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? [x] Yes. [ ] No. If no, describe: ii. Identify the frequency of annual unannounced inspections for licensed center- based providers addressing compliance with health, safety, and fire standards: [ ] Annually. [x] More than once a year. If more than once a year, describe: Licensed child care center facilities receive a minimum of three unannounced inspections each year. [ ] Other. If other, describe: iii. Does the Lead Agency implement a differential monitoring approach when monitoring licensed center-based providers? [x] Yes. If yes, describe how the differential monitoring approach is representative of the full complement of health and safety requirements. In July 2022, the DCF implemented differential monitoring known as abbreviated inspections. This differential monitoring is for any child care provider who has been licensed or licensed-exempt Gold Seal designated for two years and had no Class 1 or Class 2 violations within a two year period. The Gold Seal Quality Care Program was established to acknowledge child care facilities and family day care homes that have gone above the required minimum licensing standards to become accredited by recognized agencies whose standards reflect quality in the level of care and supervision provided to children. Providers who qualify are afforded abbreviated inspections in lieu of the routine inspections. The standards monitored during abbreviated inspections have been identified as key indicators of whether the child care provider continues to provide quality care and programming. Statistically, the standards and abbreviated inspection process are highly predictive of full compliance with all child care rules. Standards that pose the greatest risk of harm to children, if violated, are also measured. In addition, five additional randomly selected standards are measured. If at any time during an abbreviated inspection, a standard that is not a key indicator is observed to be noncompliant, the provider is cited for that standard. Key Indicator Inspections are based on a statistical methodology that reduces the number of standards measured by 90 percent, focusing inspections of programs that have consistently met higher standards on those standards most likely to protect children. [ ] No. If no, describe: iv. Identify which department or agency is responsible for completing the inspections for licensed center-based providers. DCF conducts inspections of licensed providers in 63 of 67 counties in the state. Broward County, Child Care Licensing and Enforcement, conducts inspections of licensed providers in Broward County. Sarasota County Health Department, Child Care Licensing, conducts inspections of licensed providers in Sarasota County. Palm Beach County Health Department, Child Care Licensing, conducts inspections of licensed providers in Palm Beach County. Pinellas County Health Department, Child Care Licensing Program, conducts inspections of licensed providers in Pinellas County 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? [x] Yes. [ ] No. If no, describe: ii. Identify the frequency of annual unannounced inspections for licensed family child care homes addressing compliance with health, safety, and fire standards: [ ] Annually. [x] More than once a year. If more than once a year, describe: Licensed family day care homes and large family day care homes receive a minimum of two unannounced inspections each year. [ ] Other. If other, describe: iii. Does the Lead Agency implement a differential monitoring approach when monitoring licensed family child care providers? [x] Yes. If yes, describe how the differential monitoring approach is representative of the full complement of health and safety requirements. In July 2022, DCF implemented differential monitoring known as abbreviated inspections. This differential monitoring is for any child care provider who has been licensed or licensed-exempt Gold Seal designated for two years and had no Class 1 or Class 2 violations within a two year period. Providers who qualify are afforded abbreviated inspections in lieu of the routine inspections. The standards monitored during abbreviated inspections have been identified as key indicators of whether the child care provider continues to provide quality care and programming. Statistically, the standards and abbreviated inspection process are highly predictive of full compliance with all child care rules. Standards that pose the greatest risk of harm to children, if violated, are also measured. In addition, five additional randomly selected standards are measured. If at any time during an abbreviated inspection, a standard that is not a key indicator is observed to be noncompliant, the provider is cited for that standard. Key Indicator Inspections are based on a statistical methodology that reduces the number of standards measured by 90 percent; however, the standards measured are more likely to protect children. Children are safer, quality is improved, and government is more efficient. [ ] No. If no, describe: iv. Identify which department or agency is responsible for completing the inspections for licensed family child care providers. DCF conducts inspections of licensed providers in 63 of 67 counties in the state. Broward County, Child Care Licensing and Enforcement, conducts inspections of licensed providers in Broward County. Sarasota County Health Department, Child Care Licensing, conducts inspections of licensed providers in Sarasota County. Palm Beach County Health Department, Child Care Licensing, conducts inspections of licensed providers in Palm Beach County. Pinellas County Health Department, Child Care Licensing Program, conducts inspections of licensed providers in Pinellas County. 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: Florida does not license in-home child care, however, they receive a minimum of one annual, unannounced inspection is conducted. There are no exemptions to inspection requirements for these providers. In- home relative caregivers must meet the same standards for health and safety inspections as license-exempt family day care homes. 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. Florida does not license in-home child care. 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: [x] Annually. [ ] More than once a year. If more than once a year, describe: [ ] Other. If other, describe: 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. DCF conducts inspections of license-exempt providers in 63 of 67 counties in the state. Broward County, Child Care Licensing and Enforcement, conducts inspections of license-exempt providers in Broward County. Sarasota County Health Department, Child Care Licensing, conducts inspections of license-exempt providers in Sarasota County. Palm Beach County Health Department, Child Care Licensing, conducts inspections of license-exempt providers in Palm Beach County. Pinellas County Health Department, Child Care Licensing Program, conducts inspections of license- exempt providers in Pinellas County. 