New New York Regulations- What Are You All Doing ?

[Familycare71]

I say inspect me as much as you want - BUT be reasonable!!! Inspect all areas of my home that are used for daycare. Have high standards. Be by the book. I welcome and encourage it. HOWEVER, opening the drawer on a nightstand or opening a closet in a room that children have no access to is just plain ridiculous. Inspecting the trunk of a car? Come on!

YES!!! happyface. This is my point exactly! When I have children in my home I understand being inspected and having to follow regulations (tho I honestly wish it wasn't 4xs a year... I get stressed even tho I know I'm good). But in my private space and my private time?!? I'm not ok with!

I think I may put a sign on my door: closed for business! When I am... And locks on private rooms- lock them when I am working and refuse to open them.
If it comes down to it they can pull my license and ill fight it-

I'm also changing my personal phone to my hubbies name so they cannot access records based on me and daycare.

Any other ideas how we can "skirt the system" without breaking the rules??

[Cat Herder]

my private time?!? I'm not ok with!

I think I may put a sign on my door: closed for business!
Any other ideas how we can "skirt the system" without breaking the rules??

If you give them your annual calendar of closings they will honor it.

Mine also is awesome to reply to emails. A quick note of any changes is quickly met with confirmation.

[melskids]

YES!!! happyface. This is my point exactly! When I have children in my home I understand being inspected and having to follow regulations (tho I honestly wish it wasn't 4xs a year... I get stressed even tho I know I'm good). But in my private space and my private time?!? I'm not ok with!

I think I may put a sign on my door: closed for business! When I am... And locks on private rooms- lock them when I am working and refuse to open them.
If it comes down to it they can pull my license and ill fight it-

I'm also changing my personal phone to my hubbies name so they cannot access records based on me and daycare.

Any other ideas how we can "skirt the system" without breaking the rules??

OK....I know I totally whined about the hot chocolate in the other thread...LOL but now you have my blood boiling. LOL

You DO NOT have to let them in when you are closed. I dont know who told you that or who they think they are....LOL But if they pulled that at my house, they better have a sheriff and a court order with them.

My bedroom doors are locked during care. If they find in necessary to peek their head in to make sure I'm not harboring extra kids or criminals, fine. But they will NOT go through my dresser drawers without a search warrant.

I have ALWAYS had 4 inspections a year....plus my registrar is my food program specialist...so she is actually here 8 times a year. I have NO problem with HER. She is pretty wonderful actually.

Not all licensors and registrars know what they are talking about either, so be sure to do your homework. My friend is group so she has a different lady than I do. She is telling her all sorts of stuff that is WRONG, and quite frankly, doesn't know what she's even talking about. My friend had to get Albany involved to straighten her out.

[slorey]

For what it's worth, I freaked out as well, and turned my registration in in December. I am no longer providing registered care. A huge weight was lifted once my daycare was officially listed as closed on the OCFS website! Can I afford it? No, so I will probably have to find a second (actually, third because I do bookkeeping for my church) job and, to be honest, I was on the fence about closing since last June, so I can't say my decision was solely because of the new regs. They just solidified my decision. I am so much more relaxed though, knowing the state isn't going to randomly show up for an inspection! I was getting a lot of surprise inspections and was getting stressed. I do agree also that not all licensors interpret the regs the same way, so you have to be careful. For my initial inspection, prior to opening, my registrar told me I needed to add a second hand rail to my front stairs (my alternate egress door) because the regulation stated all stairways needed railings, and because that word was plural, I needed 2 railings (I had a railing on one side and it is only 4 stairs to the ground). That is my other big complaint...your licensor can interpret a reg one way and someone else could be told something entirely different.

[Annalee]

Not all licensors and registrars know what they are talking about either, so be sure to do your homework. My friend is group so she has a different lady than I do. She is telling her all sorts of stuff that is WRONG, and quite frankly, doesn't know what she's even talking about. My friend had to get Albany involved to straighten her out.

Always ask for "where the rule is in the licensing book"....they will either show you or SHUTUP! ::

[Familycare71]

OK....I know I totally whined about the hot chocolate in the other thread...LOL but now you have my blood boiling. LOL

You DO NOT have to let them in when you are closed. I dont know who told you that or who they think they are....LOL But if they pulled that at my house, they better have a sheriff and a court order with them.

