1. EEC’s Proposed Regulations: Overview and Update
A New Approach to Group, School-Age
and Family Child Care Regulations

2. The Regulation Review Journey
Board approves alignment approach Dec.2005-Jan. 2006
EEC develops draft regulations Jan March 2007
Intensive informal external review process May-August 2007
Revisions to draft August - October 2007
Board votes to send out for informal public comment November 2007
Public Hearings February 2008
Revisions to draft March-August 2008
Provide resources for the field Fall 2008 to Fall 2009
Board votes to promulgate in January March-April 2009
Technical assistance/training Spring 2009 and ongoing
New regulations are promulgated (take effect) January 2010
Licensors evaluate compliance and offer resources Ongoing

3. EEC’s Proposed Regulations
Background:
EEC Board was updated on the proposed regulations at its March 10, 2009 meeting.
The Board had questions in three specific areas:
oral health,
fall zones in family child care, and
amount of required professional development that should address diverse learners.
Small workgroups from the Regulation Review Team revisited each of these issues with the Board’s questions in mind.
Their work was presented to the Board’s Programs and Policy Committee on March 30th.
The Committee’s recommendations for the Board were presented to the EEC Advisory on April 3rd.
The EEC Advisory’s comments were discussed with the Programs and Policy Committee on April 6th.
The Committee presents its final recommendations to the Board on April 14, 2009.

4. 7.11 Health and Safety Oral Health Including Tooth Brushing
Background:
Original draft: children >1 year old who get 2 meals/day must have opportunity to brush.
Informal comment: 54% liked idea but many raised implementation and sanitation concerns.
EEC’s Board stressed importance for overall good health and that many programs already brush.
Considerations:
1 in 4 MA kindergartners have dental decay; 50% of which goes untreated.
Low income children are disproportionately affected (almost 2X).
Early tooth loss is linked to failure to thrive, impaired speech development, poor concentration, and reduced self-esteem.
CDC is unaware of adverse health effects directly related to tooth brushing.
Training materials to help programs implement tooth brushing are readily available.
Storage may be an issue for some programs.
Some school age programs serve large numbers of children and have limited program time.
Materials and training costs.

5. 7.11 Health and Safety Oral Health Including Tooth Brushing
Options discussed:
Don’t require; address with technical assistance and resources.
Require for children who get snacks or meals in all programs.
Require for children in family child care homes and group child care centers. Programs that are only school age must give children an opportunity to brush.
Recommendations by the Committee for the Board:
Revise the regulations to require tooth brushing in all programs that children attend for more than 4 hours or include a meal.
School age child care programs that only meet these criteria during school vacation weeks and do not operate in the summer need not comply.
Make technical assistance and resources available to all programs whether or not they are required to brush teeth.

6. 7.07 Physical Facility Requirements Fall Zones (Use Zones) for Outdoor Play
Inches of
Loose-fill
material
Protects to
fall height 9
Shredded/
recycled
rubber
10 feet
Sand
4 feet
Pea gravel
5 feet
Wood mulch
7 feet
Wood chips
Swing set: top view
Use Zone -The surface under and around a piece of equipment onto which a child falling from or exiting from the equipment would be expected to land. These areas are also designated for unrestricted circulation around the equipment. (CPSC definition)

7. 7.07 Physical Facility Requirements Fall Zones (Use Zones) for Outdoor Play
Background:
Fall zones under swings, slides, and structures have been required since 1998 in group child care programs.
Proposed regulations also required fall zones in family child care and school age programs.
In response to much testimony about cost and installation concerns, this was deleted for FCC.
EEC’s Board discussed this as an important safety issue.
Considerations:
Playground injuries(CPSC):
83% occur to children between ages 2 and 9;
79% are caused by falls;
76% occur on public playgrounds;
23% occur on home or residential playgrounds but result in 70% of related deaths.
EEC data indicate few serious injuries in licensed FCC homes.
Fall zones can be costly to install and require frequent maintenance.
Technical assistance is available: CPSC Playground Safety Handbook

8. 7.07 Physical Facility Requirements Fall Zones (Use Zones) for Outdoor Play
Options discussed:
Don’t require; address with technical assistance.
Immediately require fall zones in all settings including family child care.
Prohibit the use of playground equipment without fall zones and provide alternatives for large muscle development.
Require fall zones at future date (2012); to provide family child care programs with time to comply.
Use QRIS standards as an incentive (points for fall zones).
Advocate for resources to offset the installation cost.
Convene study group to research before requiring in regulations.

