The following words and terms, when used in this
chapter, have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates
otherwise:
ACIP-The Advisory Committee on
Immunization Practices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
United States Department of Health and Human Services.
Act-The Human Services Code
(62 P.S. §§
101-1503).
Age level-The grouping category
appropriate for the child's age.
(i)
Infant- A child from birth to 1 year of age.
(ii)
Young toddler- A child
from 1 to 2 years of age.
(iii)
Older toddler- A child from 2 to 3 years of age.
(iv)
Preschool child- A
child from 3 years of age to the date the child enters kindergarten in a public
or private school system.
(v)
Young school-age child- A child who attends kindergarten to
the date the child enters the 4th grade of a public or private school
system.
(vi)
Older
school-age child- A child who attends the 4th grade of a public or
private school system through 15 years of age.
CPS-Child Protective Services.
CPSL-
Child Protective Services
Law-Title 23 of the
Pennsylvania Consolidated
Statutes Chapter 63 (relating to the Child Protective Services
Law).
CRNP-Certified Registered Nurse
Practitioner.
Casual contact-The ordinary, routine
and age-appropriate association of children, parents and facility persons in
the course of daily assembly in a facility.
Certificate of compliance-A document
issued by the Department to a legal entity permitting the entity to operate a
specific type of facility at a specific location for a specific period of time
according to applicable Department regulations. A certificate of compliance
approves the operation of a facility subject to Article IX of the act
(62 P.S. §§
901-922) or licenses the
operation of a facility subject to Article X of the act (62 P.S. §§
1001- 1088).
Child-A person 15 years of age or
younger.
Child abuse-Serious physical or mental
injury which is not explained by the available medical history as being
accidental; sexual abuse or sexual exploitation; or serious physical neglect of
a child if the injury, abuse or neglect of a child has been caused by the acts
or omissions of the child's parent, by a person responsible for the child's
welfare, by an individual residing in the same home as the child or by a
paramour of a child's parent. A child will not be deemed to be physically or
mentally abused for the sole reason that the child is in good faith being
furnished treatment by spiritual means through prayer alone in accordance with
the tenets and practices of a recognized church or religious denomination by an
accredited practitioner thereof or is not provided specified medical treatment
in the practice of religious beliefs or solely on the grounds of environmental
factors which are beyond the control of the person responsible for the child's
welfare, such as inadequate housing, furnishings, income, clothing and medical
care.
Child care experience-Care for a child
in lieu of care by the parent or guardian for part of a 24-hour day. The term
includes care of foster children in a court-supervised arrangement. The term
does not include care of related children who reside with an individual. The
term does not include supervised onsite training in the case of a student who
is fulfilling the requirements of a secondary or postsecondary child care
training or educational curriculum.
Child care center-The premises in
which care is provided at any one time for seven or more children unrelated to
the operator.
Child with special needs-A child who
has one or more of the following:
(i)
A disability or developmental delay identifies on an IEP, an IFSP or a service
agreement.
(ii) A written
behavioral plan that has been determined by a licensed physician, licensed
psychologist or certified behavior analyst.
(iii) A chronic health condition diagnosed by
a licensed physician, physician's assistant or CRNP that requires health and
related services of a type or amount beyond that required by children
generally.
Communicable disease-An illness due to
an infectious agent or its toxic products which is transmitted directly or
indirectly by the infected agent to a susceptible host. Communicable diseases
are specified in 28 Pa. Code Chapter 27 (relating to communicable and
noncommunicable diseases).
Department-The Department of Public
Welfare of the Commonwealth.
Facility-A child care center.
Facility person-A staff person, a
substitute staff person, a volunteer, a food service person, a janitorial
person or another adult who serves in or is employed by a facility.
Fire protection professional-An
individual knowledgeable and competent in fire inspections, fire detection,
fire suppression systems and practices, fire service training, emergency
preparedness planning and emergency evacuation whose competence is demonstrated
by membership in a professional organization which promotes firesafety
education.
Group-Children assigned to the care of
one or two staff persons. A group occupies a space or a defined part of a
space.
IEP-Individualized education program
as defined in 22 Pa. Code §§14.101 and
14.131-14.133 (relating to definitions;
and IEP).
IFSP-Individualized family service
plan as defined in 4226.5 and 4226.71-4226.77 (relating to definitions; and
IFSPs).
Inspection summary-A document prepared
by an agent of the Department describing each regulatory noncompliance item
confirmed as a result of a facility inspection.
Legal entity-A person, society,
corporation, governing authority or partnership that is legally responsible for
the administration of one facility or several facilities, or one type of
facility or several types of facilities.
Night care-Care for a child between
the hours of 7 p.m. and 7 a.m.
Operator-The legal entity or a person
designated by the legal entity to serve as the facility director.
Parent-The biological or adoptive
mother or father, legal guardian or foster mother or father of the
child.
Potentially hazardous food-A food that
consists in whole or in part of milk or milk products, eggs, meat, poultry,
fish, shellfish or other ingredients capable of supporting rapid and
progressive growth of infectious or toxigenic microorganisms.
Public water system-A system for the
provision to the public of water for human consumption that has at least 15
service connections or regularly serves an average of at least 25 individuals
daily at least 60 days out of the year. The term includes:
(i) Collection, treatment, storage and
distribution facilities under the control of the operator of the system and
used in connection with the system.
(ii) Collection or pretreatment storage
facilities not under control of the operator which are used in connection with
the system.
(iii) A system which
provides water for bottling or bulk hauling for human consumption.
Relative-A parent, child, stepparent,
stepchild, grandparent, grandchild, brother, sister, half brother, half sister,
aunt, uncle, niece or nephew. As applied to facilities subject to approval
under Article IX of the act, the term also includes a stepbrother, stepsister
or first cousin.
School-age care-Supervised child care
in a Departmen-tally certified facility during the hours when a child is not
required to attend school.
Service agreement-A service agreement
as defined in 22 Pa. Code §§15.2 and
15.7 (relating to definitions; and
service agreement).
Space-Indoor or outdoor area designed
for child care that is large enough to accommodate the maximum number of
children allowed under this chapter. A space may be used by more than one group
of children.
Staff person-A person included in the
staff:child ratio who is responsible for child care activities.
Supervise-To be physically present
with a group of children or with the facility person under supervision.
Critical oversight in which the supervisor can see, hear, direct and assess the
activity of the supervisee.
Volunteer-A person 16 years of age or
older who is not included in the staff:child ratio and who assists in
implementing daily program activities under the supervision of a staff
person.
Waiver-The Department's written
exemption from the requirement of meeting a standard in this chapter.
Year-For purposes of calculating, 1
year of child care experience is a minimum of 1,250 clock
hours.