My bedroom doors are locked during care. If they find in necessary to peek their head in to make sure I'm not harboring extra kids or criminals, fine. But they will NOT go through my dresser drawers without a search warrant.

I have ALWAYS had 4 inspections a year....plus my registrar is my food program specialist...so she is actually here 8 times a year. I have NO problem with HER. She is pretty wonderful actually.

Not all licensors and registrars know what they are talking about either, so be sure to do your homework. My friend is group so she has a different lady than I do. She is telling her all sorts of stuff that is WRONG, and quite frankly, doesn't know what she's even talking about. My friend had to get Albany involved to straighten her out.

I read the hot chocolate thread . I feel the same way about no kiddie pools!
Yes- legally they can violate you if you do not let them in based off of your application hours. It is in the regs. I have confirmed it from numerous places.
Yes you can choose to fight it of it happens but bottom line is you agreed by being registered.
I have fought "personal opinion" violations so I am certainly not a yes sir kind of girl . I need to see it in the regs. Unfortunately this is there.
In my area registrar and inspectors are two diff people. There is no assurance that you will be inspected by the same person and not ever by your registrar. The turn over is really high so that adds to the change.

[Familycare71]

For what it's worth, I freaked out as well, and turned my registration in in December. I am no longer providing registered care. A huge weight was lifted once my daycare was officially listed as closed on the OCFS website! Can I afford it? No, so I will probably have to find a second (actually, third because I do bookkeeping for my church) job and, to be honest, I was on the fence about closing since last June, so I can't say my decision was solely because of the new regs. They just solidified my decision. I am so much more relaxed though, knowing the state isn't going to randomly show up for an inspection! I was getting a lot of surprise inspections and was getting stressed. I do agree also that not all licensors interpret the regs the same way, so you have to be careful. For my initial inspection, prior to opening, my registrar told me I needed to add a second hand rail to my front stairs (my alternate egress door) because the regulation stated all stairways needed railings, and because that word was plural, I needed 2 railings (I had a railing on one side and it is only 4 stairs to the ground). That is my other big complaint...your licensor can interpret a reg one way and someone else could be told something entirely different.

Yes - Nys definitely didn't do away with the vague regs... They frustrate me!

[Familycare71]

If you give them your annual calendar of closings they will honor it.

Mine also is awesome to reply to emails. A quick note of any changes is quickly met with confirmation.

That is a good idea. But I was told they may Honor any closing notification. BUT it is ok to not be home- yay me- I don't have to sit in my house on my days off!

[Familycare71]

For what it's worth, I freaked out as well, and turned my registration in in December. I am no longer providing registered care. A huge weight was lifted once my daycare was officially listed as closed on the OCFS website! Can I afford it? No, so I will probably have to find a second (actually, third because I do bookkeeping for my church) job and, to be honest, I was on the fence about closing since last June, so I can't say my decision was solely because of the new regs. They just solidified my decision. I am so much more relaxed though, knowing the state isn't going to randomly show up for an inspection! I was getting a lot of surprise inspections and was getting stressed. I do agree also that not all licensors interpret the regs the same way, so you have to be careful. For my initial inspection, prior to opening, my registrar told me I needed to add a second hand rail to my front stairs (my alternate egress door) because the regulation stated all stairways needed railings, and because that word was plural, I needed 2 railings (I had a railing on one side and it is only 4 stairs to the ground). That is my other big complaint...your licensor can interpret a reg one way and someone else could be told something entirely different.

:hug:
It's worth a ton!!! I feel like no one else is on the same level. My problem is that I don't want to do anything else...
The thought of a typical 9-5 job almost freaks me out as much... .

