Indiana Administrative Code
Title 470 - DIVISION OF FAMILY RESOURCES
Article 3 - CHILD WELFARE SERVICES
Rule 4.7 - Child Care Centers; Licensing
Section 4.7-1 - General definitions

(1) "Accredited college or university" means accreditation by accrediting agencies and associations that are recognized by the United States Secretary of Education.

(2) "Additional portion of food" means one (1) extra helping of food.

(3) "Administrator" means the person who is responsible for personnel, purchasing, fiscal, and maintenance of the child care center.

(4) "Admission" means the process of entering a child in a child care center. The date of admission is the first day that the child is actually present at the center.

(5) "Age appropriate" means designed for the particular age of child served.

(6) "Attendance" means children present in the child care center at any given time.

(7) "Capacity determination" means the division will determine maximum capacity based on square footage by adding the capacities of the individual rooms/areas. The division compares the square footage capacity with the capacity based on the number of toilets and sinks. The lesser of these two (2) capacities determines the maximum capacity of the center. Capacity for fire and building issues may be different.

(8) "Caregiver" means the early childhood professional that is a qualified staff person providing direct care and education to children.

(9) "CDA" refers to the Child Development Associate credential issued by the Council for Early Childhood Professional Recognition.

(10) "Center" refers to the person or persons in the child care center designated by the licensee to be responsible for following each individual section of this rule.

(11) "Child" means any person under thirteen (13) years of age.

(12) "Child care center" has the meaning set forth in IC 12-7-2-28.4.

(13) "Child care health consultant" means a physician, a certified pediatric or family nurse practitioner, or a registered nurse with pediatric or out of home child care experience and shall be knowledgeable about out of home child care, community child care licensing requirements, and available health resources.

(14) "Child/staff ratio" means the number of children supervised by one (1) qualified staff person.

(15) "Class room/area" means the room or area within a room occupied by a group of children and caregivers on a regular basis throughout the day.

(16) "Conspicuous place" means a place that is easily visible and at eye level viewed daily by the parents.

(17) "Consulting resource person" means:

(18) "Contamination" means to soil or infect by any form of contact.

(19) "Continuity of care" means the center maintains a primary caregiving relationship over a period of years. Infants and their primary caregivers stay together until all children in the group are at least thirty (30) months of age.

(20) "Corporal punishment" means any kind of punishment inflicted on a child's body.

(21) "Criminal history check" means an Indiana state police search and report of criminal records on forms provided by that agency.

(22) "Developmentally appropriate" means a program planned and carried out that takes into account the level of physical, social, emotional, and intellectual development of a child.

(23) "DFBS" means the department of fire and building services.

(24) "Direct supervision" means that qualified caregivers:

(25) "Directly accessible" means accessible without crossing a motor traffic throughway.

(26) "Director" means the person responsible for the operation for the child care center at all times.

(27) "Discipline" means the ongoing process of helping children to develop self-control for self-management while protecting and maintaining the integrity of the child.

(28) "Division" refers to the division of family and children.

(29) "Documentation" means written records or copies of documents kept in files at the child care center.

(30) "Early childhood professional" means the qualified caregiver providing direct supervision to children.

(31) "Early childhood program" means a program of activities provided for children ages birth to eight (8) years of age.

(32) "Enrollment" means the list of children registered with the child care center.

(33) "EPA" means Environmental Protection Agency.

(34) "Field trip" means an event or activity that meets the following conditions:

(35) "Filthy" means heavily soiled, dirty, or other unclean conditions, which present a health or safety hazard to children.

(36) "FPBSC" refers to fire prevention and building safety commission.

(37) "Group" means a number of children who routinely work, learn, eat, sleep, and play together inside and outside.

(38) "Hand washing" means to cleanse hands and wrists a minimum of twenty (20) seconds using soap and warm, running water (one hundred (100) degrees Fahrenheit through one hundred twenty (120) degrees Fahrenheit) at a hand sink.

(39) "Ill child care" means the care of temporarily ill children, twelve (12) months of age or older, that centers must normally exclude. Caregivers care for these children in a part of the child care center specifically approved for ill child care.

(40) "IDEM" means Indiana department of environmental management.

(41) "Individual education plan" or "IEP" has the meaning set forth in the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.).

(42) "Individual family service plan" or "IFSP" has the meaning set forth in the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.).

