Definitions

Definitions 1. Act The "Mississippi Child Care Licensing Law," Section 43-20-1 et seq. of the Mississippi Code of 1972. 2. Agency Representative An authorized representative of the Mississippi State Department of Health. 3. Caregiver A person who provides direct care, supervision, and guidance to children in a child care facility, regardless of title or occupation. 4. Child Care Facility (Facility) A place which provides shelter and personal care for six or more children who are not related within the third degree computed according to the civil law to the operator and who are under 13 years of age, for any part of the twenty-four hour day, whether such place be organized or operated for profit or not. The term “child care facility” includes day nurseries, day care centers, child care centers, preschool programs, and any other facility that fall within the scope of the definition set forth above. EXEMPTIONS To the extent provided by law, including those facilities or programs which satisfy one or more of the requirements for exemption provided in Miss. Code Ann. § 43- 20-5(a), an exemption from the provisions of the Act shall be recognized by the licensing agency. Facilities or programs claiming exemption shall be required, upon the written request of the licensing agency, to provide documentation of the facts claimed to support the basis for the exemption, which documentation shall be provided within 30 days of the request by the licensing agency and shall be sworn by affidavit to be true and accurate under the penalties of perjury. However, any entity exempt from the requirements to be licensed but voluntarily chooses to obtain a license is subject to all provisions of the licensing law and these regulations. 5. Children with Special Needs A child needing adaptation in a particular child care facility to access programming and the physical environment 6. Director Any individual, designated by the operator, who has met minimum state requirements and who has on-site responsibility for the operation of a child care facility. This person may or may not be the operator. 7. Director Designee Any individual designated to act as the director, having all responsibility and authority of a director, during the director’s short-term absence. A director designee shall, at a minimum, be at least 21 years of age, have a high school diploma or GED, and 2 years paid experience in a licensed child care facility. Director Designees shall not retain sole director authority in a facility for more than 24 total hours per calendar week. EXCEPTION: A facility may have a Director Designee serve for a maximum of 14 consecutive calendar days during a licensure year. This exception may be used once during the licensure year for allowing the director personal leave, i.e., vacation, jury duty, etc. 8. Group The children assigned to a caregiver or team of caregivers, occupying an individual classroom, or well-defined physical space within a larger room. 9. Hazardous Condition A situation or place that presents a possible source of injury or danger. 10. Health The condition of being sound in mind and body and encompassing an individual's physical, mental and emotional welfare. 11. Infant Any child under the age of 12 months. 12. Licensing Agency The Mississippi State Department of Health. 13. Operator Any person, acting individually or jointly with another person or persons, who shall establish, own, operate, conduct or maintain a child care facility. The child care facility license shall be issued in the name of the operator, or if there is more than one operator, in the name of one of the operators. In the event that there is more than one operator, all statutory and regulatory provisions concerning the background checks of operators shall be equally applied to all operators of a facility, including, but not limited to, a spouse who jointly owns, operates, or maintains the child care facility regardless of which operator is named on the license. 14. Parent As used in these regulations, parent shall mean custodial parent, legal guardian, foster parent, guardian ad litem, and other individuals or institutions to which a court of competent jurisdiction has granted legal authority over the child. 15. Person Any person, firm, partnership, corporation or association. 16. Personal Care Assistance rendered by personnel of the child care facility in performing one or more of the activities of daily living, which includes but is not limited to the feeding, personal grooming, supervising, and dressing of children placed in the child care facility. 17. Physical Confines The space inside the walls of the child care facility. 18. Safety The condition of being protected from hurt, harm, injury or loss. 19. School Age Child A child of 5 years of age or older and eligible to be enrolled in public school. Note: A child that is five (5) years old age must have turned five (5) on or before September 1 to be considered a school age child. 20. Service Staff A person who provides support services such as cooking, cleaning, or driving a vehicle, but is not a caregiver. 21. Toddler Any child the age of 12 months and under the age of 24 months. 22. Usable Space In measuring facilities for square footage per child, usable space shall mean space measured on the inside, wall-to-wall dimensions. These spaces are exclusive of food preparation areas, kitchens, bathrooms, toilets, areas for the care of ill children, offices, staff rooms, corridors, hallways, stairways, closets, lockers, laundries, furnace rooms, fixed or permanent cabinets, fixed or permanent storage shelving spaces, and areas not inhabited and used by children. Usable space shall be areas dedicated to children’s activities (play, learning, rest, and eating) and shall be utilized for those purposes on a daily basis. Furnishings shall be equipment that is both size and age appropriate for children receiving care. The space occupied by inappropriate or adult size equipment shall be deducted from the children’s usable space. 23. Volunteer Any person who is not an employee who is at the facility or assists with children. Individuals who volunteer for 120 or more hours in a given licensure year shall meet the requirements of (1) criminal record and child abuse central registry checks to include being fingerprinted, and (2) valid Immunization Compliance Form #121. The facility shall document the time that a volunteer is at the facility. Further, any individual who has not been fingerprinted and received the Letter of Suitability for Employment shall never be left alone with children. 24. Emergency Preparedness Plan: Each child care center is required to have an emergency preparedness plan – all activities and processes designed to prepare for an unsafe event and deal with the immediate emergency conditions created by or associated with the event, per the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42U.S.C. 5195a(a)(1)).