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Section 108 sets forth the various fees for licensure. The fee structure provided in both the ANPR and the proposed rulemaking shifts the District’s practices from issuing a one (1) year license to issuing a three (3) year license. One commenter asked if new applicants would be required to pay both an application fee of seventy-five dollars ($75) and the applicable license fee. OSSE appreciates the commenter’s request for clarification. Applicants seeking an initial license and a renewal license are required to pay the application fee and the applicable licensing fee. To avoid further confusion, the State Superintendent deleted the word “initial” in § 108.2 to clarify the application fee was required for both an initial application and a renewal application. Another commenter raised the concern that the fee for the three (3) year license was burdensome, and further, that the benefit of a three (3) year license was not clear as facilities would still have to meet certain annual requirements. OSSE recognizes the financial impact that shifting to a three (3) year license may have on facilities. In order to aid facilities with the cost of both the license and the application fee, OSSE will allow facilities to set up payment plan agreement. However, it must be noted that by shifting to a three (3) year licensing scheme, OSSE is able to shift its efforts from licensing facilities to quality-focused monitoring. This shift will improve the quality of child care and education across the District.

Two commenters requested that the State Superintendent amend § 108.7 to require OSSE publish a new fee schedule ninety (90) days before any new fee is implemented. OSSE will publish any new fee schedule in accordance with the District’s laws and regulations requiring proper notice and comment.

Monitoring and Inspections The Facilities Act provides OSSE with the authority to conduct investigations and inspections of licensed facilities to ensure compliance with both the Facilities Act and the licensing regulations. In addition, the CCDBG Act emphasizes the importance of regular monitoring of child care settings to ensure compliance with appropriate standards that protect the health and safety of children and mandates that a state conduct annual monitoring visits. Accordingly, Section 111 sets forth the provisions around monitoring and inspections of licensed facilities. Four comments were received for this section. One commenter requested that the State Superintendent amend § 111.1 to require that OSSE sign in before monitoring a facility and provide documentation detailing the reason for the visit. The State Superintendent did not accept this recommendation. Often, OSSE will inspect a licensing facility based on a complaint. If the complaint alleges imminent harm, OSSE reports to the facility immediately and in those situations may not have opportunity to create documentation of the reasons for a visit. Another comment questions whether OSSE having access to a facility’s administrative records in § 111.5(a) suggests that OSSE could ask for records that are not relevant to compliance with the Facilities Act and the licensing regulations. While OSSE understands the commenters concerns, access to all records is necessary for OSSE to determine compliance. Furthermore, this is not a new requirement and was previously set forth in 29 DCMR § 303.4. One commenter questioned whether the requirement that OSSE have access to a facility’s surveillance footage in § 111.5(c) is legal. OSSE is not mandating that a facility have recording devices, rather, OSSE is requiring that if a facility has recording devices, OSSE shall have access to review footage, which is a facility’s record of the events taking place, to ensure compliance.