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: [x] Annually. [ ] More than once a year. If more than once a year, describe: [ ] Other. If other, describe: ii. Does the Lead Agency implement a differential monitoring approach when monitoring license-exempt family child care providers? [x] Yes. If yes, describe how the differential monitoring approach is representative of the full complement of health and safety requirements. In July 2022, DCF implemented differential monitoring known as abbreviated inspections. This differential monitoring is for any child care provider who has been licensed or licensed-exempt Gold Seal designated for two years and had no Class 1 or Class 2 violations within a two year period. Providers who qualify are afforded abbreviated inspections in lieu of the routine inspections. The standards monitored during abbreviated inspections have been identified as key indicators of whether the child care provider continues to provide quality care and programming. Statistically, the standards and abbreviated inspection process are highly predictive of full compliance with all child care rules. Standards that pose the greatest risk of harm to children, if violated, are also measured. In addition, five additional randomly selected standards are measured. If at any time during an abbreviated inspection, a standard that is not a key indicator is observed to be noncompliant, the provider is cited for that standard. Key Indicator Inspections are based on a statistical methodology that reduces the number of standards measured by 90 percent; however, the standards measured are more likely to protect children. Children are safer, quality is improved, and government is more efficient. [ ] No. iii. Identify which department or agency is responsible for completing the inspections for license-exempt family child care providers. DCF conducts inspections of license-exempt providers in 63 of 67 counties in the state. Broward County, Child Care Licensing and Enforcement, conducts inspections of license-exempt providers in Broward County. Sarasota County Health Department, Child Care Licensing, conducts inspections of license-exempt providers in Sarasota County. Palm Beach County Health Department, Child Care Licensing, conducts inspections of license-exempt providers in Palm Beach County. Pinellas County Health Department, Child Care Licensing Program, conducts inspections of license- exempt providers in Pinellas County. 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. A minimum of one annual, unannounced inspection is conducted. There are no exemptions to inspection requirements for these providers. In- home relative caregivers must meet the same standards for health and safety inspections as license-exempt family day care homes. Some standards regarding food service, transportation, diapering, crib safety and administration of medication are services that may be non-applicable to certain providers. In these instances, a notation is made within the inspection report that reflects non-applicable (i.e., for a provider that does not offer transportation services) and all standards related to this service are marked "NA" on the inspection report. 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: DCF conducts inspections of licensed providers in 63 of 67 counties in the state. Broward County, Child Care Licensing and Enforcement, conducts inspections of licensed providers in Broward County. Sarasota County Health Department, Child Care Licensing, conducts inspections of licensed providers in Sarasota County. Palm Beach County Health Department, Child Care Licensing, conducts inspections of licensed providers in Palm Beach County. Pinellas County Health Department, Child Care Licensing Program, conducts inspections of licensed providers in Pinellas County. 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. [x] 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: Noncompliance items are noted on inspection reports with a description of the violation and a deadline for corrective action is established. The public display of a provider’s inspection history indicates a red dot next to any inspection that contains violations. iii. [x] Corrective action plans taken by the Lead Agency and/or child care provider. Describe: For noncompliance items that are not corrected at time of inspection, a corrective action due date is established, and guidance provided regarding what action is needed to bring the standard back into compliance. A reinspection is completed to verify that non-compliance items are corrected. iv. [x] A minimum of 3 years of results, where available. v. If any of the components above are not selected, please explain: 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: DCF ￿ Public Search page: https://caressearch.myflfamilies.com/PublicSearch ii. Identify the Lead Agency’s established timeline for posting monitoring reports and describe how it is timely: Routine, renewals, and re-inspections are approved and posted to the public website within 10 days from the inspection date. 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. All personnel assigned responsibility for the inspection and licensing of child care facilities and family day care homes are classified as "Family Services Counselors" (Class Code: 5990) within the Florida Department of Management Services' job classification system. Preference is given to candidates with a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university; however, relevant experience can be substituted. All Family Services Counselors are required to complete Preservice Training that is based on the Child Care Licensing Desk Reference Guide which is facilitated through the Policy Specialist at DCF headquarters and offered in-person and virtually as needed. In addition, new counselors must complete online DCF training that includes the following: Child Care Pre- Service training, Family Day Care Homes Licensing course, Guidance and Discipline, Child Abuse and Neglect, Child Growth and Development, Guide to Record Keeping, Fire Safety & Emergency Preparedness, Playground Safety, Transportation Safety, Supporting Children with Developmental Disabilities, Serving Safe Food in Child Care, and FDA Food Inspector training. Along with instructor-led and online training, licensing staff must complete 14 additional supplemental activities within 12 months of hire, which are documented as completed by the supervisor. All training requirements are tracked by the Policy Specialist and the Family Services Counselor’s supervisor in the regional office and verified prior to the counselor working solo in the field. Training requirements for the four local licensing counties meet or exceed DCF's training requirements for licensing counselors. 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. In 2011, the National Association for Regulatory Administration (NARA) issued a policy paper entitled Strong Licensing: The Foundation for a Quality Early Care and Education System. It included the following workload recommendation, which has also been disseminated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, as an appropriate national standard. Florida's Child Care Program Office utilizes the NARA recommended maximum workload standard of 60:1 for all types of providers. At current staffing levels, the caseload average is between 50 and 60.