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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. [ ] More than once a year. If more than once a year, describe: [x] Other. If other, describe: Date of preliminary notice issued by OCC: 4/2/2024 Minnesota affirms that Lead Agency needs additional time to meet this requirement. Description of current policy and the way it is out of compliance: Minnesota does monitor compliance for licensed child care centers at pre- licensure and annually. However, substitutes in licensed child care centers, do not have a requirement for a minimum number of ongoing training hours. Licensed child care centers are required to have policies for all the federally required health and safety standards based on state legislative requirements and minimally, train directors, staff persons, substitutes, and unsupervised volunteers on the health and safety requirements each calendar year. CPR and first aid training & child development and learning training are required once every two calendar years. Additionally, directors and staff persons who work more than 20 hours per week must complete 24 hours of in-service training each calendar year. Staff persons who work 20 hours or less per week must complete 12 hours of in- service training each calendar year. Substitutes and unsupervised volunteers must complete at least two hours of yearly training on the health and safety standards. For licensed child care centers, the department may conduct monitoring visits more frequently if a program is in its first year of operation, has significant noncompliance, or is operating under a conditional license. 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. During a licensing inspection of a child care center, a department licensor is responsible for inspecting the physical environment, observing implementation of the child care program plan, and reviewing the provider's records (including background study verification and staff training records). If a fire code issue is identified during the inspection, the department’s licensor will make a referral to the fire marshal. The department must conduct a licensing inspection at least once per calendar year but can conduct monitoring visits more frequently. If, during a monitoring visit, a licensor determines that one or more licensing violation has occurred, the licensor must issue a fix-it ticket (for certain correctable violations) or a correction order. The department has the authority to issue more serious licensing actions to a center depending on the nature, severity or chronicity of the licensing violation(s). [ ] No. If no, describe: iv. Identify which department or agency is responsible for completing the inspections for licensed center-based providers. Minnesota Department of Children, Youth and Families 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. [ ] More than once a year. If more than once a year, describe: [x] Other. If other, describe: Date of preliminary notice issued by OCC: 4/2/2024 Minnesota affirms that Lead Agency needs additional time to meet this requirement. Description of current policy and the way it is out of compliance: Minnesota does monitor compliance for licensed family child care providers at pre-licensure and annually. Additionally, the license holder and each second adult caregiver must take four hours of training annually. Substitutes and adult caregivers who provide care for 500 or fewer hours per year must complete a minimum of one hour of training each calendar year. For licensed child care centers, the department may conduct monitoring visits more frequently if a program is in its first year of operation, has significant noncompliance, or is operating under a conditional license. 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. During a licensing inspection of a family child care program, a county licensor is responsible for inspecting the home and reviewing the provider's records (including background study verification and staff training records). The county licensor must conduct a licensing inspection at least annually but can conduct monitoring visits more frequently. If, during a monitoring visit, a licensor determines that one or more licensing violations has occurred, the licensor must issue a fix-it ticket (for certain correctable violations) or a correction order. The county can also recommend to the department that a licensing action be issued to the family child care provider based on the nature, severity or chronicity of the licensing violation(s). [ ] No. If no, describe: iv. Identify which department or agency is responsible for completing the inspections for licensed family child care providers. County licensing agencies. 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: Date of preliminary notice issued by OCC: 4/2/2024. Minnesota affirms that Lead Agency needs additional time to meet this requirement. For license-exempt certified child care centers, the department may conduct monitoring visits more frequently than once a year if a program is operating under a conditional certification. Description of current policy and the way it is out of compliance: Minnesota does monitor compliance for license-exempt certified child care centers annually. Certified license-exempt centers are required to have policies for all the federally required health and safety standards based on state legislative requirements and minimally, train directors, staff persons, substitutes, and unsupervised volunteers on the health and safety requirements each calendar year. CPR and first aid training & child development and learning training are required once every two calendar years. Additionally, directors and staff persons must complete 6 hours of in-service training each calendar year. Substitutes and unsupervised volunteers must complete at least two hours of yearly training on the health and safety standards. ii. Does the Lead Agency implement a differential monitoring approach when monitoring license-exempt center-based providers? [x] Yes. If yes, describe how the differential monitoring approach is representative of the full complement of health and safety requirements. The department must conduct a certification inspection at least once per calendar year but can conduct monitoring visits more frequently. If, during a monitoring visit, a licensor determines that one or more certification violations have occurred, the licensor must issue a correction order. The department has the authority to issue more serious actions such as a conditional certification to a center depending on the nature, severity or chronicity of the violation(s). [ ] No. iii. Identify which department or agency is responsible for completing the inspections for license-exempt center-based CCDF providers. Minnesota Department of Children, Youth and Families 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: Date of preliminary notice issued by OCC: 4/2/2024. Minnesota affirms that Lead Agency needs additional time to meet this requirement. Description of current policy and the way it is out of compliance: Minnesota does monitor compliance for license-exempt certified family child care providers annually. However, substitutes in license-exempt certified family child care providers, do not have a requirement for a minimum number of ongoing training hours. Substitutes are required to be trained on all the health and safety topic areas, but because they do not have hours requirements, we cannot monitor for that standard. Effective 10/1/2025, legal nonlicensed providers who serve unrelated children must complete at least two hours of training annually. 