[nanglgrl]

Maybe start a petition here:

http://www.change.org

This is what did to get change in Iowa, that and I reached out here and didn't shut up! When you do the petition make it link to anybody and everybody that has anything to do with making regs in NY, they will get an email every time someone signs it and that gets annoying I'm sure. If my state went to 4 visits a year on top of food program visits (right now we have 1 unannounced and 4 from the food program) I would quit but really I think that's what they want. They don't want home providers and think children would be better off in centers. The problem is that a lot if parents can't afford centers, there's not enough center space and a lot if people will just go unregistered to avoid the regs but take more children than allowed. The result would be more unregulated daycare. We just started getting unannounced yearly inspections in my area and a lot if providers have went unregistered to avoid them (which is legal here) except a lot of them have a lot more children enrolled than what is legal. The result has been registered providers having a hard time filling their slots, they have to keep canceling trainings because there are not enough registered providers signing up to pay the instructors, and the food program has a lot less people enrolled. Here, our local Child Care Resource and Referell gives out unregistered providers numbers (all they have to do is ask to be put on the list) along with registered providers so when someone calls looking for daycare all it takes is one unregistered provider above me on the phone list who charges less and either has a high turnover or doesn't care how many kids she takes to make it so I never get a call. They've given my number out over 200 times in the last month and I've had 1 call. I have a nice daycare, charge average, have had very few clients that have left on bad terms and tons of clients who've been with me for years but I get no calls.

[nannyde]

This is what did to get change in Iowa, that and I reached out here and didn't shut up! When you do the petition make it link to anybody and everybody that has anything to do with making regs in NY, they will get an email every time someone signs it and that gets annoying I'm sure. If my state went to 4 visits a year on top of food program visits (right now we have 1 unannounced and 4 from the food program) I would quit but really I think that's what they want. They don't want home providers and think children would be better off in centers. The problem is that a lot if parents can't afford centers, there's not enough center space and a lot if people will just go unregistered to avoid the regs but take more children than allowed. The result would be more unregulated daycare. We just started getting unannounced yearly inspections in my area and a lot if providers have went unregistered to avoid them (which is legal here) except a lot of them have a lot more children enrolled than what is legal. The result has been registered providers having a hard time filling their slots, they have to keep canceling trainings because there are not enough registered providers signing up to pay the instructors, and the food program has a lot less people enrolled. Here, our local Child Care Resource and Referell gives out unregistered providers numbers (all they have to do is ask to be put on the list) along with registered providers so when someone calls looking for daycare all it takes is one unregistered provider above me on the phone list who charges less and either has a high turnover or doesn't care how many kids she takes to make it so I never get a call. They've given my number out over 200 times in the last month and I've had 1 call. I have a nice daycare, charge average, have had very few clients that have left on bad terms and tons of clients who've been with me for years but I get no calls.

You sure did sistah. YOU made a difference. YOU changed things. One person can because YOU did.

[nanglgrl]

You sure did sistah. YOU made a difference. YOU changed things. One person can because YOU did.

And YOU helped! I'm pretty sure that between my big mouth, your voice of reason and Terry's connections Iowa will have a hard time implementing regs that do not benefit the health and safety of children. Now if I could only get them to do mandatory registration constant with investigation and consequences for those who operate unregistered. I know the state is trying but I wish they would try harder. You may not agree with this one, I don't know, but I've seen huge new problems around here because of people just wanting to "watch a few kids" and be unregistered.

[melskids]

I read the hot chocolate thread . I feel the same way about no kiddie pools!
Yes- legally they can violate you if you do not let them in based off of your application hours. It is in the regs. I have confirmed it from numerous places.
Yes you can choose to fight it of it happens but bottom line is you agreed by being registered. I have fought "personal opinion" violations so I am certainly not a yes sir kind of girl . I need to see it in the regs. Unfortunately this is there.
In my area registrar and inspectors are two diff people. There is no assurance that you will be inspected by the same person and not ever by your registrar. The turn over is really high so that adds to the change.

You know what. I'll be making some phone calls Monday now. Not that I don't believe you, just for my own satisfaction and to simply annoy someone sitting behind a desk playing candy crush.

[Familycare71]

You know what. I'll be making some phone calls Monday now. Not that I don't believe you, just for my own satisfaction and to simply annoy someone sitting behind a desk playing candy crush.

Wish you could tag people! Yes- make calls and see what you hear- please tho... Look up the reg and make sure they understand that it added "based on daycare application". That is the part that needs defining!
I would lovethis someone to tell me I'm wrong! But- VOICE and my registrar confirmed I wasn't

[emmajo]

I think this has been the intent all along and now they're spelling it out. I remember a while back, going to a videoconference training and one of the "Get it Right" segments about regs had the situation where the provider had listed open hours available for Saturdays. One Saturday a furnace repair man was there - and she was supposed to have him sign in the visitor's log - even though no kids were present.