http:www'kdheks'gov

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• http//www.kdheks.gov
• Our Mission To Protect the Health and
  Environment for all Kansans by Promoting
  Responsible Choices.

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Child Care System Improvement

• What does the regulatory system look like today?
• Where do we go from here?
• Listening Tours
• Child Care System Improvement BEST Team Action
  Plan
• Policy Exceptions
• Research-based Regulation Revision

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Child Care System Improvement
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Child Care System Improvement
3 Year Comparison Number of Early Care Programs
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Child Care System Improvement
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Child Care System Improvement
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Child Care System Improvement

• Facts about Child Care Licensing and Registration
  What do Surveyors do?
• Provide Orientation Training for applicants
• Conduct Inspections (Initial, Annual, Compliance
  Checks)
• Conduct Complaint Investigations including
  illegal care
• Provide technical assistance and consultation to
  child care providers and child care partners
• Assist in the coordination of the local child
  care regulatory system

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Child Care System Improvement
1 Surveyor for every 153 child care programs
RECOMMENDED RATIO IS 1 TO 75
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Child Care System Improvement
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Child Care System Improvement
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Child Care System Improvement
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Child Care System Improvement

• Facts About Child Care Licensing and Registration
  What happens in the state office at KDHE?
• Process all applications (about 30 turnover of
  facilities or about 2,500 facilities each year)
  including issuance of Certificates and Licenses
• Process all Inspections and Reports and Review
  Non-compliance History of Facilities and enforce
  Regulations through Administrative Orders
  including Testifying at Hearings
• Administer and Monitor Local Contracts for
  Compliance with Regulations, KDHE Policies and
  Procedures
• Provide Training and Technical Assistance to
  Surveyors
• Provide Technical Assistance and Information to
  Providers, the Public and Child Care Partners
  including Open Record Information
• Promulgate Regulations

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Child Care System Improvement

• Facts about Child Care Licensing and Registration
  Enforcement
• About 71 of surveys document that child care
  programs are in compliance or in substantial
  compliance with regulations.
• About 23 of the surveys document the ability to
  achieve compliance or substantial compliance with
  regulations verified by monitoring checks
  conducted by the local surveyor.
• About 6 of child care programs are issued an
  Administrative Order due to very serious or
  on-going noncompliance.

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Child Care System Improvement
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Child Care System Improvement

• Facts About Child Care Licensing and Registration
  The Funding
• SFY07 State Funding totaled 2.83 M
• 1.6 M or 56.5 of the total was distributed to
  local contractors (health departments) for local
  child care regulatory services
• SFY07 Local Funding totaled 1.34 M
• Total State and Local Funds 4.17M

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Child Care System Improvement
State Fiscal Year 2007 Total Funds by Source
1.23 M State Op
1.34 Local Funded
1.6 M State to Local
30.91 per child slot total state and local funds
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Child Care System Improvement

• Facts About Aid to Local Distribution Getting
  the dollars to the counties
• Formula
• 10 children under age 15
• 30 number of regulated facilities
• 60 total capacity of regulated facilities

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Child Care System Improvement

• Aid to Local Distribution Bonus
• 15 for multi-county contracts
• 1,000 for professional level surveyor(s)
• pro-rated on percentage of FTE
  (full time equivalency)

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Child Care System Improvement
Number of Contracts for SFY08 grouped by Total
Contract Amount
5 gt 70,000
14 20,000-70,000
33 lt 5,000
12 10,000-20,000
6 5,000-10,000
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Child Care System Improvement
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Child Care System Improvement
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Child Care System Improvement

• Where do we go from here?
• Solicited Comments and Suggestions from KDHE
  staff and local surveyors, caregivers in
  regulated facilities, partners, parents and the
  public
• Assembled a Child Care System Improvement BEST
  Team of Early Education/Child Care experts and
  practitioners appointed by Secretary Bremby to
  advise KDHE on system change

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Child Care System Improvement

• Public Comment solicited via a Listening Tour
• 10 cities Wichita, Pittsburg, Overland Park,
  Garden City, Hutchinson, Salina, Hays, Kansas
  City, Topeka, Manhattan
• Facilitated by Team Tech
• Attended by child care providers, center based
  staff, child care partners, local surveyors,
  parents, public

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Child Care System Improvement

• Public comment accepted in person at listening
  tours and via mail and email sent to KDHE
• 739 people participated

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Child Care System Improvement

• What did we hear most often?
• Need more before and after school care and
  out-of-school day care during the school year
• Age groupings and total capacities do not make
  sense from program type to program type.
• LDCH 10 with 1 adult and GDCH 12 with 2
  adults
• Infants are age grouped to 18 months in homes and
  12 months in centers

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Child Care System Improvement

• What did we hear most often? (continued)
• Concerns about the increasing number of children
  in Full day Kindergarten and Part day Pre-K
  programs and the impact on child care
• Allow a lunch hour overlap to accommodate morning
  and afternoon preschool
• Confusion about when a 5 year old is counted as
  Kindergarten age in homes

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Child Care System Improvement

• What did we hear most often? (Continued)
• Registered Family Day Care Homes should be
  inspected at least initially or eliminate this
  category of care
• Get Illegal Child Care regulated

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Child Care System Improvement

• What did we hear most often? (Continued)
• Revise minimum qualifications clarify and
  simplify
• Require pre-service training
• Increase annual training requirements
• Training must be affordable and easily
  accessible. Look at training delivery options
  including technology. Eliminate book and video
  option for meeting requirements.

