CHILD CARE LICENSING
For more information about Child Care Licensing, contact
us at 785-826-6600 or send us an email.
General Information
Our Child Care Licensing program inspects family child
care homes, preschools, child care centers, school age facilities, residential facilities and
juvenile detention facilities in three counties (Saline, Ottawa, &
McPherson). We investigate reports of concerns about child care
facilities.
The original licensing law, passed in 1919, placed the
licensing authority with the Kansas Department of Health and
Environment. The department administers the licensing law as a
preventive program to assure that out-of-home care for children and
maternity patients will not be exploitive, unsafe or unhealthy. The main
purpose of the law is to protect the health, safety, and welfare of
children receiving care away from their parents and their home. The law
is also a consumer protection law assuring parents that the care their
children receive meets minimum standards.
Kansas child care regulatory
services contribute to a healthier community by
-
supporting Kansas families in their child care
choices
-
reducing the predictable health and safety risks to
children in out-of-home care
-
increasing the number of children who are fully
immunized
-
promoting health and safety standards that help prevent communicable
disease and reduce injuries
-
promoting age-appropriate child care providers
Child Care Partnerships are created by:
-
parents who choose a licensed or registered child
care practices
-
providers who work with parents to meet each child’s needs and who
provide a healthy, safe and nurturing environment
-
surveyors who provide health, safety and child
development information to providers and parents
Salina-Saline County Health Department Surveyors
-
provide consultation on early care and education, health and safety
-
inspect child care environments and work with providers to promote
continual self-evaluation and professional growth
-
coordinate training opportunities
-
supply guidance on choosing quality child care
-
provide information to parents on how to receive a compliance check on
a child care provider
Child Care Licensing & Registration
Staff
Serving Saline, McPherson and Ottawa counties
Administrative Asst. -- 785-826-6600,
ext. 103.
Surveyor -- 785-826-6600, ext. 107
Surveyor -- 785-826-6600, ext. 108
Kansas Department of Health & Environment Program staff
KDHE Administrator -- 785-296-1270
KDHE Administrative Asst. -- 785-296-1270
Fax: (785) 296-0803
www.kdhe.state.ks.us/kidsnet
Mailing address:
KDHE
Bureau of Child Care & Health Facilities
1000 SW Jackson, Suite 200
Topeka, KS 66612-1274
For a list of websites related to child care, visit our Resources page.
Information for Parents
The Salina-Saline County Health Department inspects child care homes, preschools,
child care centers, school age programs, group boarding homes,
residential facilities, juvenile centers and detention centers for Saline, McPherson and
Ottawa counties.
Before Choosing Child Care
-
take some time to think about the type of care, cost and location that
will meet your family’s needs
-
call the programs which appear to meet your needs and use the first
section of this list to gather information
-
make appointments to visit several locations which sound acceptable by
phone
-
schedule appointments at a time when the children are active so you
can observe the adult/child interaction
-
use the list of questions below to guide the conversation with the
child care provider
Questions to Ask During a Phone Interview
1. What age of children does the facility accept? Are there openings?
2. What are the days and hours of operation?
3. What are the fees and what do they include?
4. Please give examples of a daily schedule and the activities provided
for the children
5. Is transportation provided?
6. Please give three references.
What to Look for When Visiting the Facility
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Health & Environment
Is the license or certificate posted?
Is the facility bright, cheerful, clean and orderly?
Are the indoor and outdoor play areas safe?
Are poisons and medications and guns locked up?
Are bathrooms adequate, clean and accessible?
Are health assessments, immunizations, emergency information and medical
treatment releases kept for all children in care?
Are children with contagious diseases excluded from care?
Is there a safety plan to follow in emergencies?
How will I be notified if my child is being transported?
Are precautions taken to assure children are released only to authorized
adults?
Are meals and snacks appropriate and nutritious?
Do children brush their teeth and wash their hands regularly?
Does the provider wash her hands regularly?
If provider transports children, are there individual seat belts for
each child and car seats or boosters for children under eight years?
Program
Is the day structured to include a variety of activities which challenge
thinking, stimulate creativity and develop physical and social skills?
Is there a large variety of books, art materials, blocks, toys, games,
puzzles, etc.?
Are there adequate space and materials for both active and quiet play?
Does
the provider talk to children, read aloud to them and answer their
questions?
Is the amount and content of television watching limited?
Parent Involvement
Are parents encouraged to visit at any time?
