Regulations and Inspections

REGULATIONS:  In general, a child care license or registration is a legal document that means New York State has granted you permission to operate a child care business as long as some minimum criteria or regulations are met.  These regulations are in place so the children in your care will be in environments that meet minimum health & safety requirements.  Child Care Solutions encourages you as a licensed/registered child care provider to have a solid understanding of the NYS Regulations so you can operate a safe & healthy program as well as be an effective advocate for yourself and your child care program.

INSPECTIONS:  In order to ensure compliance with NYS regulations, child care programs are inspected.  Understanding what to expect during an inspection will help you be prepared and increase the health & safety of your program.  Types of inspections you might have are:

• Initial Pre-Opening Inspection:

Occurs following the submission of a new application, including when a program moves to a new space or changes modality. This type of inspection is scheduled or announced.

• Fire/Safety Inspection:

Occurs before the program opens, prior to the renewal, or anytime during the licensing or registration period. These inspections are required for all child care providers with: a pool or water hazard, providers doing care on the second floor or in a basement or for any other fire or safety hazard. This type of inspection is generally scheduled or announced.

• Monitoring Inspection:

Can occur anytime and is required following any serious violation or a series of 5 or more violations. It is also required following a self-report, injury, accident, serious contagious illness, death of a child, or medication error. These inspections are also required as part of a Safety Assessment related to a criminal history review.

A Monitoring Inspection may be required to verify that corrective action has been taken to resolve a compliance issue. It is required that if a program or provider fails to submit a written corrective action plan or has not completed training requirements prior to renewal.  Monitoring inspections may be scheduled or unannounced.

• Complaint Inspection:

Occurs following receipt of a complaint and is conducted within 5 business days of receipt of a complaint regarding serious allegations or conducted within 10 to 15 calendar days of receipt of a non-emergency allegation. This type of inspection is generally unannounced

• Renewal Inspection: 

Occurs at least once during each licensing or registration period.  This type of inspection is usually scheduled or announced. 

• Annual Unannounced Inspections: 

This type of inspection is unannounced and not scheduled in advance.  These inspections occur at least once a year but can be more than once. 

• COVID-19 and Communicable Disease Reporting

All communicable diseases must be reported to the local health department in the county where the patient resides.  For the updated list of the reportable communicable diseases mandated under New York State Sanitary Code visit: https://www.health.ny.gov/professionals/diseases/reporting/communicable/

Programs must use form DOH-389 for reporting.  The form indicates which diseases must be reported immediately via telephone, and which must be reported within 24 hours of diagnosis via mail.  Form DOH-389 can be found on the New York State Department of Health (NYS DOH) website at: https://www.health.ny.gov/forms/doh-389.pdf