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DATE: June 20, 2023
TO: Licensed Family Day Homes, Licensed Family Day Systems, Center-Based
and Home-Based Programs Participating in the Child Care Subsidy Program,
and Voluntarily Registered Family Day Homes
FROM: Jeff Williams, Director - Office of Child Care Health and Safety, Department
of Education
SUBJECT: 2023 Legislative Implementation
This memo will inform you of legislation that passed in the 2023 Virginia General Assembly
session that affects child day programs. The legislation will become effective July 1, 2023.
Penalty for Illegally Operating Providers: House Bill (HB) 1636
HB 1636 is a technical amendment to § 18.2-371.1 (Abuse & neglect of children; penalty) of the Code of Virginia to include a reference to child day programs and family day systems. This
amendment to the Code clarifies that child day programs or family day systems defined in § 22.1-289.02 are included in § 18.2-371.1 and individuals that operate a child day program or family day system without a license are guilty of a Class 4 felony if a child in care receives a serious injury and the program is knowingly operating without a required license.
The amendment to § 18.1-371.1 A also applies to any individual who causes or permits serious injury to the life or health of a child while knowingly operating a child day program or family day system without a required license. The amendment provides children and consumers increased protection in the form of criminal penalties if a child is seriously injured.
Commission on Early Childhood Care and Education: House Bill (HB) 1423/Senate Bill (SB)
1404
HB 1423 / SB 1404 amends § 2.2-208.1 of the Code of Virginia to establish the Commission on
Early Childhood Care and Education, formerly the School Readiness Committee. The bill
establishes membership composition, term lengths, and facilitation of the Commission; the body’s powers and duties; a schedule for meetings; and required deliverables. The terms of existing School Readiness Committee members expire upon the effective date of the legislation.
The Commission on Early Childhood Care and Education is a guiding body, comprised of
policymakers, practitioners, parents, and other experts in the early childhood care and educator (ECCE) sector, to set a vision and establish goals for the future of ECCE in the Commonwealth.
The Commission’s powers and duties include expanding access to ECCE across Virginia;
analyzing opportunities for new financing; retaining, strengthening, and growing the early
childhood workforce; gathering and analyzing data to assess outcomes; generating needs
assessments and developing recommendations to support family choice, access, and affordability; and generating annual reports on access and outcomes.
The proposed Commission on Early Childhood Care and Education will have a robust membership—including representatives of private and public early childhood programs, Head Start programs, faith-based programs—as well as representatives of public school divisions, local governments, regional coordinating entities, and parents and guardians. Its powers and duties are also expanded to reflect Virginia’s progress towards expanding choice, improving quality, and prioritizing affordability.
This information is being provided to keep providers informed of the activities regarding early
childhood education in the Commonwealth. No action is required.
Epinephrine Amendment: House Bill (HB) 2140/Senate Bill (SB) 1146
HB 2140/ SB 1146 amends § 22.1-289.059 of the Code. This legislation requires the Board of
Education to amend regulations to require each child day center to implement policies for the
possession and administration of epinephrine. The bill requires the policy to require that a nurse at the center, employee at the center, or employee of a local health department who is authorized by a prescriber and trained in the administration of epinephrine to any child believed to be having an anaphylactic reaction have access to and administer epinephrine. The policy must require at least one of the individuals described above has the means to access appropriate weight-based epinephrine that is stored in a locked or otherwise generally inaccessible container or area during regular facility hours.
This legislation also requires the Board of Education to amend regulations to require each family day home provider or at least one other caregiver employed by such provider in the family day home to be trained in the administration of epinephrine and to notify the parents of each child who receives care in such family day home whether the provider stores an appropriate weight-based dosage of epinephrine in the residence or home in which the family day home operates.
The Virginia Department of Education will consider the requirements in §§ 22.1-274.2 and 54.1-3408 of the Code of Virginia in the development of regulations required by this legislation. Current regulations for some child care programs impacted by this legislation include provisions for children with emergency medication and severe allergies, and requires children with prescribed medications to be in the care of a staff member who is trained in medication administration training (MAT). There are several programs who have opted, as allowed by current regulations, not to administer any medication. In these cases, parents have a choice not to enroll their child in the program if medications are required. This legislation would require these programs to implement the policies as required by this legislation and be trained in the administration of epinephrine, notwithstanding the program’s policy on medication administration to ensure that emergency
epinephrine is available.
The Virginia Department of Education, in partnership with the Virginia Department of Health, is in the process of vetting resources to implement the provisions of this legislation, to include training and guidance on the procurement of stock epinephrine. In the coming months, providers affected by this legislation will receive communication from VDOE regarding resources for training and information on procuring stock epinephrine through a statewide standing order. A regulatory action is needed to implement this change and more information will be provided once the action is initiated. More details will be provided, and a provider webinar will take place in the coming months to review processes and procedures. Inspectors will not be determining compliance with these new requirements until the updated regulations have been implemented.
We understand that there is a lot of information provided in this memo. Please join the Office of Child Care Health and Safety for a webinar on June 22, 2023, to learn about new laws related to child day programs and family day systems. This webinar is relevant for licensees, owners, and directors who represent licensed programs, subsidy vendors, voluntarily registered homes, religious exempt centers, certified preschools, and license-exempt programs. More information and instructions for registration can be found in the Readiness Connections newsletters. Please send questions to childcarelicensing@doe.virginia.gov.
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