Does
the provider take time to talk to parents and make them feel welcome?
Can parents get regular feedback on children's behavior? How?
Are there opportunities for parent participation?
Infants & Toddlers
Is mental and physical stimulation provided by offering things to look
at, touch and listen to?
Is time spent holding, playing with, and talking to the babies?
Are diapering and feeding sanitary?
Does
the provider cooperate with parents' efforts to toilet train toddlers?
Provider
Is the provider warm, calm and friendly in dealing with children and
adults?
Are positive discipline methods used?
Are simple consistent limits of behavior set and maintained?
Does the provider bend to the child's level when talking to him?
Are children comforted when needed?
Are different cultural values accepted and respected? Is the provider's
family supportive of her work?
Does the provider attend child care related training?
Child Care facilities must be licensed or registered by the Kansas
Department of Health & Environment. If you are concerned about what you
see at a child care facility, call the Health Department at
785-826-6600,
ext. 103, 107, or 108.
Child Care Websites
Opening a Child Care Facility
Some important things to consider before you choose this career are:
-
Do you like children?
-
Do you have the patience to work with large groups of children?
-
Are you willing to work openly with a child’s parents on such issues
as discipline?
-
How does your family feel about sharing their home?
-
Do you understand that children need activities which foster their
growth and development?
Caring for other people’s children is a tremendous responsibility. With a little planning and a lot of love, it can be a positive
experience for both you and the children in your care.
Who Needs to be Registered or Licensed?
Registration or Licensure (depending on the number of children in care)
is required regardless of the motivation for providing care, and whether
or not there is advertisement or payment for services. The essential
fact is that a child or children receive care away from their own home.
Registration or Licensing in home-based care is not required when:
-
Child care is provided for not more than two children unrelated to
the provider for 20 hours a week or less and the home has not been
closed as a result of enforcement action. Total time is determined by
adding the hours each child is in care per week.
-
Irregular child care is arranged between friends and neighbors on an
exchange basis.
-
Child care is provided in the child’s own home.
-
Child care is provided in the home of the child’s relative.
Categories of Child Care
Licensed Child Care Home (K.A.R. 28-4-113 et seq.) is a home in which
care is provided for a maximum of ten children under 16 years of age
with limited number of children under kindergarten age. This total
includes children under eleven year of age related to the provider.
Group Child Care Home (K.A.R. 28-4-113 et seq.) is a home in which care
is provide for a maximum of twelve children under 16 years of age with a
limited number of children under kindergarten age. This total includes
children under eleven years of age related to the provider.
Registered Family Child Care Home (K.S.A. 65-517 et seq. and K.A.R.
28-4-120, 122 through 131.) is the family’s own residence in which care
is provided by the applicant for not more than six children from birth
to 16 years of age with not more than three children under 18 months of
age. All children under 12 years of age related to the provider are
included in the total (Legislation effective 7-1-94).
Child Care Center (K.A.R. 28-4-420 et seq.) is a facility in which care
and educational activities are provided for 13 or more children two
weeks to 16 years of age for more than three hours and less than 24
hours per day including day time, evening, and nighttime care, or which
provides before and after school care for school-age children. A
facility may have fewer than 13 children and be licensed as a center if
the program and building meet child care center regulations.
Preschool (K.A.R. 28-4-420 et seq.) is a facility which provides
learning experiences for children who have not attained the age of
eligibility to enter kindergarten prescribed in K.S.A. 72-1107© and any
amendments thereto, and who are 30 months of age or older; which
conducts sessions not exceeding three hours per session; which does not
enroll any child more than one session per day; and which does not serve
a meal. The term “preschool” include education preschools, Montessori
schools, nursery schools, church-sponsored preschools, and cooperatives.
A preschool may have fewer than 13 children and be licensed as a
preschool if the program and facility meet preschool regulations. In
lieu of being licensed, preschools operated in the same building as
private schools providing kindergarten through grade six shall be
governed by Kansas statues applicable to private schools.
If you are interested in opening a child care facility ,
please call the child care surveyor to register for an orientation. All materials for the class
are provided. Please do not bring children to the class. An individual
orientation may be given to anyone unable to attend a class.
A license or certificate may be issued to an applicant for a home child
care 30-90 days after the complete application is received. A center or
preschool must apply 90 days before opening.
