5.5 Monitoring and Enforcement of Licensing and Health and Safety Requirements

5.5.1 Inspections for licensed CCDF providers Licensing inspectors must perform at least one annual, unannounced inspection of each licensed CCDF provider for compliance with all child care licensing standards, including an inspection for compliance with health and safety and fire standards. Lead Agencies must conduct at least one pre-licensure inspection for compliance with health, safety, and fire standards of each child care provider and facility in the State/Territory. a. Licensed CCDF center-based providers i. Does your pre-licensure inspection for licensed center-based providers assess compliance with health standards, safety standards, and fire standards? [ ] Yes. [x] No. If no, describe: The lead agency received a Preliminary Notice of Possible Non-Compliance letter on May 9, 2024, notifying the lead agency of a non- compliance related to inspections for CCDF licensed providers. The Lead Agency certifies that additional time is needed to come into compliance with the requirement noted in the letter. Currently, the Lead Agency does not list on the inspection checklists for any CCDF Licensed Provider: communication with families, and volunteer training and drills, or Child Development Approaches to Learning. Additionally, the Lead Agency does not have requirements for all CCDF Licensed Providers for all training topics (appropriate to the provider setting and ages served), and child maltreatment; therefore, the lead agency cannot monitor for them. On February 22, 2022, the lead agency received a Preliminary Notice of Possible Non-Compliance letter notifying the lead agency of a non-compliance related to inspections for CCDF licensed providers. The Lead Agency certifies that additional time is needed to come into compliance with the requirement noted in the letter. Currently, licensed day care centers do not have a requirement in place to monitor for group size limits. The Lead Agency monitors licensed day care centers for having emergency preparedness and response plans, but the emergency preparedness and response planning standards are incomplete, as they do not include: procedures for evacuation, relocation, shelter-in-place, and lockdown; continuity of operations; and accommodation of toddlers. The Lead Agency monitors licensed day care centers for standards for First Aid and CPR, but the standards do not include pediatric (or age-appropriate) First Aid and CPR requirements for all staff. The Lead Agency does not monitor licensed family day care homes for standards for pediatric First Aid. Pre-service/orientation training for licensed day care centers that are CCDF-eligible does not include prevention of child maltreatment and the emergency preparedness and response training does not include all required components for the CCDF-eligible providers, therefore not all pre-service/training requirements are monitored annually. The lead agency does not monitor licensed day care centers for pediatric CPR training. The Lead Agency does not monitor pre-service/orientation training to include approaches to learning. ii. Identify the frequency of annual unannounced inspections for licensed center- based providers addressing compliance with health, safety, and fire standards: [x] Annually. [ ] More than once a year. If more than once a year, describe: [ ] Other. If other, describe: iii. Does the Lead Agency implement a differential monitoring approach when monitoring licensed center-based providers? [ ] Yes. If yes, describe how the differential monitoring approach is representative of the full complement of health and safety requirements. [x] No. If no, describe: The Lead Agency does not implement a differential monitoring approach when monitoring licensed center-based providers. iv. Identify which department or agency is responsible for completing the inspections for licensed center-based providers. Child Care Services Division-Licensing b. Licensed CCDF family child care providers i. Does your pre-licensure inspection for licensed family child care homes assess compliance with health standards, safety standards, and fire standards? [ ] Yes. [x] No. If no, describe: The lead agency received a Preliminary Notice of Possible Non-Compliance letter on May 9, 2024, notifying the lead agency of a non- compliance related to inspections for CCDF licensed providers. The Lead Agency certifies that additional time is needed to come into compliance with the requirement noted in the letter. Currently, the Lead Agency does not list on the inspection checklists for any CCDF Licensed Provider: communication with families, and volunteer training and drills, or Child Development Approaches to Learning. Additionally, the Lead Agency does not have requirements for all CCDF Licensed Providers for all training topics (appropriate to the provider setting and ages served), and child maltreatment; therefore, the lead agency cannot monitor for them. On February 22, 2022, the lead agency received a Preliminary Notice of Possible Non-Compliance letter notifying the lead agency of a non-compliance related to inspections for CCDF licensed providers. The Lead Agency certifies that additional time is needed to come into compliance with the requirement noted in the letter. Currently, licensed family day care homes/group day care homes do not have a requirement in place to monitor for group size limits. The Lead Agency monitors licensed family day care homes/group day care homes for having emergency preparedness and response plans, but the emergency preparedness