Section 19a-79-4a - Staffing and Consultants(a) A file shall be kept on the licensed premises for each program staff of the child care center or group child care home which shall include: (1) A medical statement signed by a physician, advanced practice registered nurse or physician assistant, completed within twelve months before the date of employment for new program staff, and every thirty six months for current program staff and at any other time requested by the commissioner, such statement to document the presence of any known medical or emotional illness or disorder that would currently pose a risk to children in care or would currently interfere with effective functioning as a program staff of a child care center or group child care home;(2) Documentation of professional development for each program staff who cares for the children, including new employee orientation and annual training for current program staff on the child care center or group child care home policies, plans and procedures; and(3) Disciplinary actions.(b) The operator shall: (1) Submit the necessary documentation and information, consistent with section 10-530 of the Connecticut General Statutes, including current employment status of prospective and existing employees in a position that requires the provision of care to a child or involves unsupervised access to any child in such child care center or group child care home, as specified by the Office, to comply with the provisions of section 19a-80 of the Connecticut General Statutes that pertain to comprehensive background checks, including but not limited to state and national criminal history and sex offender records checks and the state child abuse registry established under section 17a-101k of the Connecticut General Statutes.(2) Obtain from each prospective employee, who is eighteen years of age or older, for a position that requires the provision of care to a child or involves unsupervised access to a child, a listing of all employment held in the United States for an organization that provides care or services to children in the preceding five years. The operator shall take reasonable steps to contact each previous employer provided by the prospective employee to verify at a minimum the prospective employee's job title, description of his/her regular duties, confirmation of employment dates, and whether such previous employer would recommend the prospective employee for rehire. This information shall be made accessible to the Office upon request.(3) Not employ program staff, including volunteers, who have a record that the commissioner reasonably believes renders such program staff unsuitable to be employed in a child care center or group child care home.(4) Maintain at the child care center or group child care home evidence of compliance with the provisions of this subsection.(5) Provide to the Office any information obtained concerning such comprehensive background checks or employment history checks, upon request of the Office.(c) In accordance with the provisions of 45 CFR 98.43, as amended from time to time, a comprehensive background check shall include: (1) A search of state criminal records in any state of residency for the past five years;(2) A search of the abuse and neglect registry or database in any state of residency for the past five years;(3) A search of the sex offender registry or repository in any state of residency for the past five years;(4) A Federal Bureau of Investigation fingerprint check using Next Generation Identification; and(5) A search of the National Crime Information Center National Sex Offender Registry.(d) The operator shall maintain program staff adequate for the number, ages and developmental needs of the children to be accommodated.(1) A designated head teacher shall be on site for sixty percent of the time the child care center or group child care home is in operation on a weekly basis.(2) There shall be at least two program staff eighteen years of age or older on the licensed premises when one or more children are in attendance. The program staff shall be available to care for the children.(3) All staff in the child care center and group child care home shall demonstrate the personal qualities necessary to: (A) Care for and work with children;(B) Relate to adults; and(C) Relate to the parent(s).(4) Proper staff child ratios shall be maintained at all times, indoors and outdoors (A) There shall be at least one program staff for every ten children, or fraction thereof in attendance.(B) When there is a mixed age group, the lower required ratio for the age of the youngest child shall prevail.(C) When children are participating in swimming or wading as part of the program, whether at the facility or on a field trip, the following staff child ratios, at a minimum, shall be maintained at all times with the children:(i) All non-swimmers shall be clearly identified as non-swimmers in a way that is visually and easily recognized by lifeguards and program staff;(ii) For infants twelve months of age and younger, there shall be at least one program staff with every child who is in direct physical contact with the child;(iii) For children under three years of age, there shall be at least one program staff with every two children;(iv) For preschool children (three years to five years of age) there shall be at least one program staff with every four children; and(v) For school-age children there shall be at least one program staff with every six children.(D) Children shall be supervised at all times while at the facility, indoors or outdoors, or on field trips. At no time shall a child be left unsupervised.(5) Group size shall be maintained at all times, indoors and outdoors (A) The group size shall not exceed twenty children except for field trips exclusively for school age children, outdoor play exclusively for school age children, and activities organized by program staff exclusively for school age children, none of which shall exceed thirty children. Staff child ratios shall be maintained during these activities.(B) When there is a mixed age group, the smaller required group size shall prevail.(6) During nap time, when all of the children in the group are sleeping, the overall staff child ratios shall be maintained on the licensed premises. At no time shall a group of children be left unsupervised.