Administration

(1) The licensee or governing body of the PCCC shall ensure the following: STANDARDS FOR PRESCRIBED CHILD CARE CENTERS CHAPTER 0720-15 (a) The facility complies with all applicable federal, state, and local laws, ordinances, rules and regulations; (b) The facility is administered and operated in accordance with written policies and procedures; (c) The general direction over the facility and the establishment of policies governing the operation of the facility and the welfare of the children served; (d) That an administrator be designated for the operation of the facility who may be the licensee, or the nursing director. (2) A current written policies and procedures manual shall be maintained. The manual must include the following elements: (a) An organizational chart or a statement which clearly shows or describes the lines of authority between the governing body, the administrator, the nursing director, and the staff; (b) A description of facility services provided by the licensee. The description shall include at a minimum the hours of operation and admission and discharge criteria; (c) Exclusion criteria for persons not appropriate for admission; (d) A schedule of fees, if any, currently charged to the parent for all services provided by the licensee; (3) The PCCC must have an effective governing body legally responsible for the conduct of the PCCC. If a PCCC does not have an organized governing body, the persons legally responsible for the conduct of the PCCC must carry out the functions specified in this chapter. (4) When licensure is applicable for a particular job, the number and renewal number of the current license must be maintained in personnel. Each personnel file shall contain accurate information as to the education, training, experience and personnel background of the employee. Adequate medical screenings to exclude communicable disease shall be required of each employee. (5) Whenever the rules and regulations of this chapter require that a licensee develop a written policy, plan, procedure, technique, or system concerning a subject, the licensee shall develop the required policy, maintain it and adhere to its provisions. A PCCC that violates a required policy also violates the rule and regulation establishing the requirement. (6) No PCCC shall retaliate against or, in any manner, discriminate against any person because of a complaint made in good faith and without malice to the board, the department, or the Comptroller of the State Treasury. A PCCC shall neither retaliate, nor discriminate, because of information lawfully provided to these authorities, because of a person’s cooperation with them, or because a person is subpoenaed to testify at a hearing involving one of these authorities. (7) Personnel. (a) All PCCC’s as defined in § 68-11-201 shall initiate a criminal background check on any person who is employed by or who wishes to volunteer in a capacity which involves providing direct care to a child, prior to or within seven (7) days of employment or provision of services. Any person who applies for employment in a position or who STANDARDS FOR PRESCRIBED CHILD CARE CENTERS CHAPTER 0720-15 wishes to volunteer in a capacity which involves providing direct care to a child in such a facility shall consent to: 1. Provide past work and personal references to be checked by the PCCC; and/or 2. Agree to the release of any and all information and investigative records to the PCCC or its agent, or to any agency that contracts with the State of Tennessee necessary for the purpose of verifying whether the individual has been convicted of a felony in the State of Tennessee; and/or 3. Supply a fingerprint sample and submit to a criminal history records check to be conducted by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, other law enforcement agency, or any legally authorized entity; and/or 4. Release any information required for a criminal background investigation by a professional background screening organization or criminal background check service or registry. 5. Any cost incurred by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, professional background screening organization, law enforcement agency or other legally authorized entity, in conducting such investigations of such applicants or volunteers may be paid by the PCCC, or any agency that contracts with the State of Tennessee requesting such investigation and information, or the individual who seeks employment or is employed or volunteers. Payments of such costs to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation are to be made in accordance with the provisions of Tennessee Code Annotated, § 38-6-103 and § 38-6-109. 6. A PCCC which declines to employ or terminates a person based upon information provided to the facility under this section shall be immune from suit by or on behalf of that person for the termination of or the refusal to employ that person. (b) A personnel record for each staff member of a facility shall include an application for employment and a record of any disciplinary action taken. (c) Time records, including but not limited to, authorization and record of leave, shall be maintained. (d) A job description shall be maintained which includes the employment requirements and the job responsibilities for each facility staff position. (e) A personnel record shall be maintained which verifies that each employee meets the respective employment requirements for the staff position held, including annual verification of basic skills and annual evaluation of personnel performance. This evaluation shall be in writing. There shall be documentation to verify that the employee has reviewed the evaluation and has had an opportunity to comment on it. (f) Training and development activities which are appropriate in assisting the staff in meeting the needs of the children being served shall be provided for each staff member including STD/HIV education and child abuse education. The provision of such activities