(1)
The department shall prescribe and publish standards for licensing. The standards
must be applicable to the various types of facilities and agencies for child care
regulated and licensed by this part 3. The department shall seek the advice and
assistance of persons representative of the various types of child care facilities and
agencies in establishing the standards, including the advice and assistance of the
department of public safety and councils and associations representing fire
marshals and building code officials in the promulgation of any rules related to
adequate fire protection and prevention, as allowed in subsection (2)(e) of this
section, in a family child care home. The standards must be established by rules
promulgated by the executive director and be issued, published, and become
effective only in conformity with article 4 of title 24.
(2) The standards prescribed by department rules are restricted to:
(a) The operation and conduct of the facility or agency and the responsibility
it assumes for child care;
(b) The character, suitability, and qualifications of the applicant for a license
and of other persons directly responsible for the care and welfare of children
served, including whether an affiliate of the licensee has ever been the subject of a
negative licensing action;
(c) The general financial ability and competence of the applicant for a
license to provide necessary care for children and to maintain prescribed standards;
(d) The number of individuals or staff required to ensure adequate
supervision and care of children served;
(e) (I) The appropriateness, safety, cleanliness, and general adequacy of the
premises, including maintenance of adequate fire protection and prevention and
health standards in conformance with state laws and municipal ordinances, to
provide for the physical comfort, care, well-being, and safety of the children served.
(II) A child care center that provides child care exclusively to school-age
children and operates on the property of a school district, district charter school, or
institute charter school may satisfy any fire or radon inspection requirement
required by law by providing a copy of a satisfactory fire or radon inspection report
of the property of a school district, district charter school, or institute charter
school where the child care is provided if the fire or radon inspection report was
completed within the preceding twelve months. The department shall not require a
duplicate fire or radon inspection if a satisfactory fire or radon inspection report of
the property was completed within the preceding twelve months.
(III) The department shall require an annual inspection of playground
facilities on the property where a child care center operates. For purposes of a
playground facility inspection, the department shall accept as satisfactory proof of
valid certification of the playground facility, certification, or a copy of certification,
from an individual who is licensed or certified to perform playground safety
inspections through the national recreation and park association, or other nationally
recognized playground facility safety organization. The department shall not
require a duplicate inspection if a satisfactory inspection report was completed
within the preceding twelve months.
(f) Keeping of records for food, clothing, equipment, and individual supplies;
(g) Provisions to safeguard the legal rights of children served;
(h) Maintenance of records pertaining to the admission, progress, health, and
discharge of children;
(i) Filing of reports with the department;
(j) Discipline of children. The rules must prohibit the imposition of corporal
punishment, as defined in section 22-1-140, upon a child by any person employed by
or volunteering in a child care center, a family child care home, or a specialized
group facility.
(k) Standards for the appropriateness, safety, and adequacy of
transportation services of children to and from child care centers;
(l) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (2)(m) of this section,
provisions that ensure that family child care homes and child care centers verify, in
accordance with part 9 of article 4 of title 25, that each child has received
appropriate immunizations against contagious diseases as follows:
(I) Children up to twenty-four months of age are required to be immunized in
accordance with the Infant Immunization Act, part 17 of article 4 of title 25;
(II) Children over twenty-four months of age are required to be immunized in
accordance with part 9 of article 4 of title 25;
(m) Provisions that allow any child care center that allows any child to enroll
and attend the center on a short-term basis of up to fifteen days in a fifteen-consecutive-day period, no more than twice in a calendar year, with each fifteen-consecutive-day period separated by at least sixty days, to do so without obtaining
verification of immunization for that child, as provided for in section 25-4-902. Any
child care center that chooses to allow children to enroll and attend on a short-term
basis pursuant to the provisions of this subsection (2)(m) shall provide notification
to all parents that the child care center allows children to enroll and attend on a
short-term basis without obtaining proof of immunization; and
(n) Rules governing different types of family child care homes as well as any
other types of family child care homes that may by necessity be established by rule
of the executive director.
(3) (a) As used in this subsection (3), program means child care offered by
a child care center that holds a license pursuant to this part 3, provides child care
exclusively to school-age children, and operates on the property of a school
district, district charter school, or institute charter school, referred to in this
subsection (3) as school property.
(b) When an agency or entity performs an inspection required by law for a
program, the agency or entity shall provide a copy of the inspection report to the
appropriate official of the school district, district charter school, or institute charter
school where the child care center operates.
(c) If all of the requirements in section 22-1-119.5 and any additional
department rules are met, a school-age child enrolled in a program on school
property may possess and self-administer medication for asthma, a food allergy, or
anaphylaxis. The executive director may adopt additional rules for programs on
school property concerning the authority to possess and self-administer medication
for asthma, a food allergy, or anaphylaxis.
(4) If all of the requirements in section 22-1-119.5 and any additional
department rules are met, a child enrolled in a large child care center, as defined by
rule promulgated by the executive director, may possess and self-administer
medication for asthma, a food allergy, or anaphylaxis. The executive director may
adopt additional rules concerning the authority to possess and self-administer
medication for asthma, a food allergy, or anaphylaxis.
(5) Any applicant or person licensed to operate a child care facility or agency
under the provisions of this part 3 has the right to appeal any standard that, in the
applicant's or person's opinion, works an undue hardship or when, in the applicant's
or person's opinion, a standard has been too stringently applied by representatives
of the department. The department shall designate a panel of persons representing
various state and local governmental agencies with an interest in and concern for
children to hear such appeal and to make recommendations to the department. The
membership of the appeals review panel must include, but need not be limited to, a
representative from child care providers, a representative from a local early
childhood council or local child care resource and referral agency, a state-level
early childhood representative with early care and education expertise, and a
parent representative. The executive director or the executive director's designee
shall appoint all members to the appeals review panel. Members of the appeals
review panel serve terms of no more than three years. Representatives to the
appeals review panel may serve successive terms.
(6) The executive director shall promulgate rules concerning standards for
licensing early care and education programs that facilitate the recruitment and
retention of Colorado's early childhood educator workforce as described in section
26.5-6-103.