North Dakota Administrative Code › Title 75 - Department of Human Services › Article 75-03 - Community Services › Chapter 75-03-07 - In-Home Child Care Early Childhood Services › Section 75-03-07-04 - In-home registration and standards

Current through Supplement No. 393, July, 2024
1.
				An application for a registration document must be submitted to the department
				wherein the applicant proposes to provide in-home services. Application must be
				made in the form and manner prescribed by the department.
2. An applicant for an in-home registration
				document shall be directly responsible for the care, supervision, and guidance
				of the child or children in the child or children's home and shall comply with
				the following standards, certifying in the application that the applicant:
a. Is at least eighteen years of
				age.
b. Is physically, cognitively,
				socially, and emotionally healthy and will use mature judgment when making
				decisions impacting the quality of child care.
c. Shall devote adequate time and attention
				to the children in the applicant's care and provide an environment that is
				physically and socially adequate for children.
d. Shall participate in specialized training
				related to child care if provided by or approved by the department.
e. Shall complete one hour of
				department-approved training annually on safe sleep prior to in-home provider
				having unsupervised access to infants and one hour on mandated reporter of
				suspected child abuse or neglect.
f. Shall provide food of sufficient quantity
				and nutritious quality in accordance with the United States department of
				agriculture standards which satisfies the dietary needs of the children while
				in the applicant's care.
g. Shall
				provide proper care, supervision, and protection for children in the
				applicant's care. Supervision means the provider being within sight or hearing
				range of an infant, toddler, or preschooler at all times so the provider is
				capable of intervening to protect the health and safety of the child. For the
				school-age child, it means a provider being available for assistance and care
				so that the child's health and safety are protected.
h. Shall provide for a safe and sanitary
				environment while children are in care.
i. May not use or be under the influence of
				any illegal drugs or alcoholic beverages while children are in care.
j. May not leave children without
				supervision.
k. Shall ensure that
				discipline is constructive or educational in nature and may include diversion,
				separation from the problem situation, talking with the child about the
				situation, praising appropriate behavior, or gentle physical restraint, such as
				holding. A child may not be subjected to physical harm, fear, or humiliation.
				Disregard of any of the following disciplinary rules or any disciplinary
				measure resulting in physical or emotional injury, or neglect or abuse, to any
				child is grounds for denial or revocation of an in-home registration.
(1) Authority to discipline may not be
				delegated to children nor may discipline be administered by children.
(2) Separation, when used as discipline, must
				be appropriate to the child's development and circumstances. The child must be
				in a safe, lighted, well-ventilated room within sight or hearing range of the
				in-home provider. An in-home provider may not isolate a child in a locked room
				or closet.
(3) A child may not be
				punished for lapses in toilet training.
(4) An in-home provider may not use verbal
				abuse or make derogatory remarks about a child, or a child's family, race, or
				religion when addressing the child or in the presence of a child.
(5) An in-home provider may not use profane,
				threatening, unduly loud, or abusive language in the presence of a
				child.
(6) An in-home provider may
				not force-feed a child or coerce a child to eat, unless medically prescribed
				and administered under a medical provider's care.
(7) An in-home provider may not use
				deprivation of meals or snacks as a form of discipline or punishment.
(8) An in-home provider may not kick, punch,
				spank, shake, pinch, bite, roughly handle, strike, mechanically restrain, or
				physically maltreat a child.
(9) An
				in-home provider may not force a child to ingest substances that would cause
				pain or discomfort, for example, placing soap in a child's mouth to deter the
				child from biting other children.
(10) An in-home provider may not withhold
				active play from a child as a form of discipline or punishment, beyond a brief
				period of separation.
l.
				Shall discuss methods of discipline and child management with the parent or
				parents.