Virginia Administrative Code › Title 8 - EDUCATION › Agency 20 - STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION › Chapter 780 - STANDARDS FOR LICENSED CHILD DAY CENTERS › Part I - Introduction › Section 8VAC20-780-10 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
The following words and terms when used in this chapter
					 shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates
					 otherwise:
"Adult" means any individual 18 years of age or
					 older.
"Age and stage appropriate" means the curriculum,
					 environment, equipment, and adult-child interactions are suitable for the ages
					 of the children within a group and the individual needs of any child.
"Age groups":
1. "Infant" means children from birth to 16 months.
2. "Toddler" means children from 16 months up to two
					 years.
3. "Preschool" means children from two years up to the age
					 of eligibility to attend public school, five years by September 30.
4. "School age" means children eligible to attend public
					 school, age five or older by September 30 of that same year. Four-year-old or
					 five-year-old children included in a group of school age children may be
					 considered school age during the summer months if the children will be entering
					 kindergarten that year.
"Attendance" means the actual presence of an enrolled
					 child.
"Balanced mixed-age grouping" means a program using a
					 curriculum designed to meet the needs and interests of children in the group
					 and is planned for children who enter the program at three through five years
					 of age. The enrollment in the balance mixed-age grouping comprises a relatively
					 even allocation of children in each of three ages (three to six years) and is
					 designed for children and staff to remain together with turnover planned only
					 for the replacement of exiting students with children of ages that maintain the
					 class balance.
"Body fluids" means urine, feces, saliva, blood, nasal
					 discharge, eye discharge, and injury or tissue discharge.
"Camp" means a child day camp that is a child day center
					 for school age children that operates during the summer vacation months only.
					 Four-year-old children who will be five by September 30 of the same year may be
					 included in a camp for school age children.
"Center" means a child day center.
"Child" means any individual under 18 years of age.
"Child day center" means a child day program offered to (i)
					 two or more children younger than 13 years of age in a facility that is not the
					 residence of the provider or of any of the children in care or (ii) 13 or more
					 children at any location.
"Child day program" means a regularly operating service
					 arrangement for children where, during the absence of a parent or guardian, a
					 person or organization has agreed to assume responsibility for the supervision,
					 protection, and well-being of a child younger than 13 years of age for less
					 than a 24-hour period. "Child day program" does not include programs such as
					 drop-in playgrounds or clubs for children when there is no service arrangement
					 with the child's parent.
"Children with special needs" means children with
					 developmental disabilities, intellectual disabilities, emotional disturbance,
					 sensory or motor impairment, or significant chronic illness who require special
					 health surveillance or specialized programs, interventions, technologies, or
					 facilities.
"Cleaned" means treated in such a way to reduce the amount
					 of filth through the use of water with soap or detergent or the use of an
					 abrasive cleaner on inanimate surfaces.
"Communicable disease" means a disease caused by a
					 microorganism (bacterium, virus, fungus, or parasite) that can be transmitted
					 from person to person via an infected body fluid or respiratory spray, with or
					 without an intermediary agent (such as a louse or mosquito) or environmental
					 object (such as a table surface). Some communicable diseases are reportable to
					 the local health authority.
"Department" means the Virginia Department of
					 Education.
"Department's representative" means an employee or designee
					 of the Virginia Department of Education, acting as the authorized agent of the
					 superintendent.
"Evening care" means care provided after 7 p.m. but not
					 through the night.
"Good character and reputation" means knowledgeable and
					 objective people agree that the individual (i) maintains business,
					 professional, family, and community relationships which are characterized by
					 honesty, fairness, and truthfulness and (ii) demonstrates a concern for the
					 well-being of others to the extent that the individual is considered suitable
					 to be entrusted with the care, guidance, and protection of children. Relatives
					 by blood or marriage and people who are not knowledgeable of the individual,
					 such as recent acquaintances, shall not be considered objective
					 references.
