West Virginia Code of State Rules
Agency 78 - Human Services
Title 78 - LEGISLATIVE RULE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES BUREAU FOR SOCIAL SERVICES
Series 78-01 - Child Care Center Licensing Requirements
Section 78-1-23 - School-Age Program
Universal Citation: 78 WV Code of State Rules 78-1-23
Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 38, September 20, 2024
23.1. Centers which operate school-age programs shall comply with previous sections of this rule except as follows:
23.2. Training.
23.2.a. Prior to working with children, staff
in a summer recreation camp or day camp shall have:
23.2.a.1. Current pediatric CPR
certification;
23.2.a.2. Current
child first aid training;
23.2.a.3.
Training in child abuse recognition and prevention;
23.2.a.4. Approved training in medication
administration if applicable;
23.2.a.5. Training in guidance and
discipline, behavior management, and conflict resolution related to the age of
children in care; and
23.2.a.6. An
additional four hours of instructional training related to camp
responsibilities.
23.2.b. Summer recreation camp and day camp
staff are not required to maintain a WVTCECE credential.
23.2.c. Summer recreation camps and day camps
shall have a plan for training late-hires and substitutes who were unable to
attend pre-camp training.
23.3. Staff Responsibilities and Qualifications.
23.3.a. In addition to the
qualifications stated in section 9 of this rule, qualified staff members acting
as a person in charge in a summer recreation camp or day camp shall:
23.3.a.1. Be at least 21 years of
age;
23.3.a.2. Have at least one
season of leadership experience in a summer recreation program; and
23.3.a.3. Have knowledge of the camp
administrative practices.
23.3.b. Director
23.3.b.1. When the center operates a
school-age program only, the director may substitute the early childhood credit
hours described in section nine of this rule with credit hours in elementary
education;
23.3.b.2. The director
of a summer recreation camp shall substitute the early childhood credit hours
described in section nine of this rule with credit hours in recreation or
elementary education;
23.3.c. Qualified staff positions may
substitute the early childhood credit hours described in section 9 of this rule
with credit hours in elementary education.
23.3.d. Teen aides used in school-age
programs shall be at least 16 years of age.
23.4. Supervision of Children in Groups.
23.4.a. In determining and maintaining the
staff-to-child ratio, the school-age program shall not include any staff member
who is performing other duties such as cooking, bookkeeping, or any individual
with designated responsibility for a special activity except in an emergency
situation when staff may be reassigned to supervise the children.
23.4.b. In a summer recreation camp program,
a certified lifeguard employed by the center may be used to meet staff-to-child
ratio provided the program is using a pool that is reserved exclusively for the
program and at least one other staff person who is not lifeguarding is present
to supervise the group.
23.4.c. An
individual school-age child may be permitted to go to a non-public rest room
unattended if the restroom is within vision of a supervising staff
person.
23.4.d. Two or more
school-age children going to the same restroom at the same time must be
accompanied to the restroom by staff and be within staff hearing at all
times.
23.5. Staff interaction, Guidance, and Supervision.
23.5.a. The school-age program shall group
children according to their developmental levels and skill levels taking into
account that the physical, emotional, intellectual, and social development of
early middle childhood differs from that of older middle childhood and
pre-adolescence.
23.5.b. A center
shall ensure that staff members in school-age programs have the skills and
training to respond to the needs of the older child and recognize that
interactions with the school-age child differ significantly from interactions
with the younger child. The staff members shall:
23.5.b.1. Be available and responsive to the
child;
23.5.b.2. Engage the child
in meaningful conversation about events of importance and topics of interest,
encouraging the child to share experiences, ideas, and emotions;
23.5.b.3. Listen to the child with attention
and respect;
23.5.b.4. Help a child
develop problem-solving skills by describing problems and encouraging him or
her to evaluate the situation;
23.5.b.5. Facilitate learning by guiding,
providing positive reinforcement, encouraging efforts, and recognizing
accomplishments; and
23.5.b.6. Have
developmentally appropriate expectations of a child's social
behavior.
23.5.c. At all
times, staff members shall provide positive guidance that is appropriate to
each child's age, understanding, and circumstances. Staff members shall:
23.5.c.1. Teach by example;
23.5.c.2. Recognize and encourage acceptable
behavior;
23.5.c.3. Make eye
contact with the child whenever possible when speaking to the child;
23.5.c.4. Supervise with kindness,
understanding, and firmness;
23.5.c.5. Set expectations for behavior,
define clear limits, set fair and consistent rules and when appropriate, permit
the school-age child to participate in the development of rules and
procedures;
23.5.c.6. Help a child
develop self-control to assume responsibility for his or her own
actions;
23.5.c.7. State
expectations in the positive; and
23.5.c.8. Visually post expectations so that
children are encouraged to regulate their own behaviors.
