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   VISION:
      Access to safe, healthy child care for Utah families.

   MISSION:
      To support working parents by protecting the health and
      safety of children in regulated child care programs. This       is accomplished by:

  • Establishing and enforcing health and safety standards for child care programs.
  • Training and supporting providers in meeting the established health and safety standards.
  • Providing the public with accurate information about regulated child care.
 

WHAT'S NEW?

    • ATTENTION ALL PROVIDERS

      Three important things going on in Child Care Licensing:

      1. The proposed changes to the Child Care Licensing Rules have been filed with the Division of Administrative Rules and will be open for public comment from January 14th until February 14th. To view the full text of the proposed rule changes, go to: http://www.rules.utah.gov/publicat/bulletin.htm and scroll down to heading "Utah State Bulletin Issues." The proposed changes to the child care licensing rules will be in Vol. 2012, No. 2 (01/15/2012). Comments on the proposed rule changes can be submitted until 5 pm on Tuesday, February 14, 2012. All comments must be submitted in writing. Comments can be submitted via email to: CCLAC@utah.gov, or by mail to:
      Child Care Licensing Program P.O. Box 142003 Salt Lake City, Utah 84114-2003

      2. Federal law now requires that all wood, metal, and stackable cribs manufactured or sold in the United States comply with the new Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) standards. This applies to all sizes of cribs. Any crib used in a child care program must meet these new standards by December 28, 2012. Please note that this is a change in federal, not state, law. This federal law requires all child care providers to replace their current cribs with new CPSC compliant cribs by December 28th of this year. A handout with information for Child Care Providers from the Consumer Product Safety Commission regarding the new crib standards was mailed to all providers. Additional information is also available at cpsc.gov/cribs (Link).

      3. Beginning April 14, 2012, the FBI will only accept electronically submitted fingerprints for those individuals who are required to submit fingerprints as part of their background screening. We are currently in the process of determining if this will require an increase in the current fee of $30.25 for an FBI fingerprint background check. We are hopeful that we can find a way to comply with this new requirement without increasing the fee. We will keep you updated once we know for sure if this will be the case.

      Thank you all for your hard work and dedication on behalf of Utah's children!

    • Reminder For All Home Child Care Providers:

      Effective September 1, 2011 and according to rules R430-90-6(8) and R430-50-6(8), a provider is required to have a fence or solid natural barrier at least four feet high, with no gaps larger than 5" x 5" that separates the outdoor play area from the hazard, if any of the following conditions exist:
      • If the licensee's or certificate holder's home is located on a street or within 1/2 mile of a street with more than two lanes of traffic or a speed limit higher than 25 miles per hour, or
      • If there is livestock, dangerous machinery (such as farm equipment), or a drop-off of more than 5 feet, on or within 50 yards of the property, or
      • If there is a water hazard (such as a swimming pool, pond, ditch, lake, river, creek, or animal watering trough) on or within 100 yards of the property, or
      • If there is barbed wire within 30 feet of the children's play area.

      If you have any questions about fencing, please contact your Licensing Specialist, or the Child Care Licensing Training Specialist, Karrie Phillips, 801-584-8292.

    • Information on the Measles Outbreak in Salt Lake County

      Measles FAQ (4/11/2011)

    • For Licensed Centers:

      2011 is the fourth year of the five year phase-in schedule for the new center playground equipment rules (Link) . The two new rules that became effective as of December of 2009 are:

      1. There is no designated play surface on infant and toddler equipment that exceeds 3 feet in height. This applies to any playground equipment used by infants and toddlers, even if also used by older children.
      2. Stationary play equipment that has a designated play surface less than the height specified in Table 3 (infants and toddler, less than 18"; preschoolers, less than 20"; school age, less than 30"), and that does not have moving parts children sit or stand on, is not placed on concrete, asphalt, dirt, or any other hard surface. If these items have previously been installed in asphalt, dirt or a hard surface, they must be removed from that surface and placed over grass or approved protective cushioning.

    • Attention Child Care Centers

      Training Topics: Training offered by any organization can count toward required annual training hours, as long as the training is child care related. However, to qualify as training on Sections 11-24 of the licensing rules, the licensing rules need to at least be read as part of the training.

    • Notice of Change from Child Care Licensing

      Effective October 1st, 2010, the fees for fingerprint background checks will change from $31.00 to $30.25. If you need fingerprint cards, you can request them by contacting one of our Regional Offices (see http://health.utah.gov/licensing/contact.htm) or The Department of Public Safety at (801) 965-4445. For questions concerning this information, please contact Joan Isom, Background Clearance Unit Supervisor at (801) 883-4675.

    • Information for Providers and Parents about Pertussis (Whooping Cough)

      Whooping cough is a contagious and fairly common bacterial infection that causes a range of illnesses, from mild cough to severe disease. Tdap is a booster to the DTaP vaccine. It protects against diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (whooping cough). Because this vaccine protects against pertussis, the following people should make sure they are up-to-date with their Tdap immunization:
      • Adults who are in contact with infants under 12 months.
      • New mothers who have never received Tdap.
      • Health care workers who are in direct contact with patients.

      For additional information see, http://www.umm.edu/ency/article/007334.htm

    • New Home Providers:

      For new providers who are in the process of becoming licensed or certified, if there are more than 5 items that need to be corrected after the pre-license/certificate inspection, an additional fee of $25.00 will be charged. If more than one follow-up inspection is required, $25.00 will be charged for each additional inspection.

    • For Home and Center Providers:

      Beginning January of 2010, we will only update the Interpretation Manual once a year, in January of each year. This means that the next manual updates will be made in January of 2012. You will receive a post card in the mail letting you know that the manual updates are completed. In addition, Joyce and Karrie will offer provider trainings on the manual updates that same month, so that we can review with providers the specific updates that were made. For more information, contact Karrie Phillips at 801-584-8292 or kphillips@utah.gov

    • Fees

      Required by the state legislature to implement a $25 fee for noncompliant facilities. Effective July 1, 2009, this fee is charged as follows:

      1. Each provider will have one follow-up inspection (if needed) after their Announced and Unannounced Inspections, and one follow-up inspection (if needed) after each Complaint Investigation. If additional follow-up inspections are needed because noncompliance was found on the first follow-up inspection, the provider will be charged $25 for each additional follow-up inspection that is needed.
      2. If you are issued a conditional license or certificate for noncompliance to the rules, there will be a $25 charge for each monitoring inspection that takes place during the period of the conditional license or certificate.

      If you have any questions regarding this fee, please click here to contact your regional Licensing office.