2012 Minnesota Statutes

245A.40 CHILD CARE CENTER TRAINING REQUIREMENTS.

Subdivision 1.Orientation.

The child care center license holder must ensure that every staff person and volunteer is given orientation training and successfully completes the training before starting assigned duties. The orientation training in this subdivision applies to volunteers who will have direct contact with or access to children and who are not under the direct supervision of a staff person. Completion of the orientation must be documented in the individual's personnel record. The orientation training must include information about:

(1) the center's philosophy, child care program, and procedures for maintaining health and safety and handling emergencies and accidents;

(2) specific job responsibilities;

(3) the behavior guidance standards in Minnesota Rules, part 9503.0055; and

(4) the reporting responsibilities in section 626.556, and Minnesota Rules, part 9503.0130.

Subd. 2.Child growth and development training.

(a) For purposes of child care centers, the director and all staff hired after July 1, 2006, shall complete and document at least two hours of child growth and development training within the first year of employment. For purposes of this subdivision, "child growth and development training" means training in understanding how children acquire language and develop physically, cognitively, emotionally, and socially. Training completed under this subdivision may be used to meet the orientation training requirements under subdivision 1 and the in-service training requirements under subdivision 7.

(b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), individuals are exempt from this requirement if they:

(1) have taken a three-credit college course on early childhood development within the past five years;

(2) have received a baccalaureate or master's degree in early childhood education or school-age child care within the past five years;

(3) are licensed in Minnesota as a prekindergarten teacher, an early childhood educator, a kindergarten to sixth grade teacher with a prekindergarten specialty, an early childhood special education teacher, or an elementary teacher with a kindergarten endorsement; or

(4) have received a baccalaureate degree with a Montessori certificate within the past five years.

Subd. 3.First aid.

All teachers and assistant teachers in a child care center governed by Minnesota Rules, parts 9503.0005 to 9503.0170, and at least one staff person during field trips and when transporting children in care, must satisfactorily complete first aid training within 90 days of the start of work, unless the training has been completed within the previous three years. The first aid training must be repeated at least every three years, documented in the person's personnel record and indicated on the center's staffing chart, and provided by an individual approved as a first aid instructor. This training may be less than eight hours.

Subd. 4.Cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

(a) All teachers and assistant teachers in a child care center governed by Minnesota Rules, parts 9503.0005 to 9503.0170, and at least one staff person during field trips and when transporting children in care, must satisfactorily complete training in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and in the treatment of obstructed airways that includes CPR techniques for infants and children. The CPR training must be completed within 90 days of the start of work, unless the training has been completed within the previous three years. The CPR training must have been provided by an individual approved to provide CPR instruction, must be repeated at least once every three years, and must be documented in the staff person's records.

(b) CPR training may be provided for less than four hours.

(c) Persons providing CPR training must use CPR training that has been developed:

(1) by the American Heart Association or the American Red Cross and incorporates psychomotor skills to support the instruction; or

(2) using nationally recognized, evidence-based guidelines for CPR and incorporates psychomotor skills to support the instruction.

Subd. 5.Sudden infant death syndrome and shaken baby syndrome training.

(a) License holders must document that before staff persons care for infants, they are instructed on the standards in section 245A.1435 and receive training on reducing the risk of sudden infant death syndrome. In addition, license holders must document that before staff persons care for infants or children under school age, they receive training on the risk of shaken baby syndrome. The training in this subdivision may be provided as orientation training under subdivision 1 and in-service training under subdivision 7.

(b) Sudden infant death syndrome reduction training required under this subdivision must be at least one-half hour in length and must be completed at least once every five years. At a minimum, the training must address the risk factors related to sudden infant death syndrome, means of reducing the risk of sudden infant death syndrome in child care, and license holder communication with parents regarding reducing the risk of sudden infant death syndrome.

(c) Shaken baby syndrome training under this subdivision must be at least one-half hour in length and must be completed at least once every five years. At a minimum, the training must address the risk factors related to shaken baby syndrome for infants and young children, means to reduce the risk of shaken baby syndrome in child care, and license holder communication with parents regarding reducing the risk of shaken baby syndrome.

(d) The commissioner shall make available for viewing a video presentation on the dangers associated with shaking infants and young children. The video presentation must be part of the orientation and annual in-service training of licensed child care center staff persons caring for children under school age. The commissioner shall provide to child care providers and interested individuals, at cost, copies of a video approved by the commissioner of health under section 144.574 on the dangers associated with shaking infants and young children.

Subd. 6.Child passenger restraint systems; training requirement.

(a) A license holder must comply with all seat belt and child passenger restraint system requirements under section 169.685.

(b) Child care centers that serve a child or children under nine years of age must document training that fulfills the requirements in this subdivision.

(1) Before a license holder transports a child or children under age nine in a motor vehicle, the person placing the child or children in a passenger restraint must satisfactorily complete training on the proper use and installation of child restraint systems in motor vehicles. Training completed under this subdivision may be used to meet orientation training under subdivision 1 and in-service training under subdivision 7.

(2) Training required under this subdivision must be at least one hour in length, completed at orientation, and repeated at least once every five years. At a minimum, the training must address the proper use of child restraint systems based on the child's size, weight, and age, and the proper installation of a car seat or booster seat in the motor vehicle used by the license holder to transport the child or children.