and response planning standards are incomplete, as they do not include: procedures for evacuation, relocation, shelter-in-place, and lockdown; continuity of operations; and accommodation of toddlers. The Lead Agency monitors licensed group day care homes for standards for First Aid and CPR, but the standards do not include pediatric (or age-appropriate) First Aid and CPR requirements for all staff. The Lead Agency does not monitor licensed family day care homes for standards for pediatric First Aid. Pre-service/orientation training for licensed family day care homes/group day care homes that are CCDF-eligible does not include prevention of child maltreatment and the emergency preparedness and response training does not include all required components for the CCDF-eligible providers, therefore not all pre-service/training requirements are monitored annually. The lead agency does not monitor licensed family day care homes/group day care homes for pediatric First Aid training. The lead agency does not monitor licensed group day care homes for pediatric CPR training. The Lead Agency does not monitor pre-service/orientation training to include approaches to learning. ii. Identify the frequency of annual unannounced inspections for licensed family child care homes addressing compliance with health, safety, and fire standards: [x] Annually. [ ] More than once a year. If more than once a year, describe: [ ] Other. If other, describe: iii. Does the Lead Agency implement a differential monitoring approach when monitoring licensed family child care providers? [ ] Yes. If yes, describe how the differential monitoring approach is representative of the full complement of health and safety requirements. [x] No. If no, describe: The Lead Agency does not implement a differential monitoring approach when monitoring licensed center-based providers. iv. Identify which department or agency is responsible for completing the inspections for licensed family child care providers. Child Care Services Division-Licensing. c. Licensed in-home CCDF child care providers i. Does your Lead Agency license CCDF in-home child care (care in the child’s own home) providers? [x] No. [ ] Yes. If yes, does your pre-licensure inspection for licensed in-home providers assess compliance with health, safety, and fire standards? [ ] Yes. [ ] No. If no, describe: ii. Identify the frequency of annual unannounced inspections for licensed in-home child care providers for compliance with health, safety, and fire standards completed: [ ] Annually. [ ] More than once a year. If more than once a year, describe: [x] Other. If other, describe: N/A iii. Does the Lead Agency implement a differential monitoring approach when monitoring licensed in-home child care providers? [ ] Yes. If yes, describe how the differential monitoring approach is representative of the full complement of health and safety requirements. [x] No. iv. Identify which department or agency is responsible for completing the inspections for licensed in-home providers. N/A 5.5.2 Inspections for license-exempt providers Licensing inspectors must perform at least one annual monitoring visit of each license-exempt CCDF provider for compliance with health, safety, and fire standards. Inspections for relative providers will be addressed in subsection 5.8. Describe the policies and practices for the annual monitoring of: a. License-exempt CCDF center-based child care providers i. Identify the frequency of inspections for compliance with health, safety, and fire standards for license-exempt center-based providers: [ ] Annually. [ ] More than once a year. If more than once a year, describe: [x] Other. If other, describe: The lead agency received a Preliminary Notice of Possible Non-Compliance letter on May 9, 2024, notifying the lead agency of a non-compliance related to inspections for licensed-exempt CCDF providers. The Lead Agency certifies that additional time is needed to come into compliance with the requirement noted in the letter. Currently, the Lead Agency does not list on the inspection checklists for any CCDF License-Exempt Provider: communication with families, and volunteer training and drills, or Child Development Approaches to Learning. Additionally, the Lead Agency does not have requirements for all CCDF License-Exempt Providers for all required training topics (appropriate to the provider setting and ages served), and child maltreatment; therefore, the lead agency cannot inspect for them. On February 22, 2022, the lead agency received a Preliminary Notice of Possible Non-Compliance letter notifying the lead agency of a non-compliance related to inspections for licensed-exempt CCDF providers. The Lead Agency certifies that additional time is needed to come into compliance with the requirement noted in the letter. Currently, the Lead Agency does not monitor for group size limits for out of school time facilities and legal exempt providers. The Lead Agency does not monitor for pediatric First Aid standards. The emergency preparedness and response planning standards that are monitored are incomplete as they do not include: procedures for evacuation, relocation, shelter-in-place, and lockdown; continuity of operations; and accommodation of toddlers. Monitoring for pre- service/orientation training does not include prevention of child maltreatment. Emergency preparedness and response training is required and monitored, but it does not include the required components for all of the CCDF-eligible providers. The lead agency does not monitor out of school time facilities and legal exempt