(e) Programs shall have the following program staff: (1) The child care center or group child care home shall maintain documentation on site that there is a designated director who is twenty years of age or older. Any director hired or newly designated on or after January 1, 2010 shall have not later than one year of being hired or designated at least three credits in the administration of early childhood education programs or educational administration from a regionally accredited higher education institution. Any person designated as director at a specific child care center or group child care home prior to January 1, 2010 shall not be required to meet such educational requirements for director for the duration of their employment as director at that child care center or group child care home.(2) A designated head teacher who has been approved by the Office as a head teacher based on the submission of an application, being twenty years of age or older, having the personal qualifications needed to supervise people, and having one of the following: (A) In a child care center: (i) A high school diploma or equivalency certificate; and(ii) At least one thousand and eighty hours of documented supervised experience working directly with children in a legally operating child care center, which program serves children under the age of six, and one of the following: a current center-based Child Development Associate Credential issued from the Council for Professional Recognition, or twelve credits in early childhood education or child development from a regionally accredited institution of higher education; or(iii) Approval by the Office as a head teacher prior to January 1, 1994.(B) In a group child care home: (i) A high school diploma or equivalency certificate; and(ii) At least one thousand and eighty documented hours of experience working directly with children in a legally operating family child care home, child care center or group child care home which program serves children under the age of thirteen.(C) In a child care center or group child care home:(i) A bachelor's degree or higher in early childhood education or child development from a regionally accredited institution of higher education; and(ii) At least three hundred sixty hours of documented supervised experience working directly with children in a legally operating child care center or group child care home which program serves children under the age of six and at least one semester of student teaching with children under the age of six.(3) A second program staff person who shall work under supervision of the head teacher shall be eighteen years of age or older and have at least one of the following: (A) A high school diploma;(B) An equivalency certificate; or(C) At least five hundred and forty hours documented experience in working with unrelated children of the same age(s) to be served in this child care center or group child care home.(4) Other program staff shall work under supervision and shall be at least sixteen years of age.(5) Additional program staff shall be sufficient to provide care of children during all hours of operation in keeping with group size and ratio.(6) When children are participating in swimming or wading as part of the program, whether at the facility or on a field trip, there shall be a qualified program staff member present and directly supervising the children who shall be at least twenty years of age and certified in cardiopulmonary resuscitation in accordance with section 19a-79 of the Connecticut General Statutes. The operator shall verify that there is a person directly supervising the children who holds a current lifeguard certification accepted by the Office.(f) The operator shall ensure: (1) At all times the child care center or group child care home is in operation there shall be present at least one program staff member who has current certification in cardiopulmonary resuscitation from an organization specified in section 19a-79 of the Connecticut General Statutes, appropriate for all of the children served at the child care center or group child care home and the certification shall be based on a hands-on demonstration of the program staff member's ability to provide cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Such a program staff member shall respond to all medical emergencies.(2) In addition, at all times the child care center or group child care home is in operation, there shall be present at least one program staff member who holds current certification in first aid based on a first aid course appropriate for all of the children served at the child care center or group child care home by the American Red Cross, the American Heart Association, the National Safety Council, or Health and Safety Institute. Any first aid course approved by the Office under this subdivision as of March 17, 2018 shall continue to be acceptable for purposes of this subdivision. Such certification shall be based on a hands-on demonstration of the program staff member's ability to provide first aid. Such program staff member shall respond to all situations requiring first aid.(g) The child care center or group child care home shall keep on file written verification of compliance with subsection (f) of this section for each program staff member who the child care center or group child care home designates to meet the requirements of such subsection. Such verification shall be maintained for three years after the date that the training was completed.(h) The child care center or group child care home shall maintain on site at the facility, and submit upon request and in a manner specified by the Office, verification of professional development for each program staff member, and the designated Director. Such verification of professional development shall include: (1) Written verification of completion not later than three months after the date of hire or not later than April 1, 2025 health and safety training in accordance with 45 CFR § 98.44(b)(1) designated by the Office. Program staff hired after April 1, 2025 shall complete, not later than three months after the date of hire, the health and safety training in accordance with 45 CFR § 98.44(b)(1); and(2) Written verification of ongoing training that is at least one percent of the total annual hours worked. On and after April 1, 2025, such annual training shall include content as defined in 45 CFR § 98.41(a)(1)(i) to (a)(1)(xi). Such training may include, but is not limited to, early education and child development, licensing and regulations, emergency preparedness, prevention and control of infectious diseases, prevention of sudden infant death syndrome and use of safe sleep practices, administration of medication, prevention and response to emergencies due to food and allergic reactions, building and physical premises safety, protection from hazards, bodies of water, and vehicular traffic; handling and storage of hazardous materials and the appropriate disposal of bio contaminants; child maltreatment, prevention of shaken baby syndrome and abusive head trauma, precautions in transporting children, pediatric first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation, nutrition and programming for children with disabilities or special health care needs.