Child Care Websites
Information for Providers
Provider Interview
The interview is an opportunity for you and your potential parent to get
to know each other and to decide if you will be a good match. It is
important that you both provide as much information as possible in the
pre-placement interview. If it can be arranged you should meet more than
once before a decision is made and care begins. You and the parents
might meet first, and then have the parents return with the child.
Whether you are meeting once or several times before arrangements for
care are finalized, the following topics should be discussed prior to
enrollment of the child.
What You Should Tell Parents
-
Your child care experience (including your experience as a parent)
-
Your child care training (i.e., workshops, first aid/CPR, education)
-
The number and ages of children in your home (your own and child care)
-
The kind of care you provide (what kind of activities the children
will be doing during the day (pictures), what are the normal daily
routines/schedules, etc.)
-
How long you intend to continue providing care
-
What are your plans for coping with an emergency situation
(contingency plan)
-
What type of meals and snacks you serve (food program)
-
What forms of child guidance you use (i.e., time out, distraction,
redirection)
-
Parent responsibilities (i.e., child’s cubbie, diapers, formula, etc.)
-
Your contract policies and procedures
What Parents Should Tell You
-
Information about the child’s family structure (does the child live
with both parents, number of siblings, etc.)
-
The child’s previous experience in child care
-
The child’s medical history and medical or health concerns (i.e.,
allergies)
-
The child’s personality (i.e. shy, nervous, outgoing)
-
The child’s eating, sleeping, toileting habits
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The child’s favorite activities, books, foods, etc.
-
Any recent changes, upsets or problems that might affect the child
(e.g., marriage, divorce, birth of sibling)
-
If child is school-aged: What arrangements can be made regarding
transportation to and from school?
-
Parent’s employers, hours of work, phone numbers and addresses at work
and home
-
Names and phone numbers of emergency contacts if parents are not
available
What You and the Parents Should Agree Upon
-
Money matters: basic fees, method and frequency of payment, overtime
rates, payment for absences and holidays etc.
Child Care Websites
Child Care Provider FAQs
Q. Can I have 2 extra children after school? Can I have 4 infants (child
care home)? Can I have extra children at lunch or shift change?
A. A home provider or child care center can NEVER have more children or
different ages of children than their license or registration reads.
Anyone can request an exception, however the following should be
considered:
- Registered providers can never request an exception to numbers of
children as their capacity is a law.
- Child care centers and preschools will rarely be granted capacity
exceptions.
- Licensed providers may request up to 2 extra children for a short
time, however, 4 infants will NEVER be granted without a change in
license.
- Exceptions are rarely in best interest of children and seldom are
granted.
- Providers are never to exceed capacity without written approval!
- Exceptions take 60-90 days to process unless it is an emergency.
Q. How often do providers/teachers need physicals, TB Skin Tests, and
First Aid Training?
A. Physicals and TB Skin Tests need to be completed one time unless the
provider/teacher closes or stops teaching and then begins again. First
aid training only needs to be completed one time, it does not have be
certification.
Q. What are the child care fees?
| Registered
Child Care Homes & Resource/Referral & KACCRRA |
$20.00 |
| Licensed &
Group Child Care Homes |
$30.00 |
|
Preschools |
$30.00
plus $1.00 per child per license |
| School Age
Programs |
$50.00 |
|
Child Care Centers |
$50.00
per license plus:
1-24 children $25
25-49 children $50
50-74 children $75
75 + children $100 |
| Group
Boarding Homes |
$60.00 |
|
Residential Facilities |
$100.00
per license plus:
10-24 children $25
25-49 children $50
50-74 children $75
75 + children $100 |
Additional State Fees Apply
Additional Local Fees (effective 7-1-07)
| Substantiated Complaint |
$40.00 |
| KDHE Requested compliance
Inspection |
$30.00 |
Q. What are the different capacities for each type of facility?
A. Capacities vary for different types of facilities.
Registered Child Care Home
-
total number children in care, not more than 6
-
not more than three of the children cared for at such place are less
than 18 month of age.