providers, for pediatric or age-appropriate First Aid and pediatric or age- appropriate CPR training. The Lead Agency does not monitor pre- service/orientation training to include approaches to learning. ii. Does the Lead Agency implement a differential monitoring approach when monitoring license-exempt center-based providers? [ ] Yes. If yes, describe how the differential monitoring approach is representative of the full complement of health and safety requirements. [x] No. iii. Identify which department or agency is responsible for completing the inspections for license-exempt center-based CCDF providers. Child Care Services Division- Licensing b. License-exempt CCDF family child care providers i. Identify the frequency of the inspections of license-exempt family child care providers to determine compliance with health, safety, and fire standards: [ ] Annually. [ ] More than once a year. If more than once a year, describe: [x] Other. If other, describe: The Lead Agency does not allow CCDF family child care providers to be license exempt. ii. Does the Lead Agency implement a differential monitoring approach when monitoring license-exempt family child care providers? [ ] Yes. If yes, describe how the differential monitoring approach is representative of the full complement of health and safety requirements. [x] No. iii. Identify which department or agency is responsible for completing the inspections for license-exempt family child care providers. N/A 5.5.3 Inspections for CCDF license-exempt in-home child care providers Lead Agencies may develop alternate monitoring requirements for care provided in the child’s home that are appropriate to the setting. This flexibility cannot be used to bypass the monitoring requirement altogether. a. Describe the requirements for the annual monitoring of CCDF license-exempt in-home child care (care in the child’s own home) providers, including if monitoring is announced or unannounced, occurs more frequently than once per year, and if differential monitoring procedures are used. Informal providers include both in-home providers and out-of-home providers. Informal providers are exempt from any CCDF requirements other than proof of relatedness. b. List the entity(ies) in your State/Territory responsible for conducting inspections of license-exempt CCDF in-home child care (care in the child’s own home) providers: Informal providers include both in-home providers and out-of-home providers. Informal providers are exempt from any CCDF requirements other than proof of relatedness. 5.5.4 Posting monitoring and inspection reports Lead Agencies must post monitoring and inspection reports on their consumer education website for each licensed and CCDF child care provider, except in cases where the provider is related to all the children in their care. These reports must include the results of required annual monitoring visits and visits due to major substantiated complaints about a provider’s failure to comply with health and safety requirements and child care policies. A full report covers everything in the monitoring visit, including areas of compliance and non-compliance. If the Lead Agency does not produce any reports that include areas of compliance, the website must include information about all areas covered by a monitoring visit. The reports must be in plain language or provide a plain language summary Lead Agency and be timely to ensure that the results of the reports are available and easily understood by parents when they are deciding on a child care provider. Lead Agencies must post at least 3 years of monitoring and inspection reports. a. Does the Lead Agency post: i. [x] Pre-licensing inspection reports for licensed programs. ii. [x] Full monitoring and inspection reports that include areas of compliance and non-compliance for all non-relative providers eligible to provide CCDF services. iii. [ ] Monitoring and inspection reports that include areas of non-compliance only, with information about all areas covered by a monitoring visit posted separately on the website (e.g., a blank checklist used by monitors) for all non-relative providers eligible to provide CCDF services. If checked, provide a direct URL/website link to the website where a blank checklist is posted: iv. [ ] Other. Describe: b. Check if the monitoring and inspection reports and any related plain language summaries include: i. [x] Date of inspection. ii. [ ] Health and safety violations, including those violations that resulted in fatalities or serious injuries occurring at the provider. Describe how these health and safety violations are prominently displayed: iii. [ ] Corrective action plans taken by the Lead Agency and/or child care provider. Describe: iv. [x] A minimum of 3 years of results, where available. v. If any of the components above are not selected, please explain: The lead agency received a Preliminary Notice of Possible Non-Compliance letter on May 9, 2024, notifying the lead agency of a non-compliance related to posting monitoring and inspection reports. The Lead Agency certifies that additional time is needed to come into compliance with the requirement noted in the letter. Currently, monitoring and inspection reports of providers are posted online. However, the lead agency is not posting information on fatalities and serious injuries occurring at the provider. The lead agency received a Preliminary Notice of Possible Non-Compliance letter on February 22, 2022, notifying the lead agency of a non-compliance related to posting of information related to corrective actions. The Lead Agency