(3) Training required under this subdivision must be provided by individuals who are certified and approved by the Department of Public Safety, Office of Traffic Safety. License holders may obtain a list of certified and approved trainers through the Department of Public Safety Web site or by contacting the agency.

(4) Child care providers that only transport school-age children as defined in section 245A.02, subdivision 16, in child care buses as defined in section 169.448, subdivision 1, paragraph (e), are exempt from this subdivision.

Subd. 7.In-service.

(a) A license holder must ensure that an annual in-service training plan is developed and carried out and that it meets the requirements in clauses (1) to (7). The in-service training plan must:

(1) be consistent with the center's child care program plan;

(2) meet the training needs of individual staff persons as specified in each staff person's annual evaluation report;

(3) provide training, at least one-fourth of which is by a resource not affiliated with the license holder;

(4) include Minnesota Rules, parts 9503.0005 to 9503.0170, relevant to the staff person's position and must occur within two weeks of initial employment;

(5) provide that at least one-half of the annual in-service training completed by a staff person each year pertains to the age of children for which the person is providing care;

(6) provide that no more than four hours of each annual in-service training requirement relate to administration, finances, and records training for a teacher, assistant teacher, or aide; and

(7) provide that the remainder of the in-service training requirement be met by participation in training in child growth and development; learning environment and curriculum; assessment and planning for individual needs; interactions with children; families and communities; health, safety, and nutrition; and program planning and evaluation.

(b) For purposes of this subdivision, the following terms have the meanings given them.

(1) "Child growth and development training" has the meaning given it in subdivision 2, paragraph (a).

(2) "Learning environment and curriculum" means training in establishing an environment that provides learning experiences to meet each child's needs, capabilities, and interests, including early childhood education methods or theory, recreation, sports, promoting creativity in the arts, arts and crafts methods or theory, and early childhood special education methods or theory.

(3) "Assessment and planning for individual needs" means training in observing and assessing what children know and can do in order to provide curriculum and instruction that addresses their developmental and learning needs, including children with special needs.

(4) "Interactions with children" means training in establishing supportive relationships with children and guiding them as individuals and as part of a group, including child study techniques and behavior guidance.

(5) "Families and communities" means training in working collaboratively with families, agencies, and organizations to meet children's needs and to encourage the community's involvement, including family studies and parent involvement.

(6) "Health, safety, and nutrition" means training in establishing and maintaining an environment that ensures children's health, safety, and nourishment, including first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, child nutrition, and child abuse and neglect prevention.

(7) "Program planning and evaluation" means training in establishing, implementing, evaluating, and enhancing program operations.

(c) The director and all program staff persons must annually complete a number of hours of in-service training equal to at least two percent of the hours for which the director or program staff person is annually paid, unless one of the following is applicable.

(1) A teacher at a child care center must complete one percent of working hours of in-service training annually if the teacher:

(i) possesses a baccalaureate or master's degree in early childhood education or school-age care;

(ii) is licensed in Minnesota as a prekindergarten teacher, an early childhood educator, a kindergarten to sixth grade teacher with a prekindergarten specialty, an early childhood special education teacher, or an elementary teacher with a kindergarten endorsement; or

(iii) possesses a baccalaureate degree with a Montessori certificate.

(2) A teacher or assistant teacher at a child care center must complete one and one-half percent of working hours of in-service training annually if the individual is:

(i) a registered nurse or licensed practical nurse with experience working with infants;

(ii) possesses a Montessori certificate, a technical college certificate in early childhood development, or a child development associate certificate; or

(iii) possesses an associate of arts degree in early childhood education, a baccalaureate degree in child development, or a technical college diploma in early childhood development.

(d) The number of required training hours may be prorated for individuals not employed full time or for an entire year.

(e) The annual in-service training must be completed within the calendar year for which it was required. In-service training completed by staff persons is transferable upon a staff person's change in employment to another child care program.

(f) The license holder must ensure that, when a staff person completes in-service training, the training is documented in the staff person's personnel record. The documentation must include the date training was completed, the goal of the training and topics covered, trainer's name and organizational affiliation, trainer's signed statement that training was successfully completed, and the director's approval of the training.

Subd. 8.Cultural dynamics and disabilities training for child care providers.

(a) The training required of licensed child care center staff must include training in the cultural dynamics of early childhood development and child care. The cultural dynamics and disabilities training and skills development of child care providers must be designed to achieve outcomes for providers of child care that include, but are not limited to:

(1) an understanding and support of the importance of culture and differences in ability in children's identity development;

(2) understanding the importance of awareness of cultural differences and similarities in working with children and their families;

(3) understanding and support of the needs of families and children with differences in ability;

(4) developing skills to help children develop unbiased attitudes about cultural differences and differences in ability;

(5) developing skills in culturally appropriate caregiving; and

(6) developing skills in appropriate caregiving for children of different abilities.

(b) Curriculum for cultural dynamics and disability training shall be approved by the commissioner.

(c) The commissioner shall amend current rules relating to the training of the licensed child care center staff to require cultural dynamics training. Timelines established in the rule amendments for complying with the cultural dynamics training requirements must be based on the commissioner's determination that curriculum materials and trainers are available statewide.

(d) For programs caring for children with special needs, the license holder shall ensure that any additional staff training required by the child's individual child care program plan required under Minnesota Rules, part 9503.0065, subpart 3, is provided.

History:

2007 c 112 s 21; 2009 c 26 s 3; 2011 c 23 s 2