Alabama Administrative Code › Title 660 - ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES › Chapter 660-5-26 - DAY CARE LICENSURE - CHILD CARE LICENSING AND PERFORMANCE STANDARDS FOR DAY CARE CENTERS AND NIGHTTIME CENTERS › Section 660-5-26-.01 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 42, No. 9, June 28, 2024
In the context of these regulations, the following definitions
				apply.
(1) Adult. Any person 19 years
			 of age or older.
(2) Aide. A person
			 who does not meet the qualifications of a child care worker/teacher, works
			 under the direct supervision of a qualified child care worker/teacher and is
			 not counted in the required staff-child ratios.
(3) Bio Contaminants. A living organism or
			 product that can harm animals or humans if inhaled, swallowed or otherwise
			 absorbed into the body.
(4)
			 Character and Suitability. The person maintains business, professional, family,
			 and community relationships which are characterized by honesty, fairness,
			 truthfulness, and concern for the well-being of others to the extent that the
			 person is considered suitable to be entrusted with the care, guidance, and
			 protection of children.
(5) Child.
			 Any person under 19 years of age.
(6) Child Abuse and Neglect. According to the
Code of Ala. 1975
, Section
			 26-14-1, abuse is defined as harm
			 or threatened harm to a child's health or welfare. Harm or threatened harm to a
			 child's health or welfare can occur through nonaccidental physical or mental
			 injury, sexual abuse or attempted sexual abuse or sexual exploitation or
			 attempted sexual exploitation. "Sexual abuse" includes the employment, use,
			 persuasion, inducement, enticement, or coercion of any child to engage in, or
			 having a child assist any other person to engage in any sexually explicit
			 conduct or any simulation of the conduct for the purpose of producing any
			 visual depiction of the conduct; or the rape, molestation, prostitution, or
			 other form of sexual exploitation of children, or incest with children as those
			 acts are defined by Alabama law. "Sexual exploitation" includes allowing,
			 permitting, or encouraging a child to engage in prostitution and allowing,
			 permitting, encouraging or engaging in the obscene or pornographic
			 photographing, filming, or depicting of a child for commercial purposes.
			 Neglect is defined as negligent treatment or maltreatment of a child, including
			 the failure to provide adequate food, medical treatment, supervision, clothing
			 or shelter.
(7) Child Care
			 Worker/Teacher. A person having primary responsibility for the care of a group
			 of children and meeting the specified qualifications, who may be counted in the
			 required staff-child ratio while he/she is giving direct care to the
			 children.
(8) Commissioner. The
			 Commissioner of the Alabama State Department of Human Resources.
(9) Day Care Center. In the context of these
			 regulations, day care shall begin no earlier than 5 a.m. Nighttime care shall
			 begin at 7 p.m. Additional requirements for centers operating after 7 p.m. and
			 for centers operating past midnight can be found in Rule
			 660-5-26-.09. A day care center
			 is defined in the
Code of Ala. 1975
, Section 3-7-2,
			 (4) as follows. Any child-care facility receiving more than twelve (12)
			 children for daytime care during all or part of a day. The term includes, but
			 is not limited to, facilities commonly called "child-care centers", "day
			 nurseries", "nursery schools", "pre-kindergartens," "preschools,"
			 "kindergartens", and "play groups", with or without stated educational
			 purposes. The term further includes, but is not limited to, pre-kindergarten,
			 preschool, kindergarten or nursery schools or other daytime programs operated
			 as a part of a private school and receiving children younger than lawful school
			 age for daytime care for more than four hours a day, with or without stated
			 educational purposes. The term does not include any of the following:
(a) Kindergartens or nursery schools or other
			 daytime programs operated by public elementary systems or secondary level
			 school units or institutions of higher learning;
(b) Kindergartens or nursery schools or other
			 daytime programs, with or without stated educational purposes, operating no
			 more than four hours a day and receiving children younger than lawful school
			 age.
(c) Kindergartens or nursery
			 schools or other daytime programs operated as a part of a private school and
			 receiving children younger than lawful school age for four hours a day or less,
			 with or without stated educational purposes;
(d) Facilities operated for more than four
			 hours a day in connection with a shopping center or service or other similar
			 facility, where transient children are cared for temporarily while parents or
			 custodians of the children are occupied on the premises or are in the immediate
			 vicinity and readily available; provided, however, that such facilities shall
			 meet local and state fire and health requirements;
(e) Any type of day care center that is
			 conducted on federal government premises; or
(f) Special activities programs for children
			 of lawful school age including, but not limited to, athletics, crafts
			 instruction and similar activities conducted on an organized and periodic basis
			 by civic, charitable and governmental organizations; provided, however, that
			 local and state fire and health requirements are met.