"Group of children" means the children assigned to a staff
					 member or team of staff members.
"Group size" means the number of children assigned to a
					 staff member or team of staff members occupying an individual room or
					 area.
"High school program completion or the equivalent" means an
					 individual has earned a high school diploma, passed a high school equivalency
					 examination approved by the Board of Education, or has completed a program of
					 home instruction in accordance with §
										22.1-254.1
					 of the Code of Virginia equivalent to high school completion.
"Homeless child" means a child who lacks a fixed, regular,
					 and adequate nighttime residence and includes a child who is:
1. Living in a car, park, public space, abandoned building,
					 substandard housing, bus or train station, or similar settings;
2. Sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of
					 housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason; sometimes referred to as
					 doubled-up;
3. Living in a motel, hotel, trailer park, or camping
					 ground due to lack of alternative adequate accommodations;
4. Living in a congregate, temporary, emergency, or
					 transitional shelter;
5. Awaiting or in foster care placement;
6. Abandoned in a hospital;
7. Living in a primary nighttime residence that is a public
					 or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping
					 accommodation for human beings; or
8. A migratory child as defined in
					 20
					 USC §
											6399 who qualifies as homeless
					 because the child is living in circumstances described in subdivisions 1
					 through 6 of this definition.
"Independent contractor" means an entity that enters into
					 an agreement to provide specialized services or staff for a specified period of
					 time.
"Individual service, education or treatment plan" means a
					 plan identifying the child's strengths, needs, general functioning and plan for
					 providing services to the child. The service plan includes specific goals and
					 objectives for services, accommodations, and intervention strategies. The
					 service, education or treatment plan clearly shows documentation and
					 reassessment or evaluation strategies.
"Intervention strategies" means a plan for staff action
					 that outlines methods, techniques, cues, programs, or tasks that enable the
					 child to successfully complete a specific goal.
"Licensee" means any individual, corporation, partnership,
					 association, limited liability company, local government, state agency,
					 including any department institution, authority, instrumentality, board, other
					 administrative agency of the Commonwealth, or other legal or commercial entity
					 that operates or maintains a child day center to whom the license is
					 issued.
"Lockdown" means a situation where children are isolated
					 from a security threat and access within and to the facility is
					 restricted.
"Minor injury" means a wound or other specific damage to
					 the body such as abrasions, splinters, bites that do not break the skin, and
					 bruises.
"Overnight care" means care provided after 7 p.m. and
					 through the night.
"Parent" means the biological or adoptive parent or legal
					 guardian of a child enrolled in or in the process of being admitted to a
					 center.
"Physician" means an individual licensed to practice
					 medicine in any of the 50 states or the District of Columbia.
"Physician's designee" means a physician, licensed nurse
					 practitioner, licensed physician assistant, licensed nurse (R.N. or L.P.N.), or
					 health assistant acting under the supervision of a physician.
"Primitive camp" means a camp where places of abode, water
					 supply system, or permanent toilet and cooking facilities are not usually
					 provided.
"Programmatic experience" means time spent working directly
					 with children in a group that is located away from the child's home. Work time
					 shall be computed on the basis of full-time work experience during the period
					 prescribed or equivalent work time over a longer period. Experience settings
					 may include a child day program, family day home, child day center, boys and
					 girls club, field placement, elementary school, or a faith-based
					 organization.
"Resilient surfacing" means:
1. For indoor and outdoor use underneath and surrounding
					 equipment, impact absorbing surfacing materials that comply with minimum safety
					 standards when tested in accordance with the procedures described in the
					 American Society for Testing and Materials' standard F1292-99 as shown in
					 Figures 2 (Compressed Loose Fill Synthetic Materials Depth Chart) and 3 (Use
					 Zones for Equipment) on pages 6-7 of the National Program for Playground
					 Safety's "Selecting Playground Surface Materials: Selecting the Best Surface
					 Material for Your Playground," February 2004.