23.5.d. When unacceptable behavior persists
with the school-age child, the qualified staff member in accordance with the
child's age and developmental level shall:
23.5.d.1. Talk with the child privately and
calmly;
23.5.d.2. Help the child to
verbalize the expectation that is not being met;
23.5.d.3. Help the child to verbalize the
reason for the expectation;
23.5.d.4. Help the child to verbalize
acceptable choices and possible solutions; and
23.5.d.5. Help the child to verbalize
possible consequences if the unacceptable behavior continues.
23.5.e. When conflict between
children becomes physical, staff shall intervene immediately and use positive
problem-solving methods.
23.6. Space. When a center operates a summer recreation camp:
23.6.a. The center shall
provide at least 10 square feet of useable indoor activity space per child
inside or provide a covered permanent structure that has the required activity
space;
23.6.b. The center shall
submit a plan for the Secretary's approval for outdoor activity space to meet
the children's outdoor activities requirement and shall use the outdoor space
only after receiving the Secretary's written approval.
23.7. Toilets. A summer recreation camp program that receives written approval from the local health department may use a commercial portable toilet and warm water, soap, paper towels, rinse water, and a pit or other method for disposing of waste water.
23.8. Program. Programs for school-age children shall:
23.8.a. Meet the goals of the
center as established by the statement of purpose;
23.8.b. Be based on knowledge of child
development for the school-age child;
23.8.c. Have a schedule for routines that is
posted and is predictable and in accordance with subsection 14.1. of this rule
other than the following:
23.8.c.1.
Out-of-school time programs shall reflect the time of day and the number of
hours that care is provided before school, after school, and on days when
school is closed;
23.8.c.2.
Out-of-school time programs shall provide activity that transitions the child
from home to school in the morning and from school to home in the
evenings;
23.8.c.3. Summer
recreation camps shall have a schedule that provides for outdoor or off-site
activity 80 percent of the time weather permitting.
23.8.d. Have varied and well-planned
activities;
23.8.e. Have a
qualified staff person verbally communicate the expectations for each
activity;
28.8.f. Have activities
which are age appropriate, offer challenges, and incorporate skill level
progression of the school-age child;
28.8.g. Offer options when it is recognized
that the skill level is too difficult for the child;
28.8.h. Engage children in decision making
and program activity development;
23.8.i. Offer the opportunity for projects
that can be completed independently with only guidance from staff;
23.8.j. Offer group projects, group play and
interest group involvement;
23.8.k.
Offer interest centers such as art, dramatic play, school work, science,
nature, music, reading, construction, physical activity;
23.8.l. Include activities within the
community such as field trips, community work projects, or volunteer
activities;
23.8.m. Include
diversity within activities;
23.8.n. Offer activities without bias to
gender; and
23.8.o. Encourage the
development of life skills.
23.9. A center operating a summer recreation camp may allow for an occasional overnight activity. When offering the overnight activity, the summer recreation camp shall:
23.9.a. Have a written plan of the activity
and its oversight that is kept in an administrative file;
23.9.b. Provide staff with written
instructions on the operation of the activity;
23.9.c. Provide parents with written
information and any special instructions for the activity;
23.9.d. Ensure that the child's daily
nutritional requirements are met;
23.9.e. Ensure there is safe drinking water
available;
23.9.f. Provide a mat,
cot, or bed for each child;
23.9.g.
Not have a child in care for more than 24 hours; and
23.9.h. Ensure that no staff member must
remain awake for more than 18 hours and that if children are sleeping at least
one staff member is awake at all times.
23.10. Nutrition. A center with an out-of-school time program shall serve a snack to the school-age child arriving after school.
23.11. Emergency procedures. A summer recreation camp and day camp shall comply with section 19 of this rule regarding emergency procedures except as set forth in this subsection:
23.11.a. The camp shall have a
procedure for practicing moving to the safe location within the first two days
of camp and mid-way through the summer;
23.11.b. The camp shall teach and implement a
system that has staff and children taking account of children in the camp and
immediately reporting if a child is missing;
23.11.c. A qualified staff member assigned to
each group of children shall be responsible for carrying or having immediately
available a first aid kit; and
23.11.d. When a center operates a summer
recreation camp program or day camp program at a site where a direct-line
telephone is not available then the center shall ensure that staff members have
access to a working communication device that will allow contact to emergency
personnel.
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. West Virginia may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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