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Child Care Rules Changed End of Year 2004 |
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| Heads up,
parents! If you have a child in a child care program, there is a
new state law that could affect you and your daughter or son.
Effective January 31, 2005, child care programs must meet additional requirements to dispense medications to children, even with parent and physician approval. Under the new law, one or more persons must complete and receive certification in a new 8-hour Medication Administration Training (MAT) plus CPR and First Aid in order to dispense medications. Each participating program must also have access to a health consultant who will review the training credentials of the staff or providers and approve their health care plans. Child Care Solutions is working daily to help our community deal with this substantive change. Here are some things we think parents, employers, schools and community agencies should know:
The law applies to NY State regulated family child care homes, centers, Head Start, school age programs and informal care settings if the provider accepts government subsidies for the care.
The rule will apply to all different types of medications from Tylenol to cough suppressants to inhalers. The only exclusions are over the counter topical creams, ointments, sprays, etc. It doesn't matter if the medication is one-time or ongoing.
Child care programs can elect not to give medications to children. Child Care Solutions surveyed a sample of local child care programs and found that a significant number plan to exercise this right, at least at present, because of concerns about cost, liability, time constraints and how the new procedures will affect their programs. The result may be fewer choices of care settings for children with chronic medication needs. It has not been made clear how this regulation fits with requirements for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
In these situations, parents may need to take time from work to go to the child care program to administer the medications themselves or have a relative of the child administer the medication. You may also choose to move the child to another program that is approved to dispense medications.
Child care program staff must successfully pass the required trainings, complete the health plans and have them approved by a health consultant or the child care program can not administer medications until the requirements are met. The approval process can take up to 3 months depending on the availability of trainings. We schedule numerous MAT training sessions each quarter and applications for vouchers to defray the cost of the training are made available by the NYS Office of Children & Family Services. We have also received funding from the same source and have hired a health consultant to respond to local program needs.
Parents, child care staff and providers, physicians and health care consultants will need to plan together for the safe administration of medication and implementation of the new law. We strongly encourage parents to talk to their child care center director or family child care provider to find out how their program plans to respond to the new requirements. Parents can then develop a workable strategy for themselves and the care of their children. We hear every day at Child Care Solutions how hard it is to find good child care - so we are working hard to make these new requirements work for both parents and child care programs. Our goal, as always, is to do everything possible to keep children safe. For more information or updates on the new law you may contact us at (315) 446-1220
You can also check out the information we have listed on our website in the Provider section or go to the NYS Office of Children & Family Services website at www.ocfs.state.ny.us/main/becs/emergency_regs.asp
Submitted by Peggy Liuzzi, Executive Director Child Care Solutions |
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