OAR 414-305-0200. Policies

(1) A certified child care center must have written policies identified in 414-305-0200(2)(a-u) and provide them to: (a) Staff and volunteers at the time of hire and when policies change; and (b) Parents at the time of a child’s enrollment and when policies change. (2) A certified child care center must provide the following written information to parents, staff, and volunteers: (a) Name, business address, and business telephone number of the person(s) who has immediate responsibility for the daily operation of the center; (b) A center description including the licensed capacity, ages and number of children in care, hours, days and months of operation, closure dates and observed holidays, and staff-to-child ratios; (c) Arrival and departure procedures, including sign in and out requirements and individuals authorized for pick-up; (d) Parent responsibilities for providing current required information and what parents are expected to provide; (e) Health policies and procedures to include toileting, diaper changing and handwashing methods, support for parents feeding their infants, storage and handling of bottles and pacifiers, immunization tracking, medication administration, use of insect repellent and sunscreen, care of bed linen, care of children who are ill and exclusion criteria, and response to injuries (also see OAR 414-305-1020), Injuries); (f) Safety measures including safe sleep practices, monitoring of sleeping infants, injury prevention, use of pesticides and other potentially toxic substances, animals, water activities, and prohibited substances; (g) A plan to ensure that any visitor or other adult not enrolled or conditionally enrolled in the CBR does not have unsupervised access to children; (h) Emergency preparedness plan (also see OAR 414-305-0210, Emergency Preparedness and Response); (i) Center philosophy on how children learn and develop, and how this philosophy is implemented; (j) Daily schedules that include planned activities, rest time, physical activity, and screen time; (k) Center-sponsored religious and cultural activities, if any, including how holidays will be recognized; (l) Meals, snacks, and food service practices including food storage and handling, children’s dietary needs and allergies, infant feeding, and food brought from the child’s home; (m) Transportation and field trips including driver and vehicle requirements and supervision; (n) Behavior and guidance policies; (o) How staff must proceed if a child is displaying inappropriate behaviors that could endanger themselves or the safety of others; (p) Communication methods and notifications, including how parent grievances, questions, or concerns are handled by the center; (q) Prevention of and duty to report suspected child abuse and neglect; (r) Evening and night care, if provided; (s) How to view inspection reports, access the Department of Early Learning and Care website and center certification rules, and contact CCLD and child abuse and neglect hotline; (t) A statement advising parents that they can access information about child care providers on the child care safety portal; and (u) Suspension and expulsion prevention policy (OAR 414-305-0750). (3) A certified child care center must have written personnel policies for staff and volunteers that include at a minimum: (a) Position descriptions, job duties assigned, and supervision of each position; and (b) Initial and ongoing training requirements. (4) If a certified child care center uses volunteers, the center must provide a copy of volunteer policies to any volunteers that includes procedures for ensuring training if the volunteer counts in the staff-to-child ratio, compliance with certification rules and center procedures, and an understanding of emergency preparedness plans. (5) As required by state and federal civil rights laws and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a certified child care center cannot discriminate against any child on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, marital status of parent, or because of a need for special care. (a) Suspected violations will be reported to the overseeing agency, with whom CCLD may share any information available to it. (b) CCLD may deny an initial or renewal application or revoke a regular or temporary certification if a certified child care center is determined to have discriminated in violation of this requirement by any authority with jurisdiction to make the determination. (6) To ensure the physical, emotional and mental health, safety, and wellbeing of children, a certified child care center must complete an individualized assessment whenever the center becomes aware that a child with specific needs has either applied for enrollment or is already in care at the center. The individual assessment must examine the center’s physical environment, policies, and practices to identify any reasonable modifications that are needed to support meeting both the child with specific needs, and other children enrolled in the program. The assessment must be based on all available information from the child’s parents, professionals knowledgeable about the child’s care needs, and certified center personnel. The assessment must be documented for each child and must include: (a) Descriptions of changes the center made or will make to the center’s physical environment to support the participation of the child with specific needs in the program, or an explanation of why changes necessary to support the child’s participation cannot reasonably be made; (b) Descriptions of changes the center made or will make to the center’s policies and practices to fully integrate the child with specific needs into the program, or an explanation of why the changes necessary to fully integrate the child into the program cannot reasonably be made; (c) If applicable, any direct threats to the health and safety of others posed by the particular child’s presence at the center and an explanation of whether the threats can be eliminated with changes described pursuant to subparagraphs (a) or (b) of this rule; and (d) If a child enrolled in care at the center is a young child, as defined in these rules, documentation that the center has complied with OAR 414-305-0750. (7) Compliance with the requirements in subsection (6) (a) to (d) of this rule is not intended to describe the requirements of or to ensure full compliance with applicable civil rights laws, including the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).