8VAC20-781-10 Definitions

"Incident" means an event in which a child is injured or in a situation where injury is likely to occur.

This definition, particularly the use of the term “likely”, is too vague and open to speculative interpretation. 

8VAC20-781-40 Required Policies and Procedures

The licensee should not be required to develop a policy if there are already specific standards and/or protocols to be followed within the standards, the protocol is straightforward and can be monitored by the licensing inspectors.  Examples of this are (4) Playground Safety, (8) Records, (9) Confidentiality, (10) Food, Formula & Breastmilk, (12) Swimming, (14) Transportation, (16) Stock Epinephrine, (17) Behavior Guidance, (19) Preventing the Spread of Disease, and (20) Drinking Water.  This is especially unnecessary when these standards reference entire other sections or whole Chapters within the standards.  If deemed necessary for the safety of children, perhaps mandate that orientation on those sections/chapters be required as needed for employees, volunteers, etc.  Parents have public access to the licensing standards/requirements. 

8VAC20-781-80 Attendance records; reporting

C. The center shall inform the superintendent as soon as practicable, but not to exceed one business day of the circumstances surrounding the following incidents:

4. A situation in which a child's whereabouts was unknown, including a child left unattended or unsupervised.

This statement is not supported as it is currently written.  The term “unknown” needs to be further defined.  If a teacher is in an L-shaped classroom and a child goes around the corner, their whereabouts are technically unknown.  Does that instigate a report to licensing?  Other new standards already require facilities to report “incidents” to parents.  This is in addition to our responsibilities as mandated reporters (neglects or refuses to provide adequate supervision in relation to a child’s age and level of development).  Furthermore, Executive Order 19 is attempting to reduce regulations, and this seems incompatible with that given that there are other measures in place for reporting such incidents. 

8VAC20-781-490. Hand washing

D. The licensee shall ensure that staff wash their hands with liquid soap and running water:

e. Administering medication or over-the-counter skin products.

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8VAC20-781-580 Topical skin products

A. When topical skin products such as lip balm, hand lotion, sunscreen, diaper ointment and lotion, and insect repellent are administered by the center, the following requirements shall be met:

4. A record shall be kept that includes the child’s name, the name of the product, date and time of use, any adverse reactions, and any application errors and action taken.

It is already taxing enough on the teacher’s attention from child supervision to apply and reapply sunscreen on a group of children throughout the time spent outside.  Documentation of applying sunscreen and finding liquid soap and running water to wash hands after and in between every application is not necessary.  Reporting should be limited to adverse reactions with regards to the application of topical ointment such as sunscreen (8VAC20-781-410C.2). 

8VAC20-781-660 Animals and Pets

C. Monkeys, bats, ferrets, poisonous animals, reptiles, psittacine birds (birds of the parrot family), stray animals, or wild or dangerous animals shall not be in areas accessible to children during the hours children are in care.

I do not agree with preventing all contact with certain animals (i.e. reptiles).  The other new standards (handwashing after handling or caring for animals, excluding dangerous animals) should be sufficient to prevent harmful interactions when followed.  Access to and interaction with animals is a wonderful learning experience for children. 

Technical Assistance Documents

I would also like to see the return of the Technical Assistance documents that DSS used to make public.  This document was useful in publishing insight into how the standards were to be interpreted in case of unexpected “gray” area between revisions.  It also provided consistency in the interpretation for the inspectors, especially between different regions/offices. 

Table of Contents

Given that the flow and numbering of the standards has changed, it would be helpful to have a revised table of contents to cross-reference the parts and chapters that are referred to throughout the new text of the standards.  For example, 8VAC20-781-40A.13 states that “Such policies and procedures shall meet the requirements of Part IX of this chapter”, but there is not table of contents to reference what other standards are included in the part/chapter.