(3) Any program staff member or the designated director who was identified in the Office's Early Childhood Professional Registry as having satisfied the health and safety training on or prior to April 1, 2025 shall not be required to meet the professional development requirement specified in subdivision (1) of this subsection.(i) A written plan for consultation services shall be developed, signed annually by the consultant and implemented. (1) These services shall include: (A) An education consultant available to the operator and program staff for advice and support regarding the educational content and practice of the program; (i) A person seeking to become an education consultant shall apply for approval to be an education consultant and shall have an associate, bachelors, masters, or doctoral degree in early childhood education, child development or human development with one or more years overseeing and managing a legally operating child care center that meets standards comparable to those in Connecticut, or a four year degree in a related field with at least twelve credits in child development or early childhood education from an accredited college or university. Such person shall have two or more years" experience overseeing and managing a legally operating child care center that meets standards comparable to those in Connecticut. The degree and credits of the education consultant used in a program that serves exclusively school age children may be in elementary education, after school education or other fields that specialize in the development and education of children ages five to twelve years as recognized by the Office.(ii) Anyone approved as an early childhood consultant prior to January 1, 2009, will continue to be an approved education consultant, except for good cause shown;(iii) Program staff shall not serve as education consultants for programs in which they provide direct care or direct program supervision in a non-consultative role; or in a program with the same operator as a program in which they provide direct care or direct program supervision in a non-consultative role;(B) A health consultant available to the operator and program staff for advice regarding the health of the children and the health program;(C) A social service consultant available to the operator and program staff for advice regarding the emotional needs, program staff support and the social service program; and(D) A registered dietitian consultant available to the operator and program staff for advice regarding nutrition and food service for those programs that prepare or plan meals.(2) Consultative service shall include, but not be limited to: (A) Annual review of written policies, plans and procedures that relate to the services provided by the consultant;(B) Availability by telecommunication for advice regarding problems;(C) Availability, in person, of the consultant to the program;(D) Consulting with administration and program staff about specific problems;(E) Acting as a resource person to program staff and the parent(s), including, but not limited to, coordinating services and assisting families and program staff in identifying necessary resources;(F) Documenting the activities and observations required in this subsection in a consultation log that is kept on file at the facility for two years;(G) Seeking and supporting the collaboration of multiple consultants serving the program;(H) Specific duties of the health consultant shall include, but not be limited to:(i) Making, at a minimum, quarterly site visits to facilities that serve children three years of age and older; or for group child care homes, facilities that operate no more than three hours per day, or facilities that enroll only school age children, semi-annual site visits. Facilities that are closed during the summer months may omit the summer quarterly visit. Site visits shall be made by the health consultant during customary business hours when the children are present at the facility;(ii) Reviewing health and immunization records of children and program staff;(iii) Reviewing the contents, storage and plan for maintenance of first aid kits;(iv) Observing the indoor and outdoor environments for health and safety;(v) Observing children's general health and development;(vi) Observing diaper changing and toileting areas and diaper changing, toileting and hand washing procedures;(vii) Reviewing the policies, procedures and required documentation for the administration of medications, including petitions for special medication authorizations needed for programs that administer medication;(viii) Assisting in the review of individual care plans for children with special health care needs or children with disabilities, as needed; and(ix) Quarterly review of all injury, illness, incident and accident reports.(I) Specific duties of the education consultant shall include, but not be limited to: (i) Making, at a minimum, annual site visits to the facility;(ii) Reviewing daily plans, curriculum documents, and educational policies for the developmental and age appropriate practices;(iii) Observing program staff interactions, use of materials and equipment, implementation of plans and approaches to classroom management; and(iv) Providing feedback on documentation review and classroom observations to the director and head teacher.Conn. Agencies Regs. § 19a-79-4a
Effective July 27, 1993; Amended August 8, 1995; Amended March 4, 1999; Amended December 23, 2002; Amended November 6, 2008; amended 10/16/2024