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Regulation Reform Update Highlights from EEC’s Proposed Regulations

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New Definitions Educator– is the new

umbrella term referring to all early education and care staff in the draft regulations. 

It includes all FCC staff, all GCC staff, and all SACC staff. 

The word “educator” makes it easier to read the regulations.

Individual titles are still used if a requirement (like qualifications) is specific to a certain position

Lead Teacher Teacher Assistant Teacher

• Director I, II Program Administrator Site Coordinator Group Leader Assist. Group Leader Family Child Care

Provider Certified FCC Assistant Regular FCC Assistant

*PLEASE NOTE: These are DRAFT proposals for further review and discussion over the next 6-8 months.

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The Proposed Regulations have Three Program Types

Family Child Care Up to 10 children, infants to school-age, in a residence.

Small Non-Residence Up to 10 children but not in a residence.

Large Group 11+ children (up to capacity) including both group and school-age under one license.

*PLEASE NOTE: These are DRAFT proposals for further review and discussion over the next 6-8 months.

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Definition of Family Child Care Current regulations

for FCC limit the operation of a family child care home to an occupied residence. Family child care providers want some flexibility in this definition.

Continue to allow family child care to operate in an occupied residence.

Allow family child care to occur in a building attached to the residence of the licensee (garage).

Allow family child care to occur in an unattached building on the land of the licensee’s primary residence

The proposed regulation change

will accomplish the following:

Continued on next slide

*PLEASE NOTE: These are DRAFT proposals for further review and discussion over the next 6-8 months.

Definition of Family Child Care

• Allow family child care to occur in a vacant unit in a duplex if the licensee resides in the other unit of the residence

• Allow family child care to occur in an unoccupied apartment in a residence of up to three stories (potential for three separate dwelling units) if the licensee lives in one of the units.

*PLEASE NOTE: These are DRAFT proposals for further review and discussion over the next 6-8 months.

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Small Non-Residence Care

EEC has developed a hybrid! Small non-residence care combines elements of family child care and group/school age child care. It creates new options for the care of a small number of unrelated children.

Allows for ten or fewer children to receive care in a non-residence, such as a church, community center, or similar setting

The regulations are less restrictive than group child care to reflect the nature of a smaller group

Works well for the provider whose home may be unsuitable for family child care

Works well for a community agency that needs a small on-site program for staff or clients

The proposed regulation change will accomplish the following:

Community Services

*PLEASE NOTE: These are DRAFT proposals for further review and discussion over the next 6-8 months.

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Group Assignment Current regulations for GCC

require that children be assigned to groups (classrooms) based solely on their chronological age. This does not always meet the needs of the children

Provides the flexibility to assign children to classrooms according to their developmental needs

Allows an older toddler to be moved into a preschool classroom under certain conditions

Allows a child who is not ready to move into the next age group to stay in their current classroom under certain conditions

The proposed regulation change will accomplish the following:

Continued on next slide

*PLEASE NOTE: These are DRAFT proposals for further review and discussion over the next 6-8 months.

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Group Assignment

Decisions for group assignment will be made on a combination of factors, including the child’s chronological age, where the child is developmentally, parental input, and the ability of the child to fit into the proposed group.

Providers and parents have been requesting this flexibility…we have listened!

*PLEASE NOTE: These are DRAFT proposals for further review and discussion over the next 6-8 months.

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Family Groupings in Large Child Care

Sometimes children do better in a small group of mixed ages. The proposed regulations would allow limited use of “family groupings” in a large group setting (group/school age child care) and small non-residence settings.

Works well for non-traditional programs, like domestic violence women’s shelters or back up child care

Allows children going through a stressful period to be in smaller group with their older or younger siblings.

Allows children with disabilities to grow and learn with their peers in smaller groups.

Acknowledges that older and younger children can learn from each other in a family grouping setting

The proposed regulation change will accomplish the following:

*PLEASE NOTE: These are DRAFT proposals for further review and discussion over the next 6-8 months.

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Supervision of Children in School-Age Programs Appropriate supervision of

younger school-age children (ages 5-8 years) is very different from that of older school-age children (ages 9-13 years). The current regulations do not differentiate between the needs of these two age groups.

Continue to require programs to provide developmentally appropriate supervision to all school-age children

Create two new categories: “younger school-age children” and “older school-age children”

Recognize that older school-age children should be allowed some independence appropriate to their age and developmental abilities.

Give better guidance to programs around expectations for the supervision of the “younger” and the “older” school-age children.

The proposed regulation change will accomplish the following:

*PLEASE NOTE: These are DRAFT proposals for further review and discussion over the next 6-8 months.

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Alignment of Ratios and Groupings

• Current school age child regulations require a 1:13 staff to child ratio.

• Current group child care regulations require a 1:15 staff to child ratio for children 4 yrs. 9 mos. of age or older but not yet enrolled in school.

• EEC is proposing to align these ratios by requiring 1:15 ratio for school age children.

• However, EEC is also proposing a 1:10 staff to child ratio if it is a mixed age range grouping of preschool and young school age children (up to age 9).

Align the staff to child ratios across preschool and school age programs.

Give programs that serve both preschool and school age children more staffing options.

Create a new transitional grouping that meets the needs of older preschoolers and younger school age children.

The proposed regulation changes will accomplish the following:

*PLEASE NOTE: These are DRAFT proposals for further review and discussion over the next 6-8 months.

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Educator’s Qualifications Will Stay the Same For Now

Currently EEC is not making any changes to any of the required qualifications for educators.

EEC is still in the early stages of developing competency-based qualifications as well as a system for on-going professional development.

Qualifications will not be changing at this time for educators working in group, school age, or family programs.

*PLEASE NOTE: These are DRAFT proposals for further review and discussion over the next 6-8 months.

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Building a Foundation for the Early Education and Care Workforce

As new IT systems become operational over time, EEC is proposing mandatory enrollment in a workforce registry to recognize the professionalism in our

field and provide much-needed data about our

workforce. EEC is proposing enhanced professional

development hours Family child care would need 10

hours per year Group and school age staff would

need 5 to 20 hours per year depending on how many hours they work.

EEC is proposing a required orientation for all staff entering the field.

*PLEASE NOTE: These are DRAFT proposals for further review and discussion over the next 6-8 months.

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There will be Two Ways to Give EEC FeedbackBy mid-May There will be an on-line survey

specifically set up for this informal review process. Draft Regulations will be available on-line at www.eec.state.ma.us

And: There will be a special e-mail

box

Tell us what you like about these draft regulations or point out areas you would like EEC to review and consider.

*PLEASE NOTE: These are DRAFT proposals for further review and discussion over the next 6-8 months.

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Regulation Review ProcessTimeline

Board provides input on alignment approach December 2005 EEC develops draft regulations January 2006-April 2007 Intensive informal external review process May-June 2007

Draft regulations will be available on-line at www.eec.state.ma.us Board vote to send out for public comment Fall 2007 Implementation preparation Fall 2007 Board vote on final regulations after revisions Winter 2007 Technical assistance/training Spring/Summer 2008 New regulations take effect Fall 2008*

* Some regulations may be phased in over time

*PLEASE NOTE: These are DRAFT proposals for further review and discussion over the next 6-8 months.

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We Will Move Forward Together!

EEC is dedicated to moving forward with the early education and care community.

This is an opportunity to give us guidance on the draft regulations.

Your informal comments add value by improving the draft regulations.

Our common goal is to begin the formal comment period this fall with the best possible draft regulations!

Thank you.

*PLEASE NOTE: These are DRAFT proposals for further review and discussion over the next 6-8 months.