State of Regulations for Child Care Centers in District of Columbia Weakness
Strength ✔✔ All child care programs are required to be licensed.
✗✗ Only one inspection per year of child care centers is required.
✔✔ C hild care licensing staff are required to have a Bachelor’s degree in early childhood education or a related field.
✗✗ Reports of routine inspections conducted at child care programs and reports of those conducted because of complaints are not available online.
✔✔ R equires center directors to have at least a Director credential - the credential is created by the state. Directors are also required to have at least 5 years experience.
✗✗ Lead teachers in centers are not even required to have a high school diploma or GED before working with children.
✔✔ C enter staff are required to have orientation and other health and safety training. Training in fire safety is not required. ✔✔ C enters are required to have at least one first-aid and CPR certified staff on the premises.
Recommendations
✔✔ R equires all center staff to undergo a comprehensive background check that includes a check of state and federal criminal history records using a fingerprint, and checks of child abuse and neglect registries and sex offender registries.
■■ M ake the requirement for at least annual licensing inspections a written policy instead of an accepted practice.
✔✔ R equires program activities to address four of six developmental domains (social, physical, language/literacy and cultural). Cognitive/intellectual and emotional domains are not required to be addressed.
■■ E stablish a requirement for a specific number of orientation training hours. ■■ I nclude training on fire safety as part of a required orientation program.
✔✔ H ealth and safety standards address all 10 basic standards (immunizations, guidance/discipline, diapering/handwashing, fire drills, medicine administration, incident reporting, hazardous materials, playground surfaces under outdoor equipment, emergency preparedness and placing infant on back).
■■ S trengthen the requirement for activities to be offered in all of the developmental domains. ■■ M ake inspection and complaint reports available online for parents to review.
✔✔ H as requirements regarding parent involvement and communication, and allows parental visits. ✔✔ M eets NAEYC’s ratio and group size requirements for all seven age groups (6, 9, 18 and 27 months, and 3, 4 and 5 years).
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