New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 18 - DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES › Chapter II - Regulations of the Department of Social Services › Subchapter C - Social Services › Article 2 - Family and Children's Services › Part 417 - Family Day Care Homes › Section 417.7 - Program requirements

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
(a) The
			 program must establish and implement a daily schedule of program activities
			 that offers reasonable regularity in routines, including snack and meal
			 periods, nap and rest periods, indoor activities, outdoor play time and a
			 variety of large muscle activities throughout the day. There must be physical
			 activity, appropriate to the ages of the children in care, every day.
(b) When care is provided to infants less
			 than six months of age, the daily schedule must include short supervised
			 periods of time during which the awake infant is placed on his or her stomach,
			 back or side allowing them to move freely and interact socially, thus
			 developing motor skills and social skills.
(c) The daily schedule must include a routine
			 of good personal hygiene practices, and when night care is provided, this
			 includes changing into night clothes, brushing teeth, and washing before bed in
			 the manner to be agreed between the parent and the program.
(d) Children must receive instruction,
			 consistent with their age, needs and circumstances, in techniques and
			 procedures that will enable them to protect themselves from abuse and
			 maltreatment.
(e) Each family day
			 care home must provide a sufficient quantity and variety of materials and play
			 equipment appropriate to the ages of the children and their developmental
			 levels and interests, including children with developmental delays or
			 disabilities, which promote the children's cognitive, educational, social,
			 cultural, physical, emotional, language and recreational development.
(f) As age and development permit, children
			 must be allowed freedom of movement and must be provided with an environment
			 designed to develop such skills as crawling, standing, walking and
			 running.
(g) Children must be
			 provided an opportunity to choose between quiet activities and active
			 play.
(h) Programs must offer daily
			 supervised outdoor play, except during inclement or extreme weather or unless
			 otherwise prohibited by a health care provider. Parents may request and
			 programs may permit children to remain indoors during outdoor play time so long
			 as such children will be supervised by an approved caregiver.
(i) Except while sleeping, awaking or going
			 to sleep, an infant must not be left in a crib, playpen or other confined space
			 for more than 30 minutes at any one time. Other than at meals or snack time, a
			 child must not be left in a high chair for longer than 15 minutes.
(j) Children may not sleep or nap in car
			 seats, baby swings, strollers, infant seats or bouncy seats. Should a child
			 fall asleep in one of these devices, he or she must be moved to a crib/cot or
			 other approved sleeping surface.
(k) For day and evening care, appropriate
			 rest and quiet periods, that are responsive to individual and group needs, must
			 be provided so that children can sit quietly or lie down to rest.
(l) Other than for school age children,
			 sleeping and napping arrangements must be made in writing between the parent
			 and the program. Such arrangements shall include: the area of the home where
			 the child will nap; whether the child will nap on a cot, mat, bed or a crib;
			 and how the napping child will be supervised, consistent with the requirements
			 of section
			 417.8  of
			 this Part.
(m) Sleeping
			 arrangements for infants through 12 months of age require that the infant be
			 placed flat on his or her back to sleep, unless medical information from the
			 child's health care provider is presented to the program by the parent that
			 shows that arrangement is inappropriate for that child.
(n) Cribs, bassinets and other sleeping areas
			 for infants through 12 months of age must include an appropriately sized fitted
			 sheet, and must not have bumper pads, toys, stuffed animals, blankets, pillows,
			 wedges or infant positioners. Wedges or infant positioners will be permitted
			 with medical documentation from the child's health care provider.
(o) The resting/napping places must:
(1) be located in approved day care
			 space;
(2) be located in safe areas
			 of the home;
(3) be located in a
			 draft-free area;
(4) be where
			 children will not be stepped on;
(5) be in a location where safe egress is not
			 blocked; and
(6) allow caregivers
			 to move freely and safely within the napping area in order to check on or meet
			 the needs of children.