"Access to children" means an employee's job
duties require that the employee be present in a licensed child care facility
during the hours that children are present in the facility. In addition, any
person who is permitted to be alone outside the visual or auditory supervision
of facility staff with children receiving care in a licensed child care
facility is subject to the background check requirements of this Part.
"Accredited college or university" means a college or university that has
been accredited by a regional or national institutional accrediting association
recognized by the U.S. Department of Education or a non-governmental
recognition counterpart.
"Adult" means a person who is 18 years of
age or older.
"Applicant" means a person living in the residence
to be licensed who will be the primary caregiver in the group day care
home.
"Approved smoke detector" or "detector" means a
smoke detector of the ionization or photoelectric type which complies with all
the requirements of the rules and regulations of the Illinois State Fire
Marshal. (Section 2 of the Facilities Requiring Smoke Detectors Act
[425 ILCS 10])
"Assistant" or "child care assistant" means a
person (whether a volunteer or an employee) who assists a licensed home
caregiver in the operation of the group day care home.
"Attendance" means the total number of children under the age of 12
present at any one time.
"Authorized representative of the
Department" means the licensing representative or any person acting on behalf
of the Director of the Department.
"Background check"
means:
a criminal history check via fingerprints of persons age 18
and over that are submitted to the Illinois State Police and the Federal Bureau
of Investigation (FBI) for comparison to their criminal history records, as
appropriate; and
a check of the Statewide Automated Child Welfare
Information System (SACWIS) and other state child protection systems, as
appropriate, to determine whether an individual is currently alleged or has
been indicated as a perpetrator of child abuse or neglect; and
a
check of the Statewide Child Sex Offender Registry.
"Basement"
means the story below the street floor where occupants must traverse a full set
of stairs, 8 or more risers, to access the street floor.
"Behavior
Support Plan" means a written, planned and culturally and linguistically
appropriate schedule of action agreed upon by the program staff,
parents/guardians, and qualified professional resources assigned:
to assist a child, a family, caregivers, programs or teachers, and
directors on how the program reflects on, and modifies, the program, classroom,
and learning environment practices; and
to address the
identification of serious and repeated patterns of challenging behavior.
The behavior support plan must be fully implemented before initiating the
program transition plan.
"CANTS" means the Child Abuse and Neglect
Tracking System operated and maintained by the Department. This system is being
replaced by the Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System
(SACWIS).
"Caregiver" means the individual directly responsible
for child care.
"Challenging behavior" means any serious and
repeated pattern of behavior, or perception of behavior, that interferes with a
child's ability to engage in developmentally appropriate self-regulation and
cognitive and prosocial engagement with peers or adults.
"Children
with special needs" means children who exhibit one or more of the following
characteristics, confirmed by clinical evaluation:
Visual
impairment: the child's visual impairment is such that development to full
potential without special services cannot be achieved.
Hearing
impairment: the child's residual hearing is not sufficient to enable him or her
to understand the spoken word and to develop language, thus causing extreme
deprivation in learning and communication, or a hearing loss is exhibited that
prevents full awareness of environmental sounds and spoken language, limiting
normal language acquisition and learning.
Physical or health
impairment: the child exhibits a physical or health impairment that requires
adaptation of the physical plant.
Speech and/or language
impairment: the child exhibits deviations of speech and/or language processes
that are outside the range of acceptable variation within a given environment
and prevent full social development.
Learning disability: the
child exhibits one or more deficits in the essential processes of perception,
conceptualization, language, memory, attention, impulse control or motor
function.
Behavioral disability: the child exhibits an affective
disability and/or maladaptive behavior that significantly interferes with
learning and/or social functioning.
Mental impairment: the child's
intellectual development, mental capacity, and/or adaptive behavior are
markedly delayed. Such mental impairment may be mild, moderate, severe or
profound.
"Conviction" means a judgment of conviction or
sentence entered upon a plea of guilty or upon a verdict or finding of guilty
of an offense, rendered by a legally constituted jury or by a court of
competent jurisdiction authorized to try the case without a jury.
(Section 2-5 of the Criminal Code of 1961 [720 ILCS 5])
"Corporal
punishment" means hitting, spanking, swatting, beating, shaking, pinching,
excessive exercise, exposure to extreme temperatures, and other measures that
produce physical pain.
"Cot" means a comfortable, safe and
child-sized alternative bed made of resilient, fire retardant, sanitizable
fabric that is on legs or otherwise above the floor and can be stored to allow
for air flow.
"Department" means the Illinois Department
of Children and Family Services. (Section 2.18 of the Child Care Act
of 1969 [225 ILCS 10])
"Department of Public Health" or "DPH"
means the Illinois Department of Public Health.