certifies that additional time is needed to come into compliance with the requirement noted in the letter. Currently, monitoring and inspection reports of providers are posted online. However, the lead agency is not posting information about corrective action taken by the State and the child care provider. c. Lead Agencies must post monitoring and inspection reports and/or any related summaries in a timely manner. i. Provide the direct URL/website link to where the reports are posted: https://apps.dhr.alabama.gov/daycare/daycare_search ii. Identify the Lead Agency’s established timeline for posting monitoring reports and describe how it is timely: The postings of reports are timely due to licensing staff scanning all related documentation of monitoring and inspection reports no later than 5 business days after visiting a child care facility. Once the documentation is scanned it is uploaded to the Consumer website with in 24 hours. d. Does the Lead Agency certify that the monitoring and inspection reports or the summaries are in plain language that is understandable to parents and other consumers? [x] Yes. [ ] No. If no, describe: e. Does the Lead Agency certify that there is a process for correcting inaccuracies in the monitoring and inspection reports? [x] Yes. [ ] No. If no, describe: f. Does the Lead Agency maintain monitoring and inspection reports on the consumer education website? [x] Yes. [ ] No. If no, describe: 5.5.5 Qualifications and training of licensing inspectors Lead Agencies must ensure that individuals who are hired as licensing inspectors (or qualified monitors designated by the Lead Agency) are qualified to inspect child care providers and facilities and have received health and safety training appropriate to the provider setting and age of the children served. Describe how the Lead Agency ensures that licensing inspectors (or qualified monitors designated by the Lead Agency) are qualified and have received training on health and safety requirements that are appropriate to the age of the children in care and the type of provider setting. The minimum requirements for licensing inspectors (Child Care Consultant) is a Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university in Child Development, Early Childhood Education, Elementary Education, Home Economics with major coursework in Child Development, or a closely related field and two years of professional experience in teaching preschool or elementary children, directing day care activities, or in licensing day care facilities. Consultants are extensively trained on the Standards that pertains to the facilities they will be inspecting for their first 6 months of employment. The Standards cover the requirements for infants through school-age children. During the first 6 months of training, consultants are crossed- trained on center standards, home and group home standards. In addition to the Standards, Consultants receive thorough training on health and safety requirements. These health and safety trainings are appropriate to the age of the children in care and the type of provider setting they will be inspecting as well. Consultants are trained on the computer system pertaining to licensing, intake procedures, complaint investigations, and deficiency writing. They shadow experienced consultants with various types of monitoring visits for centers and homes and began to complete portions of the evaluations independently. The visits are made to facilities that are licensed for all age groups. The consultants are monitored by their supervisor for accuracy in completing the evaluation of the facility. The lead agency has created the Training and Development unit within the Child Care Services Division to conduct new hire and refresher training for childcare consultants. Quarterly to monthly unit meetings are held with consultants and their supervisor. During these unit meetings the following items are reviewed: Standards, completion of required documents, and policy and procedures. 5.5.6 Ratio of licensing inspectors Lead Agencies must ensure the ratio of licensing inspectors to child care providers and facilities in the State/Territory are maintained at a level sufficient to enable the Lead Agency to conduct effective inspections of child care providers and facilities on a timely basis in accordance with federal, State, and local laws. Provide the ratio of licensing inspectors to child care providers (i.e., number of inspectors per number of child care providers) and facilities in the State/Territory and include how the ratio is sufficient to conduct effective inspections on a timely basis. The average caseload assignment for a consultant with child care centers are approximately 61-63 facilities. Child care centers include all that are licensed, licensed exempt center-based and non-CCDF licensed exempt (faith-based), The average caseload assignment for a consultant with day care homes is approximately 62-63 facilities. Day care homes include all licensed family day care homes and all licensed group day care homes. When determining the number of facilities assigned to the consultants, consideration is given to the distance of travel from/to the child care facility, the number of facilities in urban and rural areas, and the number of complaints/incidents received by type of facilities. By maintaining caseloads at the above assignment level, consultants are able to do renewal visits prior to expiration of the license, annual visits 45 days prior to license date, and complaints/incidents are based on the date assigned by the risk score.