Header:
NEW YORK CODES, RULES AND REGULATIONS
TITLE 18. DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES
CHAPTER II. REGULATIONS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES
SUBCHAPTER C. SOCIAL SERVICES
ARTICLE 2. FAMILY AND CHILDREN'S SERVICES
PART 416. * GROUP FAMILY DAY CA
Date:
08/31/2009
Document:
ยง 416.15 Management and administration
(a) Group family day care homes must comply with the following standards:
(1) Each group family day care home must obtain a license from the Office and must operate in compliance with the regulations of the Office and all other applicable laws and regulations. No person or entity may operate a group family day care home without a license from the Office;
(2) Each group family day care home which has been issued a license by the Office must openly display such license in the home for which it was issued and must provide upon request information concerning any waivers that have been approved by the Office;
(3) A new application for a license must be submitted to the Office when there is a change in the name, address, or operator, when the operator will be providing an additional shift of care, when reinstatement of a withdrawn application is sought, or when a license is sought following the Office's revocation of, or denial of an application to renew, a license;
(4) The provisions specified on the license are binding and the group family day care home must operate in compliance with the terms of the license. The number and age range of children specified thereon are the maximum number and age range of children who may be in the care of the group family day care home at any one time;
(5) If a group family day care home will operate 24 hours a day, there must be more than one caregiver. Individual children must be cared for less than 24 hours a day. No caregiver may work more than two consecutive shifts;
(6) The caregivers and all members of the household must be in good health and be of good character and habits;
(7) Information relating to an individual child is confidential and cannot be disclosed without written parental permission to anyone other than the Office, its designees or other persons authorized by law. Information relating to an individual child may be disclosed to a social services district where the child receives a day care subsidy from the district, where the child has been named in a report of alleged child abuse or maltreatment, or as otherwise authorized by law. Redisclosure of confidential HIV-related information, as defined in section 360-8.1 of this Title, concerning a child receiving group family day care is not permitted except in a manner consistent with article 27-F of the Public Health Law;
(8) A group family day care home may not refuse to admit a child to the home solely because the child is a child with a developmental delay or disability or has been diagnosed as having human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), HIV-related illness or acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Each such child must be evaluated by the provider to determine whether the child could be accommodated in the program if reasonable modifications are made to the premises and/or program. Nothing contained in this paragraph shall be deemed to require the provider to incur significant additional expenses to modify the premises and/or program to accommodate such a child;
(9)(i) The parent of any child receiving group family day care must have: unlimited and on demand access to such child; the right to inspect all parts of the home used for child day care or which could present a hazard to the health or safety of the child whenever the parent requests at any time during the hours of operation of the home; unlimited and on demand access to the caregivers whenever such child is in care or during the normal hours of operation; and unlimited and on demand access to written records concerning such child except where access to such records is otherwise restricted by law;
(ii)(a) The parents of all children receiving care in a group family day care home equipped with video surveillance cameras installed for the purpose of allowing parents to view their children in the day care setting by means of the internet must be informed that cameras will be used for this purpose. All assistants, alternate assistants and employees of the group family day care home must also be informed if video surveillance cameras will be used for this purpose.
(b) All parents of children enrolled in the group family day care home and all assistants, alternate assistants and employees of the group family day care home must be made aware of the locations of all video surveillance cameras used at the group family day care home.
(c) Group family day care homes opting to install and use video surveillance equipment must comply with all State and federal laws applicable to the use of such equipment.
(d) Video surveillance cameras may not be used as a substitute for competent direct supervision of children.
(e) Group family day care homes opting to allow parents to view their children in the day care setting by means of the internet must use and maintain adequate internet security measures at all times. Such measures include but are not limited to: frequent changes of passwords; filtering measures that prohibit public access to or viewing of day care activities via the internet; and immediate corrective action in response to any report of abuse of the system or inappropriate access. Such homes must also advise the parents having access to views of the day care home through the internet of the importance of security in regard to such viewing and of the importance of the privacy rights of other children who may be viewed.
(f) Video surveillance cameras are permitted to transmit images of children in common rooms, hallways and play areas only. Bathrooms and changing areas must remain private and free of all video surveillance equipment.
(g) Group family day care homes that use video surveillance equipment must allow inspectors and other representatives of the Office to have access to such equipment and to have viewing privileges as required by the Office.