"Discipline" means
the process of helping children to develop inner controls so that they can
manage their own behavior in socially acceptable ways.
"Disinfect"
means to eliminate virtually all germs from inanimate surfaces through the use
of chemicals or physical agents (e.g., heat). In the child care environment, a
solution of 1/4 cup household liquid chlorine bleach added to one gallon of
water (or one tablespoon bleach to one quart of water) and prepared fresh daily
is an effective disinfectant for environmental surfaces and other objects. A
weaker solution of 1 tablespoon bleach to 1 gallon of cool water is effective
for use on toys, eating utensils, etc. Commercial products may also be
used.
"Extended capacity" means an addition of 4 school age
children who may be accepted in accordance with Section
408.65(c).
This allows the maximum capacity in a group day care home to reach 16.
"Family home" or "family residence" means the location or portion of a
location where the applicant and his or her family reside, and may include
basements and attics. It does not include other structures that are separate
from the home but are considered part of the overall premises, such as adjacent
apartments, unattached basements in multi-unit buildings, unattached garages,
and other unattached buildings.
"Firearm" means any
device, by whatever name known, that is designed to expel a projectile or
projectiles by the action of an explosion, expansion of gas or escape of gas;
excluding, however:
any pneumatic gun, spring
gun, paint ball gun, or BB gun that expels a single globular projectile not
exceeding .18 inch in diameter or that has a maximum muzzle velocity of less
than 700 feet per second;
any pneumatic gun,
spring gun, paint ball gun, or BB gun that expels breakable paint balls
containing washable marking colors;
any device
used exclusively for signaling or safety and required or recommended by the
United States Coast Guard or the Interstate Commerce
Commission;
any device used exclusively for the
firing of stud cartridges, explosive rivets or similar industrial ammunition;
and
an antique firearm (other than a machine gun)
that, although designed as a weapon, the Department of State Police finds by
reason of the date of its manufacture, value, design, and other characteristics
is primarily a collector's item and is not likely to be used as a
weapon. [430 ILCS 65/1.1]
"Gateways to Opportunity Registry" means a program administered by the
Department of Human Services to track and maintain education and training
credentials of primary caregivers and assistants that allows them to establish
a profile in the registry of their educational and training development.
"Ground level" means that a child can step directly from the exit onto
the ground, a sidewalk, a patio, or any other surface that is not above or
below the ground.
"Group day care home" means a family
home which receives more than 3 up
to16children for less than 24 hours per day.
The number counted includes the family's natural, foster, or
adopted childrenand all other persons
under
the age of 12. (Section 2.20 of the Child Care Act of 1969)
"Guardian" means the guardian of the person of a minor.
(Section 2.03 of the Child Care Act of 1969)
"Infant" means a
child through 12 months of age.
"Initial background check" means
fingerprints have been obtained for a criminal history check, and the
individual has cleared a check of the Statewide Automated Child Welfare
Information System (SACWIS) and the Illinois Sex Offender Registry.
"License" means a document issued by the Department that authorizes child
care facilities to operate in accordance with applicable standards and the
provisions of the Child Care Act of 1969.
"License
applicant", for purposes of background checks, means the
operator or persons with direct responsibility for daily operation of the
facility to be licensed. (Section 4.4 of the Child Care Act of
1969)
"License study" means the review of an application for
license, on-site visits, interviews, and the collection and review of
supporting documents to determine compliance with the Child Care Act of 1969
and the standards prescribed by this Part.
"Licensed capacity"
means the number of children the Department has determined the group day care
home can care for at any one time, in addition to any children living in the
home who are under the age of 12 years. Children age 12 and over on the
premises are not considered in determining licensed capacity.
"Licensing representative" means a person authorized by the Department
under Section 5 of the Child Care Act of 1969 to examine facilities for
licensure.
"Licensing year", often called the anniversary year,
means the period of time from the date a group day care home license is issued
until the same date of the following year.
"Member of the
household" means a person who resides in a family home as evidenced by factors
including, but not limited to, maintaining clothing and personal effects at the
household address, or receiving mail at the household address, or using
identification with the household address.
"Minor traffic
violation" means a traffic violation under the laws of the State of Illinois or
any municipal authority therein or another state or municipal authority that is
punishable solely as a petty offense. (See Section 6-601 of the Illinois Driver
Licensing Law [625 ILCS 5 /Ch. 6].)
"Mitigation" means those
activities or processes undertaken to reduce the level of lead in water below
2.01 ppb (parts per billion).
"Mitigation plan" means a written
document prepared by a license applicant or licensee that identifies drinking
water sources that have tested at or above 2.01 ppb for lead and the strategies
and interim measures the applicant/licensee will take to reduce the lead level
to below 2.01 ppb.
