12. Child care agency
after-hours contact telephone phone number in case of an emergency.
(c) Parents/guardians shall be
permitted to see the professional credential(s) of staff upon
request.
(d) The child care agency
shall have ongoing communication with parents/guardians to include curriculum,
changes in personnel, changes in policies and/or substantive licensing
requirements, and any changes affecting children's routine care, and shall
document such communication in writing.
(e) Child care agencies shall provide
information about the benefits of immunizing children against influenza and
other communicable diseases as requested by the Department each August or
September to parents/guardians of all children enrolled in the child care
agency and document such communication in writing.
(f) The child care agency shall use a
developmental checklist recognized by the Department as a guide for conducting
annual individual parent meetings to discuss the child's progress and
development. Documentation of the meetings must be maintained in the child's
record. This is not required for school-age children participating in
afterschool programs.
(g) All child
care agencies shall disseminate materials and information to parents/guardians,
as required by the Department.
(h)
Child care agencies shall obtain training relevant to the special needs of the
children in care and shall consult with parents/guardians and appropriate
service providers regarding techniques used in the home to ensure the
children's safety. If children with special needs are enrolled, Section 504 of
the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act
(ADA) guidelines shall be consulted regarding the reasonable accommodations a
child's disability may require and complied with.
(i) Specialized Services.
1. The provision of specialized services
shall be conducted only by individuals who hold the appropriate license or
certification and with written permission by the parent/guardian and shall be
documented in the child's record.
2. Any information exchanged regarding
specialized services that is shared with or received from third parties shall
also be documented in each child's record.
(j) During operating hours, parents/guardians
shall be permitted immediate access to their children, unless an Order of
Protection or other legal document otherwise restricts or prohibits such
access.
(k) Documented permission,
including prior notification and consent for each field trip, shall be obtained
from the parents/guardians prior to the child's removal from the premises for a
field trip.
(l) Authorized Removal
of Children.
1. An authorized investigator
with the Department of Children's Services or law enforcement may take a child
off the premises of the child care agency if he/she has obtained custody of the
child as follows:
(i) Voluntary placement
agreement with the parent/guardian;
(ii) Court order;
(iii) Emergency assumption of custody under
T.C.A. §
37-1-113
without parent/guardian permission;
(iv) If the child's parent or legal guardian
is present and approves; or
(v) In
conjunction with investigative procedures under the child abuse laws.
2. The child care agency shall
request visual confirmation of an investigator's identification.
(10) Notifying
Parents/Guardians.
(a) The child care agency
shall post the following in a clearly visible location and obtain
parents'/guardians' signatures indicating they have read the document:
1. A formal notice of a critical licensing
violation that put a child at imminent risk of harm or resulted in actual harm;
(i) Critical violations include but are not
limited to the following:
(I)
Transportation;
(II)
Ratios;
(III)
Supervision;
(IV) Failure to
properly dispense or store medications;
(V) Background checks/Failure to complete or
failure to exclude;
(VI) Failure to
store hazardous items;
(VII)
Failure to properly remove or secure firearms;
(VIII) Corporal punishment;
(IX) Failure to report suspected abuse or
neglect;
(X) Falsification of
documents required by the Department;
(XI) Failure to have CPR/first aid
certification as required by the Department;
(XII) Six (6) or more minor violations of any
type within a three (3) month period; or
(XIII) Three (3) or more minor violations of
the same type within a three (3) month period.
2. Any issuance of a legal enforcement
order;
3. Any decision rendered by
the Child Care Agency Board of Review pursuant to Chapter 1240-04-05;
4. An Order affecting the child care agency's
operations issued by any court of law; or
5. Notice of probation.
(11) Right to
Privacy/Confidentiality.
The licensee and child care agency staff shall not disclose or knowingly permit the use by other persons, any information concerning a child or family enrolled at the child care agency except as required by law.
(12) Posting Required
Documentation.
(a) The following shall be
posted near the main entrance where staff, parents, and others may view them:
1. The child care agency license;
2. Current child care agency quality rating
improvement system score;
3. The
child care agency's operating hours;
4. The Department's toll-free Child Care
Complaint Hotline phone number and email address; and
5. The Department of Children's Services'
Central Intake Child Abuse Hotline number.
(b) "No Smoking" signs shall be posted in a
conspicuous manner at each entrance to the facility.
(c) Required adult:child ratios and group
size shall be posted in every classroom.
(d) Items that must be accessible in a place
where staff, parents, and others may view:
1.
A link to the electronic location of applicable Department licensing rules and
a hard copy on-site available for reference;
2. Weekly menu;
3. Daily schedule;
4. Notice of requirements to report child
abuse;
5. Emergency procedures;
and
6. Record of fire and other
emergency drills.
(e)
Any other materials shall be posted as directed by the Department.
(13) The child care agency shall
have a written expulsion policy.
(a) The
policy shall be:
1. Clearly articulated to
staff and parents;
2.
Developmentally appropriate and consistent; and
3. Non-discriminatory in practice and
impact.
(b) Other
options shall be considered prior to expulsion, such as but not limited to
reducing the number of days or amount of time the child may attend, or if
applicable, referrals to a behavioral health program or other appropriate
supporting program.
(c) Procedures
shall be developed to allow for a planned transition of a child to another
program if expulsion must occur.
(d) Aggregate data that includes reasons for
expulsions shall be maintained and reported to the Department on a
Department-approved form when such expulsions take place and as
requested.
(14) Data
Reporting. Child care agencies shall submit data as requested by the
Department:
(a) Quarterly on topics such as
but not limited to: active enrollment, homeless children, non-traditional
hours, English as a Second Language/dual language learners, and children with
disabilities; and
(b) As it occurs:
death/serious injuries, child abuse.
(15) Falsification of any information or
documentation is prohibited.
Notes
Authority: 7 C.F.R. § 226.15(e); T.C.A. §§ 4-5-202; 4-5-209; 39-17-1803; 71-1-105(a)(5) and (a)(12); 713-501, et seq.; 71-3-502(l); 71-3-502, et seq.; and 71-3-512; and Acts 2008, Ch. 1032.
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