(10) A group family day care home must admit inspectors and other representatives of the Office onto the grounds and premises at any time during the hours of operation of the home. Such inspectors and representatives must be given free access to the building, the caregivers, the children and any records of the home. A group family day care home must cooperate with inspectors and other representatives of the Office in regard to any inspections or investigations that are conducted by the Office or its representatives. A group family day care home also must cooperate with local Child Protective Services Staff conducting any investigation of alleged child abuse or maltreatment;
(11) In selecting assistants and alternate assistants subsequent to issuance of a license, a provider:
(i) must notify the Office immediately in writing when there is any change of assistants or alternate assistants;
(ii) must submit to the Office within 15 days of the written notification, an application for any new assistant or alternate assistant and the supporting documentation for the assistant or alternate assistant. Each such applicant must also complete and submit with the application the forms necessary for the Office to inquire whether the applicant is the subject of an indicated report of child abuse or maltreatment on file with the Statewide Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment, a complete fingerprint card necessary for the Office to conduct a criminal history review, and a sworn statement indicating whether, to the best of the applicant's knowledge, he or she has ever been convicted of a misdemeanor or felony in New York State or any other jurisdiction;
(iii) may, during the Office's review of all documentation for any new assistant or alternate assistant, continue to operate a group family day care home with any individual who is identified on the list required by paragraph (12) of subdivision (c) of this section; and
(iv) may not leave the new assistant or alternate assistant in sole charge of children until such time as the Office's review of all documentation for such assistant or alternate assistant is completed.
(12) The group family day care home must report to the Office: any change affecting, or which reasonably might be expected to affect, those portions of the building in which the program is located or which are used for the children's egress in the case of emergency; any change in family composition; and any other change that would place the home out of compliance with applicable regulations;
(13) The caregivers must be familiar with the regulations governing such programs. Such regulations must be readily accessible to the caregivers for reference purposes and must be made available for review to a parent of a child in care upon request by a parent;
(14) The caregiver must immediately notify the Office upon learning of the death, serious injury or infectious illness of an enrolled child which occurred while the child was in care at the program or was being transported by a caregiver;
(15) Parents must be given the opportunity to discuss issues related to their children and care of their children with the provider, assistant or alternate assistant. Such opportunities must occur at the time of enrollment and as frequently as needed thereafter, but at least annually;
(16) The indoor and outdoor areas of the home where the children are being cared for must not be used for any other business or social purpose when children are present such that the attention of the caregivers is diverted from the care of the children;
(17) When a provider proposes to care for a child under the age of six weeks, prior approval must be obtained from the Office. In seeking such approval, the provider must furnish, either verbally or in writing, the following:
(i) identifying information related to the specific child who would receive care, including the parent's name and address, and the child's name, sex and age;
(ii) the extenuating circumstance necessitating the care; and
(iii) a description of what the provider will do to achieve consistency with the Office's guidelines for the care of children under the age of six weeks;
(18)(i) Within five days after receiving the initial license and before actually commencing operation, the provider must, using a form specified by the Office for that purpose, notify the local police and fire departments of the municipality within which the group family day care home is located of the following:
(a) the address of the group family day care home;
(b) the maximum capacity of the group family day care home;
(c) the age range of children that will be in care; and
(d) the hours during which children will be in care.
(ii) If the local municipality does not have a police or fire department, the sheriff of the county within which the group family day care home is located must be notified instead. The provider must notify the local police and fire departments or the county sheriff, as appropriate, if there is any change in any of the information required to be provided pursuant to subparagraph (i) of this paragraph;
(19) (i) If a person eighteen years of age or older begins to reside at the premises where the group family day care home is located, the provider must within five days of such person beginning to reside at the premises:
(a) submit the Statewide Central Register clearance forms necessary to complete required screening by the Statewide Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment to determine if the person is the subject of an indicated report of child abuse or maltreatment; and
(b) submit the necessary fingerprint card necessary to complete the criminal history review required pursuant to section 413.4 of this article.
(ii) Prior to receipt of the results of the clearance and review required pursuant to this paragraph, the person eighteen years of age or older may not be permitted by the provider to have unsupervised access to children receiving day care from the provider; and
(20)(i) Under no circumstances may there be more than one licensed or registered child day care program in any one dwelling unit in a personal residence. However, nothing contained herein shall prohibit the continued operation of more than one licensed or registered family or group family day care home in a personal residence where all such homes in the personal residence were licensed or registered prior to March 1, 2002, unless the license or registration of the home is revoked, terminated or suspended pursuant to the procedures set forth in section 413.3 of this article.
