Background:

Amended Substitute House Bill 394 of the 130th General Assembly will be effective March 19, 2015. This bill adds two additional diseases that children must be immunized against to be enrolled in child care. The bill does not change the requirement to have a medical statement with immunizations on file within thirty days of enrollment and updated every thirteen months.

New Policy:

Effective March 19, 2015, division 5104.014 of the Ohio Revised Code (ORC) requires that all children enrolled in child care centers, type A home providers and type B home providers have on file a medical statement that contains all of the following:

1.The child's name and birth date.

2.The date of the medical examination.

3.A statement that the child has been examined and is in suitable condition for participation in group care.

4.The signature, business address and telephone number of the physician, physician's assistant (PA), advanced practice nurse (APN) or certified nurse practitioner (CNP) who examined the child.

5.A record of the immunizations that the child has had, specifying the month, day and year of each immunization, this record may be an attachment to the medical statement.

6.A statement from the physician, PA, APN, or CNP that the child has been immunized or is in the processes of being immunized against the diseases required by section 5104.014 ORC.

7.A child is not required to be immunized against a disease specified in 5104.014 ORC if the medical statement includes any of the following:

a.A statement from a physician, PA, APN, or CNP that an immunization against the disease is medically contraindicated for the child.

b.A statement from a physician, PA, APN, or CNP that an immunization against the disease is not medically appropriate for the child's age.

c.A statement from the child's parent or guardian that he or she has declined to have the child immunized against the disease for reasons of conscience, including religious convictions.

Specified diseases for immunization:

1.Chicken pox

2.Diphtheria

3.Haemophilus influenzae type b

4.Hepatitis A

5.Hepatitis B

6.Influenza (not required if the seasonal vaccine is not available)

7.Measles

8.Mumps

9.Pertussis

10.Pneumococcal disease

11.Poliomyelitis

12.Rotavirus

13.Rubella

14.Tetanus

JFS 01305 "Child Medical Statement for Child Care" - this sample form has been revised to comply with the requirements in section 5104.014 ORC.

Implementation:

Any medical statement dated on or after March 19, 2015 will need to include the new immunization requirements. Medical statements dated prior to March 19, 2015 need to meet the requirements detailed in rules 5101:2-12-37, 5101:2-13-37 and 5101:2-14-15 of the Administrative Code.

If you have questions, please contact the Child Care Policy Helpdesk at 1-877-302-2347, option 4.