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first producing proof of substance abuse treatment and a valid negative drug test result, the Center’s award of federal funding shall be at risk of suspension of payments or termination.

Pursuant to § 136.17, staff members are required to submit to an alcohol or controlled substance test when there is reason to believe the employee has violated the alcohol or controlled substance policy. One commenter requested the State Superintendent provide more guidance around the conditions leading to a reasonable suspicion referral in § 136.17 since both alcohol and marijuana are legal substances. Although, both drinking alcohol and the use of marijuana in certain circumstances are legal, the consumption of alcohol and the use of marijuana is prohibited at all times when staff members are responsible for the supervision of children. Therefore, a reasonable suspicion referral should be made if there are specific, contemporaneous, articulable observations concerning the appearance, behavior, speech or body odors of the employee. The observations may include indications of the chronic and withdrawal effects of substances, including alcohol and marijuana. While both drinking alcohol and the use of marijuana in certain circumstances are legal, consumption or use may prevent staff members from providing appropriate care to infants and children by impairing motor coordination, judgment, and response time.

Section 136.18 requires that a staff member shall be subject to a post-accident test when involved in accidents under certain conditions. A commenter asked for clarification as to whether the condition in § 136.18(d) requires that the vehicle the staff member was operating in an accident must be a school-owned vehicle. This provision does not require the vehicle be a school-owned vehicle. Rather, the requirement is for post incident testing following an accident where a staff member receives a citation or moving traffic violation operating a vehicle, whether school owned or not, while performing any function while on duty.

Aides And Volunteers Section 138 sets forth various requirements for aides and volunteers, including duties of a volunteer and background check requirements. The State Superintendent received a number of comments in this section.

One commenter noted that a volunteer was not an aide and therefore should not be required to participate in ongoing in-service training and continuing education requirements, as provided in § 138. First, to clarify, “on-going in-service training” is not the same as the professional development requirements set for in § 139. Volunteers are not required to meet the requirements in § 139 as the requirement is placed on paid staff members. Caring for our Children, however, recommends that volunteers should participate in on-the-job training, including a structured orientation to the developmental needs of young children. Staff training in child development and/or early childhood education is related to positive outcomes for children. This training enables the staff to provide children with a variety of learning and social experiences appropriate to the age of the child. Accordingly, the requirement for volunteers to participate in “on-going in-service training” means that volunteers should attend any in-service training provided on an on-going basis by a facility, however, although a structured orientation to the developmental needs of young children is encouraged, a facility is not required to develop on-going in-service training specifically for volunteers.