Child Care Emergency Preparedness in the Washington Wildfires

Called a "slow-motion disaster" by Governor J. Inslee, this summer's wildfires have claimed hundreds of thousands of acres of land and three lives.

Among the affected areas in Washington is the city of Omak and among the many families who experienced loss and property damage are child care providers in that area.

Brianne Gates is a fairly new family home child care provider in Omak.

"I started my business in April," said Gates. "But I grew up helping at my aunt's day care. If you were going to be there, you were going to help. I've been around child care for a long time."

Today, Bree's Child Care (Gates' business) welcomes six children ranging in age from eight months to six years old. Gates herself is currently expecting her second child, and experienced the fires while approaching her eighth month of pregnancy.

"I got a phone call from a friend at the fire department at 12:20 in the afternoon. The kids were finishing lunch," said Gates.

The community in which Gates lives had been on alert since early-mid August as a fire across the river from her home had started due to lightning. On this day in particular, the winds had increased at a dangerous rate.

Gates' contact at the fire department told her that the fire had jumped the river and was now on a road very close to her home.

Thankfully, Gates has a clear policy and procedure for emergency situations, and she is careful to communicate this with parents.

"When I first consider accepting a new child into my care, I invite both a parent and the child to my home," said Gates. "I spend the meeting time getting to know their child, interacting with them, and following along as the parent reads my policies."

Gates is available to answer questions, as well as point out highlighted portions of her policies such as her emergency preparedness and evacuation policies. Gates also holds periodic drills for earthquakes and other disasters.

"After I got the call from the fire department, I issued a group text to the parents telling them we were planning to evacuate for the safety of the children," said Gates. 

Within minutes every parent had responded, asking if Gates and the children were already at the designated space (a department store's large concrete parking lot, about one mile from the home--where much of the community stayed the night in campers).

"I was amazed that the parents remembered the place we were supposed to go, and even more amazed at how fast they responded to the situation," said Gates. "There are other providers in my community that experienced property damage and did not have the same good luck with parents."

According to Gates, the evacuation process took around 10 minutes and was very successful. Bree's Child Care was out of business for several days following the evacuation.

"When it was bad, you could see this red cloud coming at us--filled with hot embers. We were close to losing our house, but we didn't," said Gates. "By the following week, we were back down to a [alert] level 1."

With the support of her community and the help of parents, no child was harmed and Gates did not experience property loss.

Gates' experience is a great example of how important consistent communication is for parents and providers. Having an emergency preparedness plan is just one of the ways Washington's child care providers promote child health and safety. To find out about emergency preparedness levels, go here: Wildfire Levels.

To learn more about licensed child care in Washington, go here: Licensed Child Care.

DEL to Issue Updated Safe Sleep Guidelines

The Washington State Department of Early Learning (DEL) is in the process of updating safe sleep guidelines, policies and procedures for licensors to use when licensing child care centers and family home providers.

“We are happy to revisit our current policy and procedures regarding safe sleep, and to consistently apply the most effective guidelines possible to our licensing work,” said Mary Kay Quinlan, DEL’s Early Learning and Child Care Statewide Licensing Administrator. “We want licensed care providers, parents and the public to have access to training and to continually practice safe sleep guidelines to promote the safety of children throughout Washington.”

DEL’s website was recently updated with safe sleep training modules (in both English and Spanish), and new Washington Administrative Code (WAC) sections regarding safe sleep in child care have been drafted  and filed to reflect the most up-to-date guidelines for safe sleep. After public input, the new WAC regarding safe sleep should be approved by the end of the summer.

DEL’s training explains the importance of protecting infants during a crucial time of their development, and also allows providers, parents and the public to learn about Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and what you can do to reduce the risk of SIDS with recommendations by the American Academy of Pediatrics, focusing on a safe sleep environment. Resources to print out are included in these training modules.

The updated guidelines will state that infant safe sleep practices must be followed when infants are napping or sleeping. In child care (either at a center or at a family home setting), staff must do the following when practicing safe sleep in accordance with the updated WAC:

• Place an infant to sleep on his or her back. If the infant has turned over while sleeping, the infant does not need to be returned to his or her back;
• Not allow blankets, stuffed toys, pillows, crib bumpers and similar items in the infant sleeping equipment, or allow a blanket to cover or drape over the sleeping equipment;
• Not cover an infant’s head and face during sleep;
• Take steps so infants do not get too warm during sleep with the infant’s arms free; and
• Not place the infant in another sleeping position other than on their back, or use a sleep positioning device unless required by a written directive or medical order from the infant’s health care provider. This directive or medical order must be in the infant’s file.

In the proposed WAC update, child care staff at a licensed facility who work with infants must complete annual safe sleep training and document this training annually. If a violation occurs, the provider must post notice of the violation in the licensed space and within five working days of receiving the notice, provide parents and guardians of the enrolled child with a letter describing the sleep violation and written information on safe sleep practices.  