"Parent" or "Parents", as used in this Part,
means those persons assuming legal responsibility for care and protection of
the child on a 24-hour basis; includes guardian or legal custodian.
"Permit" means a one-time only document issued by the Department of
Children and Family Services for a 6-month period to allow the individuals to
become eligible for a license.
"Persons subject to background
checks" means:
the operators of the child care facility;
all current and conditional employees of the child care facility;
any person who is used to replace or supplement staff; and
any person who has access to children, as defined in this Section.
If the child care facility operates in a family home, the license
applicants and all members of the household age 13 and over are subject to
background checks, as appropriate, even if these members of the household are
not usually present in the home during the hours the child care facility is in
operation.
"Physician" means a person licensed to practice
medicine in the State of Illinois or a contiguous state.
"Premises" means the location of the group day care home wherein the
family resides and includes the attached yard, garage, basement and any other
outbuildings.
"Preschool age" means children under 5 years of age
and children 5 years old who do not attend full day kindergarten.
"Program" means all activities provided for the children during their
hours of attendance in the group day care home.
"Program
Transition Plan" means an individualized, written, and culturally and
linguistically appropriate document developed by the departing and receiving
early childhood programs, parents or primary caregivers, and qualified
professional resources detailing tasks and individual responsibilities required
to prepare for and then execute the child's move from the current program to a
more appropriate arrangement with as little negative impact and disruption as
possible.
"Protected exit from a basement" means an exit that is
separated from the remainder of the group day care home by barriers (such as
walls, floors, or solid doors) providing one-hour fire resistance. The
separation must be designed to limit the spread of fire and restrict the
movement of smoke.
"Qualified professional" means an individual
with a recognized title such as, but not limited to, a child's health provider,
early childhood mental health consultant, licensed clinical social worker,
speech pathologist, or behavioral therapist. This individual should have
expertise in early childhood education practices, children's behaviors,
inclusion, applied behavioral analysis, infant/early childhood mental health,
or the impact of trauma.
"Repeated pattern of challenging
behavior" means behaviors that do not respond to repeated developmentally
appropriate practice interventions and that result in a disrupted learning
environment for other children enrolled in the program, such as, but not
limited to, extreme tantrums, physical and verbal aggression, property
destruction, self-injury, injury to others, or withdrawal.
"Resource personnel" means physicians, nurses, psychologists, social
workers, speech therapists, physical and occupational therapists, educators and
other technical and professional persons whose expertise is utilized in
providing specialized services to children with special needs.
"SACWIS" means the Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System
operated by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services that is
replacing the Child Abuse and Neglect Tracking System (CANTS).
"School age" means children 6 to 12 years of age and 5 year olds who are
in full-day kindergarten.
"Serious safety threat" is a behavior
that jeopardizes the physical safety of the child and/or his/her classmates or
staff.
"Special use areas" means areas of the home that may not be
included in the measurement of the area used for child care. Special use areas
include, but are not limited to, laundry rooms, furnace rooms, bathrooms,
hazardous areas, and areas off-limits to children.
"Story" means
that level of a building included between the upper surface of a floor and the
upper surface of the floor or roof next above.
"Street floor"
means a story or floor level accessible from the street or from outside a
building at ground level, with the floor level at the main entrance located not
more than 4 risers above or below the ground level and arranged and utilized to
qualify as the main floor.
"Substantiated violation" means that
the licensing representative has determined, during a licensing complaint
investigation or a monitoring or renewal visit, that the licensee has violated
a licensing standard of this Part or the Child Care Act.
"Swimming
pool" means any natural or artificial basin of water intended for public
swimming or recreational bathing which exceeds 2'6" in depth as specified in
the Illinois Swimming Pool and Bathing Beach Act and Code (77 Ill. Adm. Code
820). The term includes bathing beaches and pools at private clubs, health
clubs, or private residences when used for children enrolled in a child care
facility.
"Temporary removals" means practices that involve
removing the child from regular participation in the program as a result of a
challenging behavior. A temporary removal should be developmentally appropriate
and may only be used as a last resort if there is a serious safety threat that
cannot be reduced or eliminated by the provision of reasonable modifications.
The program must help the child return to full participation in a group setting
as soon as safety allows.
"Wading pool" means any natural or
artificial basin of water less than 2'6" in depth that is intended for
recreational bathing, water play or similar activity. The term includes
recessed areas less than 2'6" in depth in swimming pools that are designated
primarily for children.
"Water profile" means a building's water
heater, source of water, and water supply lines.
"Water source"
means any faucet used to obtain water for drinking or food preparation for day
care operations. Water sources include, but are not limited to, sinks,
bathtubs, hoses, drinking fountains, bubblers, and refrigerator or freezer
water or ice dispensers.