shall be evidenced by documentation in the facility’s records. (g) Training and development activities which are appropriate in assisting volunteers (if volunteers are used by the facility) in implementing their assigned duties shall be provided for each volunteer. The provision of such activities shall be evidenced by documentation in the facility’s records. STANDARDS FOR PRESCRIBED CHILD CARE CENTERS CHAPTER 0720-15 (h) Direct-services staff members shall be competent persons aged eighteen (18) years of age or older. (i) All new employees, including volunteers, who have routine contact with children shall have a current tuberculosis test prior to employment. (See Appendix C) (j) Employees shall have a tuberculin skin test annually. (k) Employee records shall include date and type of tuberculin skin test used and date of tuberculin skin test results, date and results of chest x-ray, and any drug treatment for tuberculosis. (8) Responsibility for Staff (a) The licensee of the PCCC is responsible for selecting individuals of suitable character to work with children. (b) All PCCC facilities shall have a minimum full-time equivalent staff of one registered nurse. Thereafter, the ratio of staff to children shall be maintained at a ratio of one staff person for every three (3) children. (c) The administrator of the PCCC is responsible for staff and program and the day-to-day operation of the center. (d) A licensed health care professional at the center shall be designated to be in charge in the absence of the administrator. (e) Exclusions for certain activities and crimes: 1. No person shall be employed, work as a caregiver, or have access to or contact with children in the child care program: (i) Who is known to the child care center’s management as a perpetrator of child abuse or child sexual abuse; or (ii) Who is identified to the child care center’s management by the Department of Children’s Services as a validated or indicated perpetrator of abuse of a child; or (iii) Who is currently charged with, has been convicted of, or pled guilty in any manner to a crime involving a child; or (iv) Who has pled guilty to any lesser offense derived from an original offense involving a child; or (v) Who is currently charged with, has been convicted of, or who has pled guilty in any manner to a crime of violence against another person, or who has pled guilty to any lesser offense derived from a crime of violence against another person; or (vi) Who is currently charged with, who has been convicted of, or who has pled guilty in any manner to, or who has pled guilty to any lesser offense derived from, any offense involving the manufacture, sale, distribution, or possession of any drug; and STANDARDS FOR PRESCRIBED CHILD CARE CENTERS CHAPTER 0720-15 (vii) Who is associated in providing care or ancillary services in any manner within a child care program; or (viii) Who is a family member or other person residing at the child care center’s facility or adjacent residence; or (ix) Who has unrestricted access to children in the facility. 2. An employee or volunteer who has been identified by the Department as having neglected a child based on an investigation conducted by the Department of Children’s Services pursuant to a report of harm, and who has not been criminally charged or convicted or pled guilty as stated above, shall be supervised by another adult while providing care for children. 3. Exceptions may be granted on a case-by-case basis by the Department in its sole discretion to persons subject to items 1.(iii), (iv), and (v) in situations where the person is charged with, has pled guilty to, or has been convicted of a crime involving accidental or negligent acts rising to the level of a criminal charge. Exceptions are granted subject to the availability of documentation necessary to make a determination. The criteria which will be considered include, but are not limited to: (i) The act did not rise above the level of criminally negligent homicide or vehicular homicide and did not include the use of drugs or alcohol; (ii) The act was isolated and was not consistent with the person’s usual character; (iii) The circumstances were not related to the provision of child care; (iv) The circumstances do not reflect the inability to provide child care by the affected person in any manner inconsistent with these rules. (f) The behavior of staff shall reflect knowledge and understanding of the special needs, growth, and developmental patterns of young children and understanding of appropriate activities, as reflected in staff’s performance evaluations. (9) All health care facilities licensed pursuant to T.C.A. §§ 68-11-201, et seq. shall post the following in the main public entrance: (a) Contact information including statewide toll-free number of the division of adult protective services, and the number for the local district attorney’s office; (b) A statement that a person of advanced age who may be the victim of abuse, neglect, or exploitation may seek assistance or file a complaint with the division concerning abuse, neglect and exploitation; and (c) A statement that any person, regardless of age, who may be the victim of domestic violence may call the nationwide domestic violence hotline, with that number printed in boldface type, for immediate assistance and posted on a sign no smaller than eight and one-half inches (8½”) in width and eleven inches (11”) in height. Postings of (a) and (b) shall be on a sign no smaller than eleven inches (11”) in width and seventeen inches (17”) in height. STANDARDS FOR PRESCRIBED CHILD CARE CENTERS CHAPTER 0720-15 (10) “No Smoking” signs or the international “No Smoking” symbol, consisting of a pictorial representation of a burning cigarette enclosed in a red circle with a red bar across it, shall be clearly and conspicuously posted at every entrance. (11) The facility shall develop a concise statement of its charity care policies and shall post such statement in a place accessible to the public.