Background:

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) has amended child care center licensing rules as a result of feedback received from the Ohio Alliance of Early Learning Advocates in November 2016 and from stakeholder meetings held on January 31, 2017 and March 17, 2017.  ODJFS has also amended rules to implement Amended Substitute Senate Bill No. 99 of the 131^st General Assembly which were previously detailed in Child Care Center Manual Procedure Letter No. 16.

The following rules and form will be effective October 29, 2017.

Amended rules:

5101:2-12-07 "Administrator responsibilities, requirements and qualifications for a licensed child care center" outlines the education and responsibilities required to become an administrator in a licensed child care center.  This rule has been amended to clarify when an administrator for programs that operate overnight/weekends has to be on-site.  Appendix B to this rule has been amended to clarify the breastfeeding policy requirements and to specify that the requirement is only for programs that serve infants or toddlers.

5101:2-12-08 "Employee and child care staff member requirements in a licensed child care center" outlines the qualifications required for employees and child care staff members in a licensed child care center.  This rule has been amended to clarify that the child care staff orientation does not have to be retaken if the staff changes programs or owners.  This rule was also amended to remove language that required child care staff members already employed to complete the online orientation by June 30, 2017.

5101:2-12-10 "Training and professional development requirements for a licensed child care center" outlines the initial and on-going training and professional development requirements for child care center staff.  This rule has been amended to remove paragraph (A)(3) that required administrators, child care staff members, including substitutes, to complete the one-hour child abuse and neglect training by June 30, 2017.  This rule was also amended to clarify that the training document only has to be given to employees if it is not stored in the Ohio Professional Registry (OPR) and to require the one hour child abuse training be taken within the first 60 days of employment instead of the first 30 days.

5101:2-12-12 "Safe equipment and environment for a licensed child care center" outlines the requirements for safe equipment and environments in a licensed child care center.  This rule has been amended to update the weapons language to implement the changes to Ohio's Concealed Carry law as required by Amended Substitute Senate Bill No. 99 of the 131^st General Assembly.

5101:2-12-13 "Sanitary equipment and environment for a licensed child care center" outlines the requirements for sanitary equipment and environments for a licensed child care center.  Appendix B to this rule has been amended to remove the 15 second requirement to wash hands, to remove the requirement that staff must wash hands when moving from one group to another or after removing disposable gloves, to add that staff must wash hands when visibly soiled and to allow the use of hand sanitizer for staff and all children over 24 months.

5101:2-12-14 "Transportation and field trip safety for a licensed child care center" outlines transportation requirements for a licensed child care center. Appendix A to this rule has been amended to clarify that a single permission slip can apply to multiple routine trips or multiple field trips. 

5101:2-12-16 "Emergency and health-related plans for a licensed child care center" outlines medical, dental, first aid and communicable disease procedures, incidents and injuries and disaster planning for a licensed child care center.  This rule has been amended to update the revision date of the JFS 01156 "Serious Incident Reporting for Child Care."  Appendix A to this rule has been amended to remove "A guide to emergency first aid" from the list of first aid kit contents.

5101:2-12-18 "Group size and ratios for a licensed child care center" outlines the requirements for staff to child ratios and grouping in a licensed child care center.  This rule has been amended to clarify that programs are no longer required to document on the daily attendance records the schedule of transitioning children and an additional employee or child care staff member is only needed to be onsite if there are seven or more children present.  This rule has also been amended to allow school-age programs to leave children at double ratio to answer the door, to clarify that attendance records for in and out times are only required at the program level (not group), to allow flexibility in tracking group attendance and to remove the language prohibiting bumping children to maintain ratio.  Although bumping is not best practice for the children, it is an issue to be addressed between the center and caretaker(s). 

5101:2-12-23 "Infant care and diaper care for a licensed child care center" outlines requirements when caring for infants in a licensed child care center. This rule has been amended to remove the requirement that programs ensure that each child has a clean supply of diapers and an extra change of clothing available at all times.

5101:2-12-25 "Medication administration, food supplements and medical foods for a licensed child care center" outlines the requirements for administering medication and modified food diets for a licensed child care center.  This rule has been amended to clarify the requirements for non-prescription medication.

Revised form:

JFS 01156 "Serious Incident Reporting for Child Care" has been revised to add "Approved Child Day Camp" in the section where the type of program is identified.

Please contact the Child Care Policy Helpdesk at 1-877-302-2347, option 4, if you have any questions.