Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 38, September 20, 2024
a) The daily arrival of children at the
center shall be conducted in a way that protects each child's physical and
emotional well-being. Information provided by the parents about a child's
immediate daily needs shall be communicated in a timely manner to staff caring
for the child.
b) Child care staff
shall conduct a daily pre-admission screening to determine if the child has
obvious symptoms of illness. If symptoms of illness are present, the child's
inclusion or exclusion for the day shall be determined in accordance with
Section
407.310(b) and
(c).
c) Children served in a day care center shall
not remain on the premises for more than 12 hours in any 24-hour period, unless
the parent's employment or training schedule requires more than 12 hours of day
care and this has been confirmed in writing, by the parent. The written
confirmation shall be kept on file for licensing review.
d) A daily attendance log shall be maintained
in such a way that it is always possible to determine the number of children
present at any given time.
e) The
daily departure of children from the center shall be conducted in a way that
protects each child's physical and emotional well-being.
1) The staff shall refuse to release a child
to any person, whether related or unrelated to the child, who has not been
authorized by the parent or parents to receive the child. Persons not known to
the staff shall be required to provide a driver's license (with photo), a photo
identification card issued by the Illinois Secretary of State or other photo
identification to establish their identity before the child is released to
them.
2) When a child is released
to a person authorized on the contingency list, the center shall maintain a
record of the person's name and the date and time.
3) The time of each child's departure from
the center shall be noted on a daily departure log and initialed, signed or
otherwise documented by the person to whom the child is released.
4) When the center has a written policy or an
individual plan for a specific school-age child, that child may be allowed to
leave the center unaccompanied with written authorization from their parent or
parents. The authorization must include:
A)
the time of release from the center;
B) the means of transportation the child will
use and, if applicable, the time the child is to return to the
center;
C) the procedure to be
followed if the child does not return at the expected time; and
D) the designated staff person to enter the
time of the child's departure and initial the log.
f) All day care centers shall have
a written policy that explains to parents and staff the actions the center will
take if a parent or guardian does not pick up, or arrange to have someone pick
up, his or her child at the designated, agreed upon time. The policy shall
consist of the provider's expectations clearly presented to the parent or
guardian in the form of a written agreement that shall be signed by the parent
or guardian and shall include at least the following elements:
1) The consequences of not picking up
children on time shall be precisely communicated to parents, for example:
A) Amount of late fee, if any, and when those
fees begin to accrue.
B) The degree
of diligence the provider will use to reach emergency contacts, e.g., number of
attempted phone calls to parents and emergency contacts, requests for police
assistance in finding emergency contacts, and so forth.
C) Length of time the facility will keep the
child beyond the pick-up time before contacting outside authorities, such as,
the child abuse hotline, police, and so forth.
2) Emphasis on the importance of having
up-to-date emergency contact numbers on file.
3) Acknowledgement of the provider's
responsibility for the child's protection and well-being until the parent or
outside authorities arrive.
4) A
policy that staff shall not hold the child responsible for the situation and
that discussion of this issue will only be with the parent or guardian and
never with the child.
