childcare.broward.orgChild Care Licensing and Enforcement

share tweet 311 Close MENU Search Translate Español Française Kreyòl Ayisyen Português English -- -- +A -- -- -- Add Contrast -- -- -- Options -- Accessibility × -- Agency Agency Pic Agency Address: Email: Tel: Fax: Hours: Accessibility Options Text Size Add Contrast Contrast -- Highlight Links Read Page Reset Report a problem Accessibility Statement Broward County Environmental and Consumer Protection -- About Contact Agency Agency Pic Agency Address: Email: Tel: Fax: Hours: SITE MENU Currently selected Child Care Facilities Provider Inspections Reports 2017-Present Provider Inspections Reports 2014-2017 Laws, Requirements & Guidelines Facilities Guidelines Required Training Background Screening Transportation Requirements Laws and Requirements Inspections & Violations Inspections School Readiness Classification of Violations Documents & Forms Documents & Forms Frequently Asked Questions Gold Seal Initiative Child Care Provider Resources Child Care Licensing Story 1 Child Care Provider Status Map This map is intended to assist you in locating a licensed/registered child care program that is open for business during the COVID-19 crisis. Green circles indicate the provider is open for business, red circles indicate the provider is temporarily closed and purple circles indicate we do not have a current status report from the provider. When you click on the circle, a window appears with the name, address and phone number of the provider. The window also indicates whether the provider is approved for infant care. Please be advised that during this time, status changes occur daily. We will be updating this list weekly so please call the providers to ensure that their status has not changed. Broward County Executive Order 20-01 Questions and Answers Where is the actual language of Broward County's Executive Order? http://broward.org/CoronaVirus/Documents/BerthaHenryExecutiveOrder20-01.pdf What does the order mean by "to the extent possible"? The phrase "to the extent possible" in general means that there may be circumstances where minor adjustments must be made. Teachers will have to go to the bathroom and take breaks. Children may be on site more hours than staff, etc. CCLE has been informed that some of the cities in Broward are completely closing child care facilities that they observe not complying with the 10-person rule. We are asking providers to govern themselves accordingly to protect themselves. The difficult decisions that are being made now by providers may have great impact on them in the long run. When keeping children in separate rooms, what do we do about shared bathrooms or common areas? Shared bathrooms are not prohibited. Providers should ensure that the bathroom facilities are sanitized between use. Common areas are prohibited by the guidelines if used by multiple groups. Each group is limited to a maximum of 10 people including the children and the teachers. A common area can be used for a group of 10 if it is a separate area that no one has to go through to access other rooms. Does a "stable group" mean the class is the same group of children/ teachers each day? The phrase "stable group" means that the same children and teachers are together for the day. If your enrollment is staggered and different children are in care on different days, each group should always comply with the 10-person rule. Does a large outdoor playground count as a common area and need to be sanitized? How should we do that? If a playground has fences/walls separating it into distinct separate areas, then they can be used for different groups at the same time. Teachers should work closely with children to ensure that they are not playing near the fence to limit their exposure to children on the adjacent playground. If here is no wall or fence then the whole playground regardless of size, is one space and only one group of 10 can be on it at the same time. Surface areas that children touch should be sanitized between groups. While there is no specific limitation to the use of water fountains, during this crisis, providers are strongly encouraged to use coolers and paper cups rather than water fountains indoors and outdoors. If we have 12 children and 1 teacher is this ok, or should we tell 2 of the children not to come in? What if they have to go to work? Twelve children with one teacher is not compliant with the temporary guidelines. Providers have reported a variety of strategies for limiting the groups of children. Some providers have staggered enrollment. Some have had alternate days. Some have limited their enrollment to prioritize children of first responders and other essential personnel. As independent business owners/operators, you are in the best position to determine what is best for your clientele and your community. Can we open our doors to everyone, or just to "essential workers"? There is no guideline that limits you to providing care to essentials workers only. There is also no rule that limits you from enrolling new children during this crisis. CCLE is not requiring that you be inspected prior to adding drop-in children or school age children to your program at this time. Does the regulation take into account that Directors and Asst Directors will need to move in between classrooms to maintain oversight during the day? During this crisis it is especially important that directors maintain a presence in the classrooms. Teachers are under a lot of stress and need reassurance, support and breaks. Directors should do their best to model good infection control practices by washing their hands before entering each room each time. Can we have mixed age groups in one classroom? There is no guideline prohibiting providers from mixing multiple ages in one group provided that the group complies with minimum ratio requirements. Some providers mix children in the beginning and the end of the day. In this scenario, children are not in stable groups and therefore the facility is not in compliance with the guideline. Besides taking temperature of children before entering, washing hands, cleaning and disinfecting, are there any other precautions we should take? Providers need to use their best judgement regarding any additional measures to take to safely serve their children and staff. They should stay informed as the landscape changes daily and try and be supportive and reassuring to their teachers, children, family members and each other. This is a time for providers to work closely together whenever possible. Will anyone from licensing come out to make changes to our capacity? Increasing capacity does require an on-site inspection as a measurement of the area is required as well as confirmation that any other standards impacted by the increase are in compliance (e.g. number of sinks, toilets, playground space, etc.). At this time, CCLE is not conducting inspections to increase capacity. If you feel that you have a special circumstance that might warrant a waiver to this, please contact me directly at wskarp@broward.org . We have a large room with a four-foot divider wall creating two classrooms. Licensing has always viewed this as two separate rooms. Can I use this room for 2 groups of 10? I believe that this question is referencing the rule regarding stable walls that some providers have used to separate large rooms into smaller rooms to comply with school readiness standards for maximum group size. This rule was used to reinforce quality of instruction but did not take into account infection control. The 10-person maximum rule is for each stable separate group and as a result, groups that are separated by four-foot walls are just one room. In order to comply with the guideline, the entire room can only have 10 people regardless of the stable walls. This would be the same for rooms that may have an individual room capacity that is more than 10. The new guidelines supersede the individual room capacity as well as the stable walls rules. Mission...