To read the full listing of current child care licensing requirements, click here. To view the portion of DEL's site dedicated to public commentary on safe sleep policy update, click here.

A Day in the Life of a Family Home Child Care Licensor

The Department of Early Learning (DEL) is responsible for licensing and monitoring child care facilities around the state to ensure  providers meet the health and safety requirements necessary for children to receive safe, healthy and quality care while parents are working or away.

DEL's licensing work is guided by state laws, state rules, which are also called WACs (Washington Administrative Codes), and internal DEL policies and procedures. 

Enforcing Washington's laws in child care across the state is a demanding and challenging job--it is practiced by many DEL employees each day. The following post was written after spending a full day shadowing a DEL licensor while she worked in the field. 

The average day for a licensor begins like any other state employee's--coffee, checking email, answering phone calls. For a licensor, however, much of their job occurs "in the field." Many people in this position spend a large percent of their work day driving to various provider homes. Licensors may work from one's car or in a coffee shop when not in the field office. Using a provider's kitchen table or the roof of a playhouse as a desk while on a visit is not uncommon.

Play space at a family home child care setting.

All DEL licensors are currently equipped with tablets that can connect to the Internet when needed to ensure open and consistent dialogue with supervisors, licensees and colleagues. Tablets are also used so licensors have constant access to WAC documents and guidelines, as well as the electronic forms used for inspections. 

"No day is the same because a big part of my job is spent out and about, visiting licensees," said Cindy Anstiss, Tacoma licensor. "We [family home licensors] have between approximately 80 and 120 providers in each of our case load."

Being a licensor means building relationships with child care providers. This allows for a level of trust to develop that both the provider and the licensor have the best interests of children at heart.

In any home visit, Cindy starts by noting the outside of the family home. She raises questions about the general first impressions of the home business. Questions like: Does it have new paint? How are the doors and windows? Is the lawn mowed? (Just to name a few).

DEL licensing visits are generally unannounced so licensors can get a feel for what an average day looks like at a home. Cindy maintains a positive, welcoming attitude and stresses that she wants to simply observe the house, the children's behavior and activities on an average day. The care and needs of the children come first.

Nap space at family home child care setting.

The initial part of her time is spent surveying the kitchen, living, play and nap areas--licensed areas of the home. She takes notes on the status of lighting fixtures and bulbs, checks that there are smoke alarms and fire extinguishers, pays attention to the layout of the play areas (both indoor and outdoor) and asks questions like: is there enough space around outdoor play equipment for a "fall zone" and does it have ground cover? Are there locks and alarms on doors? Are wading pools empty when not in use? Questions vary depending on the setting and/or visit.

"It doesn't necessarily worry me to see a little messy play area with toys on the floor," said Cindy. "It usually means the kids are active or busy."

Licensors are required to conduct monitoring visits each year using an in-depth checklist of requirements. 

If a licensor finds that certain areas of the checklist are not up to code (according to the WACs), the provider and the licensor develop a compliance agreement with a plan of correction stating that they will fix the issues in a certain amount of time. Providers are required to make the checklists available to parents upon request.

Violations are available for anyone to view online at DEL's Child Care Check. These violations range in severity. A violation could be failure of reporting or record keeping - failure to keep record of a child's vaccination history, or a violation could involve lack of supervision). Parents should take note of violations, but keep an open dialogue with their provider as some citations may not be serious health and safety issues.

After Cindy surveys the active play spaces, kitchen and nap areas, she spends time observing the children while they participate in every-day activities like playing or eating lunch. She also spends time talking with the provider--getting a sense for how the home life is going outside of business hours. 

Working with people who own a business in their homes is unique and it can be challenging to regulate. Licensors need to know if changes affect the home or household members. For example, if someone moves in to a provider's home, accurate background checks of the new individual must be obtained and the licensor must be notified. 

Licensors take the health and safety of children seriously--and are fast to act if they feel a provider is putting children at risk. Summary suspensions are served to providers who have allegations that pose imminent risk to children.

"Families who choose child care in a home setting usually choose providers with similar ideals," said Cindy. "Children in child care homes have the opportunity to build strong, lasting bonds with their provider."

Cindy's day usually ends after she has surveyed provider's homes thoroughly and come away with next steps  to ensure a home is up-to-code and safe for kids.

Homes can be warm, comforting places for children to learn and grow when parents are away. For example, it is common to find pets at family homes--this may be an opportunity for children to bond and learn to interact with animals, if done safely and in accordance with WAC.

Cindy is a good example of a licensor that values providers' time, is open for questions and supports family home providers to ensure they maintain quality care. She provides technical assistance and can act as an important resource for licensees. 

If you are looking for child care, don't be afraid to ask questions of potential providers or to visit. All of DEL's WACs and policies and procedures are available online, and their subject matter ranges from safe outdoor play equipment to safe sleeping practices in child care settings. A good place to start learning about licensed child care in WA is here.