-
providers own children are counted in the total capacity if they are
under 12 years of age.
| Licensed Child Care Home |
|
MAXIMUM NUMBER OF CHILDREN
UNDER 18 MONTHS
|
MAXIMUM NUMBER OF CHILDREN
18 MONTHS TO KINDERGARTEN AGE
|
KINDERGARTEN AGE
TO AGE 11
|
LICENSE CAPACITY
|
|
0
|
7
|
3
|
10
|
|
1
|
5
|
4
|
10
|
|
2
|
4
|
3
|
9
|
|
3
|
3
|
2
|
8
|
|
Children 11 years of age to 16 years of age, unrelated to the provider, shall be included in the license capacity if child care for this age group as a whole exceeds three hours a week.
|
|
Children under 11 years of age who are related to the provider shall be included in the maximum number of children in each age group.
|
| Group
Child Care Home with one adult |
|
AGE OF CHILDREN ENROLLED
|
LICENSE CAPACITY
|
|
Age 2.5 to age 11
|
9
|
|
Age 3 to age 11
|
10
|
|
Kindergarten to age 11
|
12
|
| Group
Child Care Home with two adults |
|
MAXIMUM NUMBER OF CHILDREN
UNDER 18 MONTHS
|
MAXIMUM NUMBER OF CHILDREN
18 MONTHS TO KINDERGARTEN AGE
|
KINDERGARTEN AGE
TO AGE 11
|
LICENSE CAPACITY
|
|
1
|
8
|
3
|
12
|
|
2
|
7
|
3
|
12
|
|
3
|
6
|
3
|
12
|
|
4
|
4
|
2
|
10
|
|
MAXIMUM NUMBER OF CHILDREN
UNDER 18 MONTHS
|
MAXIMUM NUMBER OF CHILDREN
18 MONTHS TO 2.5 YEARS OLD
|
2.5 YEARS
AND OLDER
|
LICENSE CAPACITY
|
|
0
|
5
|
7
|
12
|
|
*A second person 16 years of age or older shall be
present when the number of children exceeds the
maximum number allowed for one adult. (See
Table I.) **Children kindergarten age and over
may be substituted for younger children in the
license capacity. |
|
Children 11 years of age to 16 years of age unrelated to the provider shall be included in the license capacity if child care for this age group as a whole exceeds three hours a week.
|
| Children under 11 years of age who are related to the provider shall be included in the maximum number of children in each age group in a group day care home. |
| Children who do not function according to age-appropriate expectations shall be counted in the age group with reflects their developmental level. |
| Chlld Care Centers and Preschools |
|
AGE OF CHILDREN
|
MINIMUM STAFF/CHILD RATION
|
MAXIMUM NUMBER
OF CHILDREN PER UNIT
|
|
Infants 2 weeks to 12 months
|
1 to 3
|
9
|
|
Infants to 6 years
|
1 to 4, maximum 2 infants
|
8, maximum 4 infants
|
|
Toddlers 12 months to 2.5 years
if walking unassisted
|
1 to 5
|
10
|
|
2 years to 3 years
|
1 to 7
|
14
|
|
2.5 years to school age
|
1 to 10
|
20
|
|
3 years to school age
|
1 to 12
|
24
|
|
Kindergarten enrollees
|
1 to 14
|
28
|
|
School age
|
1 to 16
|
32
|
Q. When is a fire inspection needed?
A. Inspections are needed at these times (the provider/facility is
responsible for scheduling the fire inspection):
-
all licensed/group child care homes receive an inspection when they
open
-
any child care home that uses a basement or second level
receives an annual inspection.
-
group child care homes receive an
annual inspection
-
all child care centers and preschools receive an
inspection when they open
-
all child care centers receive an annual
inspection.
Q. What happens during a complaint investigation?
A. The child care surveyors investigate all complaints. Providers should know that:
-
all visits to provider’s house/facility are always announced.
-
a complete walk-thru and record check will be
completed and violations will be noted.
-
other agencies may participate in the investigation,
such as SRS, food programs or police.
-
it is very common for surveyors
to interview parents, neighbors or other possible witnesses.
-
a notice
of survey findings will be delivered at the end of the investigation.
-
complainant’s names are always confidential.
A parent-provider/teacher relationship is most beneficial when each
party views the other as a valuable partner and resource. Open and
frequent communication is crucial for a positive relationship. Many
complaints received by the health department could be avoided if the
following were implemented:
-
open door policy – parents are always made to feel welcome to visit
their child.
-
a healthy and safe environment where children are
well supervised is provided.
-
providers/teachers are willing to work with
parents on problems or limitations.
-
both parents and
providers/teachers notify each other of changes.
-
providers/teachers are non-judgmental and respectful
of family backgrounds and values.
-
providers/teachers are warm and loving with the children in their care.
Resources
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