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. For legal nonlicensed providers, the local agency issuing payments to the legal nonlicensed provider is responsible for ensuring the annual monitoring visit is completed. 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. Minnesota requires annual monitoring for legal nonlicensed providers who care for at least one unrelated child on child care assistance. Local agencies must inspect unrelated legal nonlicensed providers annually. Monitoring visits are announced and do not occur more frequently than once per year. Date of preliminary notice issued by OCC: 4/2/2024 MN affirms that Lead Agency needs additional time to meet requirement. Description of current policy and the way it is out of compliance: Unrelated legal nonlicensed providers are required to take training in all required health and safety topics within 90 days of beginning to care for an unrelated child. Unrelated legal nonlicensed providers are required to take training in all health and safety topics at their registration renewal, which is typically two years after their initial registration. Minnesota is not in compliance with the requirement that unrelated legal nonlicensed providers have annual training in health and safety topics. Effective 10/1/2025, legal nonlicensed providers who serve unrelated children must complete at least two hours of training annually. 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: For legal nonlicensed providers, the local agency issuing payments to the legal nonlicensed provider is responsible for ensuring the annual monitoring visit is completed. 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. [ ] Pre-licensing inspection reports for licensed programs. ii. [ ] Full monitoring and inspection reports that include areas of compliance and non-compliance for all non-relative providers eligible to provide CCDF services. iii. [x] 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: The checklist for licensed child care centers can be found on the licensed child care centers webpage, https://mn.gov/dhs/licensing-child-care/, under the Forms and Other Documents section, titled Licensing Checklist for Licensed Child Care Centers. The checklist for family child care programs can be found on the licensed family child care webpage, https://mn.gov/dhs/licensing-fcc/, under the Forms and Other Documents section, titled Electronic Licensing Inspection Checklist Information (ELICI) tool. The checklist for certified license-exempt centers can be found on the certified license-exempt centers webpage, https://mn.gov/dhs/licensing-certified- centers/. The checklist for legal nonlicensed providers can be found on the Legal nonlicensed provider annual monitoring page (https://mn.gov/dhs/partners-and- providers/policies-procedures/child-care-and-early-education/legal-nonlicensed- provider-annual-monitoring/#1), under Why are providers monitored?, titled (https://edocs.dhs.state.mn.us/lfserver/Public/DHS-5192B-ENG) home safety checklist DHS-5192B-ENG. Date of preliminary notice issued by OCC: 4/2/2024. Minnesota affirms that Lead Agency needs additional time to meet requirement. Description of current policy and the way it is out of compliance: For pre-licensure visits, the lead agency posts that a pre-licensure visit occurred prior to the initial effective date of the license. Minnesota is not in compliance because we do not post the visit date(s) for Licensed Child Care Centers and Licensed Family Child Care. Systems changes will be needed to show specific dates of pre-licensure visits as well as changes to our current posting procedures to come into compliance with the new rule requirements 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: When violations are found, a correction order is issued, and the results of the monitoring visit are made available in a plain language format on the department’s Licensing Information Lookup webpage, including the date of the visit, type of visit (i.e., investigation), and outcome of visit (i.e., licensing violations were found).The monitoring information table for the visit clearly shows the category of each violation(s) and a description of the violation(s). For legal nonlicensed providers, if a provider has a health and safety violation, it is considered a corrective action and recorded on the provider’s monitoring visit summary report on the department’s Legal nonlicensed provider annual monitoring webpage (https://mn.gov/dhs/partners- and-providers/policies-procedures/child-care-and-early-education/legal- nonlicensed-provider-annual-monitoring/), including the date of the visit, date of compliance, corrective actions required and completed, and any health and safety incidents that have occurred with the provider. iii. [x] Corrective action plans taken by the Lead Agency and/or child care provider. Describe: The results of the monitoring visit are made available in a plain language format on the department’s Licensing Information Lookup webpage, including the date of the visit, type of visit (i.e., investigation), and outcome of visit (i.e., licensing violations were found or a licensing action was issued). If licensing violations were found, there is a description of how each violation was corrected. The provider works with the licensor to make the corrections required as indicated on the full correction order issued to the provider. When the licensor receives the provider’s response, the licensor inputs the information into ELICI which posts to the department’s Licensing Information Lookup webpage. Documentation from the provider is kept in the provider’s record. The posted information includes whether the violation was corrected on-site, if the violation is under appeal, if the violation was corrected/approved, if the violation was corrected through verification on a follow up visit, or if the violation was not corrected. If a licensing action is issued, a full copy of the licensing action is posted. For legal nonlicensed providers, any corrective actions are included in the provider’s monitoring visit summary report on the department’s Legal nonlicensed provider annual monitoring webpage (https://mn.gov/dhs/partners- and-providers/policies-procedures/child-care-and-early-education/legal- nonlicensed-provider-annual-monitoring/), including the category and indicator of the health and safety violation, the corrective action the provider took, and the monitor’s comments. 