Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 38, September 20, 2024
a) The day
care center shall provide staff to ensure the care and safety of the children
at all times.
1) A written staffing plan shall
organize the staff and enable them to give the children continuity of care and
supervision.
2) Each staff person
shall be qualified for his or her position, as required by this Part, at the
time he or she is hired or promoted.
3) Sufficient child care staff shall be
provided to assure that staff/child ratios are maintained as required by
Section 407.190.
4) Staff changes shall be minimized so that
each child can experience consistent relationships with as few adults as
possible.
5) Changes in the
position of director or school-age director shall be reported to the Department
no later than the next business day after the change. All other staff
employment changes shall be reported to the Department each month on forms
prescribed by the Department.
b) The day care center shall employ a
qualified child care director to oversee the program and administer day-to-day
operations. The child care director shall be responsible for the planning and
supervision of the program and activities of the children; orientation to newly
employed staff; on-site supervision of all staff; and in-service training
totaling a minimum of 15 clock hours per year for each member of the child care
staff.
c) Multi-site school-age
programs, with a maximum daily enrollment of 50 children per site, may use a
two-tier administrative structure consisting of a school-age director
responsible for multiple school-age sites and school-age site coordinators
responsible for each school-age site. The school-age director may be
responsible for up to six different school-age sites, each of which is under
the direct supervision of a school-age site coordinator. When the school-age
director is responsible for four to six sites, she or he shall not have any
additional programmatic or administrative responsibilities for other sites or
programs. The division of responsibilities between the school-age director and
the on-site coordinator shall be documented.
d) Each group of children shall be under the
direct supervision of an early childhood teacher or a school-age worker.
1) Infant, toddler and preschool groups, as
well as multi-age groups, shall be supervised by an early childhood teacher at
all times, except as allowed by Section
407.90(e)(3),
Section 407.90(e)(4),
Section 407.190(e)(2),
or Section 407.190(f).
2) School-age groups shall be supervised by a
school-age worker at all times, except as allowed by Section
407.90(e)(2)
below.
3) Early childhood teachers
and school-age workers shall be responsible for planning and supervising the
group, as well as supervising assistants.
e) Assistants shall be assigned to each group
as needed to meet the staff/child ratios required by Section 407.190.
1) Early childhood assistants shall be
assigned to infant, toddler and preschool groups and work under the direct
supervision of an early childhood teacher. They shall not assume full
responsibility for the group, except as allowed by Section
407.90(e)(3),
Section 407.90(e)(4),
Section 407.190(e)(2),
or Section 407.190(f).
2) School-age assistants shall be assigned to
school-age groups and work under the direct supervision of a school-age worker.
At the discretion of the school-age worker, school-age assistants may be
responsible for small groups of ten or fewer children during special planned
on-site activities for a limited period of time, not to exceed one hour per
five-hour period. Activities may include activities on the center's on-site
outdoor play area.
3) When all
children are two years of age or older, a qualified early childhood assistant
18 years of age or older may provide direct supervision without the presence of
an early childhood teacher to a classroom under the following conditions:
A) The use of an early childhood assistant
without an early childhood teacher present shall not exceed three consecutive
hours or make up a majority of the hours an individual classroom is open in a
single day.
B) The use of an early
childhood assistant without an early childhood teacher present shall not exceed
three hours per classroom, except as allowed in Section
407.190(e)(2).
4) When all children are under the
age of two, an early childhood assistant 18 years of age or older with one year
of experience (1560 clock hours) providing childcare in a day care setting
licensed pursuant to 89 Ill. Adm. Code 406, 407 or 408, or a license-exempt
childcare setting as defined in 89 Ill. Adm. Code 377, may provide direct
supervision to a classroom without the presence of an early childhood teacher
for three hours per classroom, if they have successfully completed the
Department of Human Services Child Development, Health, and Safety Basics
training which adheres to federal standards set forth in
45 CFR
98.41.
f) Support staff shall be provided as needed.
1) There shall be sufficient support staff so
that assignment of service duties does not interfere with the child care
staff's responsibilities for the direct care of the children.
2) Support staff shall have the same
personnel qualifications required of other staff by Section
407.100.
g) Resource personnel shall be available as
appropriate. Persons providing professional services to children shall comply
with current State registration and/or certification laws, if
applicable.
h) Day care centers
licensed for ten or fewer three- to five-year-old children and operating with
only one regular staff person shall provide:
1) A daily assistant to help when attention
must be given to activities other than the direct care of children;
and
2) At least two persons who can
respond to a call and be on the premises within five minutes, so that the adult
in charge will not have to leave the children unattended in the event of an
emergency; and
3) A substitute who
is familiar with the children and program.
