"American Indian child" means any unmarried person under the age of eighteen who is: "Child-accessible" means areas where children regularly have access such as: Entrances and exits to and from the center, classrooms or child care areas, playground area including equipment and fencing, parking areas, walkways, decks, platforms, stairs and any items available for children to use in these areas.
"Anti-bias" is an approach that works against biases and recognizes when others are treated unfairly or oppressively based on race, color, national origin, marital status, gender, sexual orientation, class, religion, creed, disability, or age.
"CACFP" means child and adult care food program established by congress and funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
"Capacity" means the maximum number of children that a licensee is authorized to have on the premises of the child care at any one time.
"Center" means the same as "child care center."
"Certification" means department approval of a person, home, or facility that does not legally need to be licensed, but wants evidence that they meet the minimum licensing requirements (also see "Tribal certification").
"Child abuse or neglect" means the physical abuse, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, abandonment or negligent treatment or maltreatment of a child by any person indicating the child's health, welfare, and safety is harmed.
"Child care center" means the same as a "child day care center" or a facility providing regularly scheduled care for a group of children one month of age through twelve years of age for periods less than twenty-four hours.
"Clean" means to remove dirt and debris from a surface by scrubbing and washing with a detergent solution and rinsing with water. This process must be accomplished before sanitizing a surface.
"Commercial kitchen equipment" means equipment designed for business purposes such as restaurants.
"Contagious disease" means as provided in WAC 246-110-010.
"Cultural relevancy" creates an environment that reflects home cultures, communities and lives of children enrolled in the program.
"Department," "we," "us," or "our" refers to and means the state department of early learning (DEL) and its predecessor agency the department of social and health services (DSHS).
"Developmentally appropriate practice":
"Director" means the person responsible for the overall management of the center's facility and operation, except that "DEL director" means the director of the department of early learning.
"Disinfect" means to eliminate virtually all germs from inanimate surfaces through the use of chemicals or physical agents.
"Domestic kitchen" means a kitchen equipped with residential appliances.
"External medication" means a medication that is not intended to be swallowed or injected but is to be applied to the external parts of the body, such as medicated ointments, lotions, or liquids applied to the skin or hair.
"I," "you," and "your" refer to and mean the licensee or applicant for a child care license.
"Inaccessible to children" means stored or maintained in a manner preventing children from reaching, entering, or using potentially hazardous items or areas. Examples include but are not limited to: Quantities of water, sharp objects, medications, chemicals, electricity, fire, mechanical equipment, entrapment or fall areas.
"Individual plan of care" means that the center's health policies and procedures do not cover the needs of the individual child so an individual plan is needed. Examples may include children with allergies, asthma, Down syndrome, tube feeding, diabetes care such as blood glucose monitoring, or nebulizer treatments.
"Infant" means a child one-month through eleven months of age.
"Lead teacher" means the person who is the lead child care staff person in charge of a child or group of children and implementing the activity program.
"License" means a permit issued by the department authorizing a licensee by law to operate a child care center and certifying that the licensee meets the minimum requirements under licensure.
"Licensee" or "you" means the person, organization, or legal entity responsible for operating the center.
"Maximum potential capacity based on square footage" is the maximum number of children a licensee can be licensed for based on the amount of usable space (square footage) in the licensee's center. The licensee may be licensed for less than the maximum potential capacity. A licensee may not be licensed for more than the maximum potential capacity.
"Moisture impervious" or "moisture resistant" means a surface incapable of being penetrated by water or liquids.
"Nonexpiring license" or "nonexpiring full license" means a full license that is issued to a licensee following the initial licensing period as provided in WAC 170-295-0095.
"Parent" means birth parent, custodial parent, foster parent, legal guardian, those authorized by the parent or other entity legally responsible for the welfare of the child.
"Pesticides" means chemicals that are used to kill weeds, pests, particularly insects.
"Potable water" means water suitable for drinking by the public as determined by the state department of health or local health jurisdiction.
"Potentially hazardous food" means any food or ingredient that requires temperature control because it supports rapid growth of infectious or toxin forming microorganisms.
"Premises" means the building where the center is located and the adjoining grounds over which the licensee has control.
"Preschool age child" means a child thirty months through six years of age not attending kindergarten or elementary school.
"Program supervisor" means the person responsible for planning and supervising the center's learning and activity program.
"Sanitize" means a surface must be clean and the number of germs reduced to a level that disease transmissions by that surface are unlikely. This procedure is less vigorous than disinfection.
"Satellite kitchen" means a food service establishment approved by a local health jurisdiction where food is stored, prepared, portioned or packaged for service elsewhere.
"School-age child" means a child not less than five years through twelve years of age who has begun attending kindergarten or elementary school.
"Staff" means a child care giver or group of child care givers employed by the licensee to supervise children served at the center who are authorized by DEL to care for or have unsupervised access to children under chapter 170-06 WAC.
"Supervised access" refers to those individuals at a child care center who have no responsibility for the operation of the center and do not have unsupervised access to children. These individuals are not required to submit a background check form. This includes those persons on the premises for "time limited" activities whose presence is supervised by a center employee and does not affect provider/child ratios or the normal activities or routine of the center. Examples include:
"Terminal room cleaning" means thorough cleaning of walls, ceiling, floor and all equipment, and disinfecting as necessary, in a room which has been used by a person having a contagious disease before it is occupied by another person.
"The Washington state training and registry system (STARS)" means the entity approved by the department to determine the classes, courses, and workshops licensees and staff may take to satisfy training requirement.
"Toddler" means a child twelve months through twenty-nine months of age.
"Tribal certification" means that the department has certified the tribe to receive state payment for children eligible to receive child care subsidies.
"Unsupervised access" refers to those individuals at a child care center who can be left alone with children in the child care center. These individuals must have received a full background authorization clearance under chapter 170-06 WAC.
"Usable space" means the areas that are available at all times for use by the children that do not cause a health or safety hazard.
Wash. Admin. Code § 170-295-0010