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: The results of monitoring visits for licensed family child care programs, licensed child care centers, and certified license-exempt centers are posted on the department’s Licensing Information Lookup webpage - https://licensinglookup.dhs.state.mn.us/. The results of monitoring visits for legal nonlicensed providers are posted on the department’s Legal nonlicensed provider annual monitoring webpage (https://mn.gov/dhs/partners-and-providers/policies-procedures/child-care-and- early-education/legal-nonlicensed-provider-annual-monitoring/). ii. Identify the Lead Agency’s established timeline for posting monitoring reports and describe how it is timely: Visits are conducted using an electronic licensing tool (ELICI). At the end of a visit, ELICI generates either a "no violations letter" or a correction order, which is directly issued to the provider. The summary results of the visit are automatically posted to Licensing Information Lookup seven (7) days following the date the "no violations letter" or a correction order. For serious and/or reoccurring violations, the department may take a licensing action against the center (i.e., fine, conditional license, suspend or revoke the license). These types of actions are generally issued to the provider within 90 days from the visit date, though it may take longer to finalize results for more complicated reviews. These are issued directly to the provider and the complete document is posted to Licensing Information Lookup. For legal nonlicensed providers, after an annual monitoring visit is performed and any necessary follow up is complete with the provider, the agency must complete the Child Care Assistance Program Monitoring visit summary (DHS-7867A) (https://edocs.dhs.state.mn.us/lfserver/Public/DHS-7867A-ENG) and submit to the department. This form must be submitted for all monitoring visits. The department posts monitoring visit results using the Child Care Assistance Program Monitoring visit summary (DHS-7867A) form publicly for three years. Monitoring visits results are posted within 30 days after they are received by the department. 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. For licensed child care centers and certified license-exempt centers, it is department policy and practice that licensors hired to inspect child care facilities meet the minimum qualifications for the job including having professional experience working in a licensed or certified center. Additionally, licensors are trained on health and safety requirements and all aspects of the state's licensing and certification requirements and processes, which includes requirements appropriate to the age of the children in care and the type of provider setting. The department has an extensive on- boarding training and mentoring program for new licensors before they begin conducting inspections and requires at least six hours of ongoing training each year. Finally, state law mandates that the department provide training and development to staff to promote professional development (Minn. Stat. 43A.21). For family child care programs, state law requires county licensors to receive training developed by the department, which includes health and safety requirements, requirements appropriate to the age of the children in care and provider setting, and all aspects of the state's licensing requirements and processes (Minn. Rules 9543.0130). County licensors must complete training within 90 days of their employment. Further, the department facilitates ongoing training for county licensors, including training on new or changed licensing requirements and on conducting inspections and investigations. 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. State law governs the department's direct licensure and oversight of child care centers, as well as the department's oversight of the county-delegated licensure of family child care programs. State law requires the department to conduct at least one unannounced licensing inspection at each licensed child care center annually, and state law requires the county licensing agencies to conduct at least one unannounced licensing inspection at each licensed family child care program annually. Further, state law outlines other licensing responsibilities held by the department and county licensing agencies. For department licensors (sometimes referred to as "state licensors"): A caseload average of approximately one licensor to 80 child care centers is sufficient to ensure the department performs all of its licensing responsibilities, including conducting inspections as required by federal and state law. Within the team of state licensors, some licensors work with licensed centers and others work with certified centers. There is supervisor team who oversees the state licensors’ work as well as data sources that track how they perform their licensing responsibilities, including conducting annual licensing inspections and complaint investigations as required by state law. If the caseload ratio is not sufficient, adjustments are made including requesting additional FTEs if warranted. Additionally, there is a specialized team of licensors that work with all applications and license holders in their first year of licensure. Because of the variability and the complexity in the work we do, some licensors have more than 80 centers on their caseload and others have less than 80. The department monitors caseloads and makes adjustments to caseloads when necessary. For county licensors: we see an average of one licensor to approximately 75 family child care providers. With the county delegation, we know the number of individuals who do the monitoring work, but many of those individuals are not hired to solely do family child care provider licensing work so it is difficult to know exact caseload number. While there are not exact numbers or a prescribed caseload ratio for county licensing agencies, they are required to maintain sufficient staffing to perform all of their licensing responsibilities. The department monitors county licensing agencies’ ability to perform their licensing responsibilities, including the ability of each agency to conduct annual licensing inspections and compliant investigations as required by state law.