(43) "Infant" means a child who is at least six (6) weeks of age until the child is able to walk consistently unassisted.

(44) "ISDH" means Indiana state department of health.

(45) "Kindergartner" means a child who is age-eligible to be enrolled in a private or public kindergarten program.

(46) "Lead caregiver" refers to the caregiver assigned to implement the program for a group of children.

(47) "Learning center" means a defined area, within the class room/area, in which children may participate in similar or related types of activities.

(48) "License" means the actual completed document issued by the division to the licensee that authorizes the operation of the child care center.

(49) "Licensed capacity" means the maximum number of children permitted in the child care center at any one (1) time as stated on the license. This may be different than the fire and building occupant load capacity.

(50) "Licensee" means the individual, agency, organization, corporation, or board of directors that actually owns or assumes responsibility for the child care center business and is granted a license to operate under this rule by the division.

(51) "Maximum age range" means the maximum difference in age between the youngest and oldest child in any particular group of children.

(52) "Minor injury" means any injury that requires first aid treatment, but does not require medical attention by medical personnel.

(53) "OSHA" means Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

(54) "Parent" refers to the person assuming legal responsibility for the care and protection of the child on a twenty-four (24) hour basis, including a guardian or legal custodian.

(55) "Physician" means a person holding an unlimited license to practice medicine.

(56) "Potentially hazardous food" means any food that consists in whole or in part of milk or milk products, eggs, meat, poultry, fish, shellfish, edible crustacea, or other ingredients, including synthetic ingredients, in a form capable of supporting rapid and progressive growth of infectious or toxigenic micro-organisms. The term does not include foods that have a pH level of four and six-tenths (4.6) or below or a water activity (aw) value of eighty-five hundredths (0.85) or less under standard conditions or food products in hermetically sealed containers processed to prevent spoilage and as defined in 410 IAC 7-24-66.

(57) "Preschool children" means children at least three (3) years of age and not yet attending first grade.

(58) "Primary caregiver" means a caregiver is assigned to be primarily responsible for meeting the needs of specific children, especially for feeding, diapering, and periods when the child is falling to sleep or awakening.

(59) "Program" means all activities provided for children during their hours of attendance at the child care center.

(60) "Punishment" means the use of negative consequences to correct unacceptable behavior.

(61) "Room" means an area enclosed on all sides by walls that extend from floor to ceiling.

(62) "Sanitation" means the promotion of hygiene and the prevention of disease by maintenance of sanitary environmental conditions and practices.

(63) "Sanitizable" means an article, utensil, or equipment that can be easily sanitized because of the material composition.

(64) "Sanitize" means the effective bactericidal treatment by a process that provides adequate accumulative heat or concentration of chemicals for adequate time to reduce the bacterial count, including pathogens, to a safe level on utensils and equipment.

(65) "School age children" means children attending first grade or above.

(66) "Serious injury" means any injury that requires medical attention by a dentist, physician, emergency room personnel, ambulance attendant, or any other medical personnel.

(67) "SFM" means the office of the state fire marshal.

(68) "Shock absorbing surface" means ground cover placed under and around equipment designed to absorb a fall.

(69) "Staff" means any person employed by the child care center.

(70) "Sterilized" means to boil infant bottles a minimum of five (5) minutes, and nipples, collars, and caps a minimum of three (3) minutes to rid them of micro-organisms.

(71) "Support staff" means service staff, such as cooks, maintenance persons, secretaries, and bus drivers.

(72) "Swimming pool" means any pool used for swimming that is more than twenty-four (24) inches in depth.

(73) "Time out" means an out of group activity for a child with adult supervision.

(74) "Toddler" means a child who is less than thirty (30) months of age and is able to walk consistently unassisted.

(75) "Unit block" means a solid wood block that comes in many shapes and sizes. The basic unit block is approximately five and one-half (51/2) inches by two and three-fourths (23/4) inches by one and three-eighths (13/8) inches. All other blocks are proportional in length or width to this basic unit.

(76) "Visitor" means any person observing or assisting in the child care center for no compensation and for less than eight (8) hours per month.

(77) "Volunteer" means a person working or assisting in the child care center more than eight (8) hours per month who is not paid by the center.

(78) "Wading pool" means any pool used for wading that is twenty-four (24) inches or less in depth that meets the standards of 410 IAC 6-2.1.

(79) "Water" means water meeting the minimum water quality standards of 327 IAC 8-2.