9. 7.07 Physical Facility Requirements Fall Zones (Use Zones) for Outdoor Play
Recommendations by the Committee for the Board:
Require fall zones by 2012 to give FCC programs time to retrofit existing equipment.
Revise the regulations to require fall zones for all new equipment installed after the effective date of the regulations.
Provide FCC programs considering the purchase of new equipment in the intervening months with information on safe installation and the risks addressed by fall zones.
Provide technical assistance on large muscle activities/gross motor play that do not require playground equipment.
Explore options for offsetting the installation costs of fall zones.

10. 7.09 Staff Qualifications and Development Diverse Learners
“Children who have special physical, emotional, behavioral, cognitive, or linguistic needs or whose primary learning modality is visual, auditory, tactile or kinesthetic, who may require an adaptation in the environment, interaction or curriculum in order to succeed in their program.” (definition in proposed regulations)
Background:
Current center-based regulations require that 25% professional development hours address special needs
Proposed regulations broaden this 25% to include diverse learners and to apply to family child care
Public comment: concerns about availability of training
EEC Board questioned if 25% was sufficient to address this broader category
Considerations:
All licensed programs are required to accept application from families whose children have special needs
Anecdotally, programs report more children enrolling with diverse learning needs
Limited data available on current offerings/needs
July-Dec. 2008, EEC’s PD Calendar listed 48 professional development offerings related to special needs (based on review of titles and descriptions)
648 staff attended these offerings (not an unduplicated count).
183 identified themselves as family child care
PD Calendar updated to identify which courses address special needs
Trainings are also available from other sources

11. 7.09 Staff Qualifications and Development Diverse Learners
Options discussed:
Increase the proposed percentage to 33%? 50%?
Require that diverse learners be addressed in all professional development counted towards the required in-service hours (no specific %).
Require that 25% of professional development address diverse learners in its entirety and that all professional development must include them.
Convene study group and/or research current offerings and needs before changing regulations

12. 7.09 Staff Qualifications and Development Diverse Learners
Recommendations by the Committee for the Board:
Revise the regulations to increase the percentage of required professional development that must address diverse learners from 25% to 33%.
Develop a policy, for consideration by the Board, stating that all required professional development must include diverse learners.
Research what existing professional development meets this requirement and what additional resources are needed.
Address this issue in EEC’s Workforce Development Plan.
Care Setting Total Hrs/Yr % Diverse Learners
FCC/Small Group School Age:
Large Group School Age:

13. Summary and Implementation Plan
What is Not Changing:
Won’t require programs to make big changes.
Clarify existing requirements and offer more flexibility in several areas.
Most requirements remain the same. For example:
What is Changing:
Family child care and center-based regulations in one comprehensive set.
New regulations in several key areas:
Staff to child ratios
Most groupings
Activity space
Materials and equipment
Staff qualifications
Program types
Definitions
Family child care locations
Administration
Interactions
Groupings
Curriculum / progress reports
Professional development’
Health and safety
Proposed regulations will be revised to require that:
Children brush their teeth in programs that they attend for >4 hours and/or that offer a meal, except where exempted through policy.
New playground equipment installed in Family Child Care programs after the effective date have fall (use) zones.
One-third of the required professional development hours must address diverse learners.

14. Summary and Implementation Plan
Final regulations posted/communicated to field April 2009
Develop, translate, and post resources Ongoing
Training for EEC staff* June-Oct. 2009
At all provider renewal meetings offer: Start June 2009
Overview of regulatory changes/timeline
Focus on new requirements*
Additional meetings for other providers Nov.-Dec. 2009
In each region for FCC & GCC/SA
Large group overview
Small workgroups on specific requirements.*
Regulations go into effect January 2010
Technical assistance provided on site visits Ongoing
Topic specific training on new requirements * Ongoing
*Interactions, Curriculum, Progress Reports, Medication Administration,
Developmental Placement, Multi-Age Grouping, EEC Provider Orientation, etc.