2. Hard surfaces such as asphalt, concrete, dirt, grass, or
					 flooring covered by carpet or gym mats do not qualify as resilient
					 surfacing.
"Sanitized" means treated in such a way to remove bacteria
					 and viruses from inanimate surfaces through using a disinfectant solution
					 (i.e., bleach solution or commercial chemical disinfectant) or physical agent
					 (e.g., heat). The surface of the item is sprayed or dipped into the
					 disinfectant solution and allowed to air dry on the surface for a minimum of
					 two minutes or according to the disinfectant solution instructions.
"Serious injury" means a wound or other /specific damage to
					 the body such as unconsciousness; broken bones; dislocation; deep cut requiring
					 stitches; poisoning; concussion; or a foreign object lodged in eye, nose, ear,
					 or other body orifice.
"Shaken baby syndrome" or "abusive head trauma" means a
					 traumatic injury that is inflicted upon the brain of an infant or young child.
					 The injury can occur during violent shaking, causing the child's head to whip
					 back and forth, the brain to move about, and blood vessels in the skull to
					 stretch and tear.
"Shelter-in-place" means the movement of occupants of the
					 building to designated protected spaces within the building.
"Short-term program" means a child day center that operates
					 less than 12 weeks a year.
"Special needs child day program" means a program
					 exclusively serving children with special needs.
"Specialty camps" means those centers that have an
					 educational or recreational focus on one subject such as dance, drama, music,
					 or sports.
"Sponsor" means an individual, partnership, association,
					 public agency, corporation, or other legal entity in whom the ultimate
					 authority and legal responsibility is vested for the administration and
					 operation of a center subject to licensure.
"Staff" means administrative, activity, and service
					 personnel including the licensee when the licensee is an individual who works
					 in the center, and any persons counted in the staff-to-children ratios or any
					 persons working with a child without sight and sound supervision of a staff
					 member.
"Staff positions" are defined as follows:
1. "Aide" means the individual designated to be responsible
					 for helping the program leader in supervising children and in implementing the
					 activities and services for children. Aides may also be referred to as
					 assistant teachers or child care assistants.
2. "Program leader" means the individual designated to be
					 responsible for the direct supervision of children and for implementation of
					 the activities and services for a group of children. Program leaders may also
					 be referred to as child care supervisors or teachers.
3. "Program director" means the primary, onsite director or
					 coordinator designated to be responsible for developing and implementing the
					 activities and services offered to children, including the supervision,
					 orientation, training, and scheduling of staff who work directly with children,
					 whether or not personally performing these functions.
4. "Administrator" means a manager or coordinator
					 designated to be in charge of the total operation and management of one or more
					 centers. The administrator may be responsible for supervising the program
					 director or, if appropriately qualified, may concurrently serve as the program
					 director. The administrator may perform staff orientation or training or
					 program development functions if the administrator meets the qualifications of
					 8VAC20-780-190
					 and a written delegation of responsibility specifies the duties of the program
					 director.
"Standard precautions" means an approach to infection
					 control. According to the concept of standard precautions, all human blood and
					 certain human body fluids are treated as if known to be infectious for human
					 immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), and other bloodborne
					 pathogens.
"Superintendent" means Superintendent of Public
					 Instruction.
"Therapeutic child day program" means a specialized
					 program, including therapeutic recreation programs, exclusively serving
					 children with special needs when an individual service, education, or treatment
					 plan is developed and implemented with the goal of improving the functional
					 abilities of the children in care.
"Volunteer" means a person who works at the center
					 and:
1. Is not paid;
2. Is not counted in the staff-to-children ratios;
					 and
3. Is in sight and sound supervision of a staff member when
					 working with a child.
Any unpaid person not meeting this definition shall be
					 considered "staff" and shall meet staff requirements.
Statutory Authority: §§
												22.1-16
						and
						22.1-289.046
						of the Code of Virginia.