(ii) In a personal residence where more than one licensed or registered family or group family day care home was located prior to March 1, 2002, the maximum capacity of all licensed and registered family and group family day care homes in the residence shall not under any circumstances exceed 20 children in total, including school-age children who receive care for only part of the day, and no individual group family day care home located in such a residence may have a maximum capacity of more than 10 children, including school-age children who receive care for only part of the day. Each such licensed and registered family and group family day care home must be operated as a separate facility and must have separate emergency exits sufficient to meet the requirements of section 416.4 of this Part or section 417.4 of this article, as appropriate.
(21) All group family day care homes that accept direct and indirect payments from a social services district, or a payment from a parent or caretaker, for providing subsidized child care must comply with all relevant requirements of the children care subsidy program and section 415.4(h) of this Title.
(b) Conditions which apply to group family day care licensure are as follows:
(1) No license will be issued unless the provider is in full compliance with the regulations of the Office and all other applicable laws and regulations except where a waiver of one or more requirements of this Part has been approved in writing by the Office in accordance with section 413.5 of this Title;
(2) The effective period of the initial license for a group family day care home and any subsequent licenses will be up to two years each so long as the provider remains in compliance with applicable laws and regulations during such periods;
(i) If a provider, assistant, or alternate assistant has not met the training requirement specified in section 416.14 of this Part, a subsequent license may be issued for a period of up to one year following the completion of an acceptable inspection of the group family day care home;
(ii) No more than one such limited renewal may be issued in succession;
(3) A license is not transferable to any other provider or location;
(4) Group family day care homes required to be licensed with the Office will not be exempt from this requirement through registration with another State agency or certification, registration or licensure by any local governmental agency or authorized agency; and
(5) Before denial of an application for licensure or renewal of licensure, the provider is entitled to a hearing before the Office pursuant to Part 413 of this Title.
(c) The provider must maintain on file at the group family day care home, available for inspection by the Office or its designees at any time, the following records in a current and accurate manner:
(1) a copy of the evacuation plan, on forms furnished by the Office or approved equivalents, as required in section 416.5 of this Part;
(2) an approved health care plan on forms furnished by the Office or approved equivalents, as required in section 416.11 of this Part;
(3) the name, address, gender, and date of birth of each child and each child's parents' names, addresses, telephone numbers and place(s) at which parents or other persons responsible for the child can be reached in case of an emergency;
(4) the names and addresses of persons authorized to take the child(ren) from the group family day care home;
(5) daily attendance records;
(6) children's health records, including parental consents for emergency medical treatment; evidence of health examinations and immunizations; any available results of lead screening; the name and dosage of any medications used by a child and the frequency of administration of such medications; and a record of illnesses, injuries, and any indicators of child abuse or maltreatment;
(7) health statements for the provider, assistant and alternate assistant completed within the 12 months preceding the date of the application for licensure or renewal, as required in section 416.11 of this Part;
(8) a statement regarding the health of all persons residing in the group family day care home completed within the 12 months preceding the date of the application for renewal, as required in section 416.11 of this Part;
(9) a plan of program activities, as required in section 416.7 of this Part;
(10) a report of inspection and approval performed within the 12 months preceding the date of the application for licensure or renewal by local authorities of any wood or coal burning stove, fireplace or permanently installed gas space heater in use at the home;
(11) where a provider uses a private water supply:
(i) a report from a state licensed laboratory or individual, based on tests performed within the 12 months preceding the date of application for license or renewal of license, showing that the water meets standards for drinking water established by the New York State Department of Health; or
(ii) if the water does not meet such standards, a description of how water for all purposes will be provided by another method acceptable to the Department of Health;
(12) a list of alternate assistants and substitutes who are available to care for the children in the group family home when the provider or assistant must be absent;
(13) documentation of training sessions attended in accordance with section 416.14 of this Part;
(14) when the group family day care home is incorporated, the following additional documentation:
(i) a copy of the certificate of incorporation and any amendments thereto;
(ii) verification of filing of the certificate of incorporation and any amendments thereto with the Secretary of State; and
(iii) a current list of the names of the board of directors and their addresses, telephone numbers of the current principal officers and members, and the business and civic qualifications of all such individuals;
(15) a copy of the notification form provided to the local police and fire departments or the county sheriff as required in paragraph (18) of subdivision (a) of this section; and
(16) a copy of the certification that the residence and the surrounding neighborhood and environment are free from environmental hazards, as required in paragraph (13) of subdivision (a) and paragraph (6) of subdivision (d) of section 416.2 of this Part.
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