DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES
Family Safety and Preservation Program
RULE NOS.:RULE TITLES:
65C-22.001General Requirements
65C-22.008School Age Child Care
65C-22.009Gold Seal Quality Care Program
65C-22.010Enforcement
NOTICE OF CORRECTION
Notice is hereby given that the following correction has been made to the proposed rule in Vol. 45 No. 12, January 17, 2019 issue of the Florida Administrative Register.
SUMMARY OF STATEMENT OF ESTIMATED REGULATORY COSTS AND LEGISLATIVE RATIFICATION: The Agency has determined that this rule will have an adverse impact on small business or likely increase directly or indirectly regulatory costs in excess of $200,000 in the aggregate within one year after the implementation of the rule. A SERC has been prepared by the Agency.
The following is a summary of the revised SERC:
The Department rejected the adverse financial impact and lower cost regulatory alternative (LCRA) submitted by the Florida Association for Child Care Management (FACCM) for the following sections of the School Age Child Care Facility Handbook and the Child Care Facility Handbook.
Definitions. Definitions have no financial impact.
Supervision. Water activities are not required; as such, there is no financial impact on providers unless they opt to provide this service. As a compromise, however, the Department will increase the school age child ratio from 1:6 to 1:10. This ratio is based on comments received from the providers at a public hearing who indicated that water activities could continue to be provided at no additional cost if the proposed ratio were increased.
Vehicle requirements. The proposed rule does not require the installation of air conditioning units in school buses. However, the Department will add language to clarify that the interior of vehicles used to transport children can be ventilated either by mechanical or natural means to maintain the temperature.
General Health and Safety Requirements. Daily inspection for basic health and safety is not a new requirement. The only new requirement is documentation of the inspection. Documentation can be as simple as a notation on the facility’s calendar or on a log. This takes place after the inspection and should only add seconds to the process.
General Health and Safety Requirements. The proposed rule requires that a carbon monoxide detector be installed, tested, and maintained in specified circumstances, as required by section 553.885, F.S.
Napping/Sleeping Requirements. The Department will add language to clarify the Department’s intent that all bedding must be cleaned and sanitized at least once a week and before use by another child. Since FACCM’s estimates are based on a misunderstanding of the rule, the LCRA is rejected.
Restrooms and Bath Facilities. The LCRA is rejected based on FACCM’s misstatement of the rule.
Fire Safety and Emergency Preparedness. In the original SERC the Department provided specific calculations based on the precise number of providers who indicate that they provide transportation. FACCM’s calculation is based on “if 50% of licensed transportation providers…”
Food Storage. An “alcohol” thermometer designed to measure cold storage temperature is required in the current rule. The language was changed to “food grade” thermometer due to provider requests for clarification on what the Department meant by “alcohol” thermometer. An “alcohol” thermometer is one type of a “food grade” thermometer so no additional costs would be incurred by the change in language. However, the Department will change the language in the proposed rule to require “a thermometer designed to measure cold storage temperature.”
Food Safety. The only change in this provision is the requirement to maintain a food acceptance log for 12 months, rather than four months. Some unknown subset of the 1,186 providers may be affected by this requirement. At most this would require a provider to store an additional 83 pages of paper. Additionally, the log can be maintained in any format, including electronically to save on physical storage space. The Department rejects FACCM’s calculations which indicate that all licensed child care facilities would be affected and that all child care facilities would be required to purchase a new filing cabinet to store the documents.
Dishwashing and Sanitization. The requirement that providers maintain the temperature at 170 degrees or above for hot water sanitation is not a new requirement. To comply with this rule, therefore, facilities must already have had a means to test the temperature. The language was added to clarify that the thermometer must be on-site for use and available for child care personnel to use when inspecting the facility. However, the Department will remove the requirement for a “probe type” thermometer and replace it with “a thermometer designed to measure the water temperature.”
Drinking Water. The Department’s SERC calculations are based the number of facilities that the Department has verified have sink/water fountain combinations that are used for hygiene procedures after toileting or diapering. The Department’s SERC provides a cheaper cost alternative for complying with the rule than FACCM’s unsubstantiated calculations which assume that at least 25% of all licensed child care facilities would be affected by the rule provision, that each facility has at least eight combination sinks, and that the only way to comply with the rule is to have a plumber cap off the bubbler. Further, the Department’s SERC provides a cheaper cost alternative for providing drinking water for the children than FACCM’s estimations.
Indoor Equipment. This provision has no financial impact as it only deals with how the furniture within the facility is arranged.
Outdoor Equipment. The proposed rule has a “grandfather clause” for currently licensed child care facilities. The rule provision is only applicable to new licensees, or any program that fails to submit a request to be “grandfathered in” within 90 days of the effective date of the rule. As such, there is no economic impact on currently licensed facilities.
First Aid and CPR. The current rule requires 100% of all staff to be certified in First Aid/CPR by October 2019. The proposed rule extends the deadline for compliance to 2021. The Department’s SERC calculates the anticipated cost of this requirement using two separate methods of analysis, as well as provides additional information in subsection IV(f). The Department stands by its calculations that this requirement will be cost neutral over a period of three years. The Department, however, will change the rule to require that by 2021, at all times in each classroom/room/designated space, or outdoor area occupied by children, at least one of the child care personnel assigned to provide direct supervision to that specific group must have current first aid training and pediatric cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) certification.
Transportation Training. The Department will add language to clarify that transportation training is only required for child care personnel who are engaged or involved in the transportation of the children. A free online training course is available from the Office of Early Learning at this link: https://collabornation.net/login/floridaearlylearning.
Medication. FACCM’s LCRA with respect to this provision is vague and unclear as to what costs $50 and why every licensed child care facility would be required to expend this amount.
Medication. The requirement for training on administration of medicine is not new and is in the current rule.
Record Keeping. FACCM erroneously states that there are 34 new record keeping requirements; in fact, there are only four new record keeping requirements. In the current handbook, the record keeping requirements are spread throughout. At the request of providers, the Department’s proposed rule lists all of the recordkeeping requirements in one section for easy access.
Enrollment Information. This provision is required by section 402.305(9)(c), F.S.
Daily Attendance. This provision only applies to facilities that opt to provide transportation for the children in their care; it is not a required service. The requirement that child care personnel communicate with parents within one hour when a child does not arrive to the program or the agreed upon designated pickup location is in the current rule. The proposed rule narrows the scope of situations when child care personnel must contact the parents; the proposed rule only requires contacting the parent when there is a transportation agreement between the child care facility and parent, and the child is not at the designated pickup location. In addition, any calls would occur during normal operating hours in the normal course of business. Many child care facilities already require parents to notify them when a child is going to be absent. FACCM’s LCRA assumes that every child care facility will have to spend 10 minutes every day contacting parents because children are not at the designated pickup location; however, FACCM provides no evidence or explanation to support this.
Regarding outdoor play areas, the Department rejects FACCM’s adverse financial impact. The proposed change was based on requests by providers for clarification; however, the Department will accept FACCM’s LCRA to revert back to the current rule language.
Copies of the revised SERC can be obtained by contacting Jodi Abramowitz. Jodi can be reached at (850)717-4470 or Jodi.Abramowitz@myflfamilies.com.