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Child Care System Improvement

• What did we hear most often? (continued)
• Notification of background check results and
  quicker turn around
• Survey process needs to be consumer friendly and
  respectful and consistent

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Child Care System Improvement

• What did we hear most often? (continued)
• Regulations need to make sense. Write in English
  not legalese.
• Regulations need to be clear so providers know
  what is expected. Be specific.
• Providers want training on regulations similar to
  the training surveyors receive.

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Child Care System Improvement

• Child Care System Improvement Team identified
  statewide Hot Topics to prioritize work.
• What could be addressed quickly?
• What would require additional research?

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Child Care System Improvement

• Policy Exceptions granted
• For all facility types
• Allow hand soap to remain accessible at hand
  washing sinks rather than require out of reach
  due to warning labels

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Child Care System Improvement

• Policy exceptions granted for Licensed Day Care
  Homes (LDCH) and Group Day Care Homes (GDCH)
• Allow flexibility for infants over 12 months to
  be transitioned from play pens and cribs based on
  need must be transitioned out when babies can
  climb out or when height or weight exceeds
  manufacturers recommendation rather than at 18
  months

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Child Care System Improvement

• Policy exceptions granted for LDCH/GDCH continued
  
• Allow 2 additional school age children before and
  after school and out-of-school days during the
  school year
• Allow lunch hour overlap for up to 2 additional
  children attending preschool during the school
  year

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Child Care System Improvement

• Policy Exceptions granted for LDCH/GDCH continued
  
• Unrelated children over 11 years of age and older
  are not counted in the total capacity for up to 2
  hours per day.

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Child Care System Improvement

• Policy Exceptions granted for LDCH/GDCH and Child
  Care Centers (CCC) and Preschools (PS)
• Accept any child health assessment form rather
  than limit to only KDHE forms

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Child Care System Improvement

• Policy Exception granted to CCC/PS
• Allow diapering supplies and disinfectant used to
  sanitize to be kept on a 5 foot shelf out of
  reach of children rather than in locked storage

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Child Care System Improvement

• Implementation Quick for Spring Breaks
• Exceptions emailed.
• Exceptions mailed to all existing (8,000) child
  care facilities and registered homes.
• Exceptions mailed to new child care facilities
  with Temporary Permits/Licenses and to new
  registered homes with Certificates for ongoing
  notification.
• Exceptions posted on KDHE website.
  www.kdheks.gov/kidsnet Early Care and Youth
  Programs

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Child Care System Improvement

• Are exceptions permanent?
• Impact of exceptions
• Data Collection Surveyors completing a simple
  survey during all on-site inspections between
  March and October
• In Use?
• Which Ones?
• Helpful?
• Other Comments?

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Child Care System Improvement

• Are exceptions permanent? (Continued)
• Review data for impact
• Use data for determining permanent change in the
  regulation revision process.

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Child Care System Improvement

• Changes requiring additional research were
  identified and Sub Teams launched
• Group size and Ratio Sub Team
• Qualifications and Professional Development Sub
  Team
• Registered Family Day Care Home Sub Team

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Child Care System Improvement

• What are the Sub Teams doing?
• Review research
• Identify research based options for change
• Analyze options for change including potential
  impact (financial and other)
• Identify what needs to happen or be in place for
  options to be implemented
• Present options to the full Child Care System
  Improvement Team by August 1

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Child Care System Improvement

• Child Care System Improvement Team to continue
  working through issues and existing regulations
  to recommend permanent regulation and system
  revision
• Minimum 2 year commitment (through about December
  2009)

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Child Care System Improvement

• Communication about our work
• Posted on the KDHE website
• Updates in Child Care Partners Newsletters
• Updates at Child Care related meetings
• Other, as identified

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Child Care System Improvement

• What about system change?
• The CCSI BEST Team will be looking at the way we
  do business and options for improvement in
  systems may also evolve through the process.

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Child Care System Improvement

• System Challenge to analyze pros and cons of
  proposed changes or options for change within the
  larger child care system and supports
• Professional Development/Training Access
• Wage Supplements
• Employer (Workforce) Support
• Parent Support and Needs
• Recognition Systems
• Peer Support and Needs
• Regulatory System Impact
• Child Outcomes
• Resources

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Child Care System Improvement

• Regulations help people protect children!
• State-Local-Provider-Parent-Child Care
  Partnerships are Keys to Success
• It takes a HEALTHY AND SAFE village to raise the
  children.

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Child Care System Improvement

• How do we build a system that prevents this?

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For more information contact -

• Early Care and Youth Programs
• Bureau of Child Care and Health Facilities
• Kansas Department of Health and Environment
• 1000 SW Jackson, Suite 200
• Topeka, KS 66612
• Phone [phone] Fax [phone]
• www.kdheks.gov/kidsnet

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• http//www.kdheks.gov
• Our Mission The Protect the Health and
  Environment for all Kansans by Promoting
  Responsible Choices.