Amended Substitute Senate Bill 316 of the 129th General Assembly updated the qualifications for child care center administrators. The administrator qualification rule ( 5101:2-12-24 ) will be amended to reflect this change, but will not be finalized in rule until January 2015. Effective the date of this letter, child care licensing specialists will assess compliance according to the new requirements in Section 5104.031 of the Ohio Revised Code (ORC).

Background:

Changes to ORC 5104.031 were made to streamline the language and requirements for administrator qualifications. The changes are as follows:

• ORC 5104.031 (A)(2)(h) "an infant and toddler or early childhood credential from a program accredited by the Montessori accreditation council for teach education" was added back into statute as it was inadvertently removed.
• Ohio Administrative Code (OAC) 5101:2-12-24 (C)(5) "promoted one time to administrator" is no longer in statute and no longer a requirement.

New Policy:

The qualification requirements that will be assessed for administrators, as set forth in 5104.031 of the ORC, are as follows:

(A) A child day-care center administrator shall show the director of job and family services both of the following:

(1) Evidence of at least high school graduation or certification of high school equivalency by the state board of education or the appropriate agency of another state;

(2) Evidence of having at least one of the following:

(a) An associate, bachelor's, master's, doctoral, or other postgraduate degree in child development or early childhood education, or in a related field approved by the director, from an accredited college, university, or technical college;

(b) A license designated as appropriate for teaching in an associate teaching position in a preschool setting issued by the state board of education pursuant to section 3319.22 of the ORC;

(c) Designation under the career pathways model as an early childhood professional level three;

(d) Two years of experience working as a child-care staff member in a licensed child care program, designation under the career pathways model as an early childhood professional level one, and, not later than one year after being named as administrator, designation under the career pathways model as an early childhood professional level two;

(e) Two years of experience working as a child-care staff member in a licensed child care program and, except as provided in division (B) of this section, at least four courses in child development or early childhood education from an accredited college, university, or technical college;

(f) Two years of experience working as a child-care staff member in a licensed child care program and a current child development associate credential issued by the council for professional recognition;

(g) Two years of training, including at least four courses in child development or early childhood education from an accredited college, university, or technical college;

(h) An infant and toddler or early childhood credential from a program accredited by the Montessori accreditation council for teacher education.

(B) A person who has two years of experience working as a child-care staff member in a child day-care center and is promoted to or designated as administrator of that center shall have one year from the date of the promotion or designation to complete the courses required by division (A)(2)(e) of this section.

Please Note: Statute incorrectly references (A)(1)(e). Licensing specialists will assess in accordance with (A)(2)(e) as stated above.

In addition to the requirements listed in paragraph (A)(2), an administrator may also get a credential as approved by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

Currently the only ODJFS approved administrator credential is the "Ohio Administrator Credential" administered by the Ohio Professional Registry. Information on this credential is available at https://login.occrra.org.

Please contact the Office of Family Assistance, Child Care Policy Help Desk at 1-877-302-2347, option 4, or your licensing specialist if you have questions regarding this amended administrator qualifications policy. The electronic versions of the child care manuals are located at: http://emanuals.jfs.ohio.gov. These manuals contain all child care rules, transmittal letters, procedure letters and forms.

Instructions: The following chart identifies the material that needs to be inserted in to the Child Care Center Manual (CCCM).