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So I received my first level appeal response, and they did not remove the citation. Here is a portion of my next response that goes to the Regional Manager.
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The fourth paragraph of the appeal response says
"When I wrote "plus additional days and hours on request" this gave licensing the authority to visit your FCCH on (*date removed*), and any other days thereafter. According to the Health and Safety Code section 1596.8535 (a) the department shall conduct site visits only during the period beginning one hour before and ending one hour after the facility's normal business hours or at any time childcare services are being provided"
This does not give licensing the right to do a site visit 24 hours, 7 days a week. It is my understanding that providers can provide care outside of their normal business hours without listing it on their application. Listing "plus additional days and hours on request" does not translate into my normal hours are 24/7. Yes they are free to come by any family child care home at any time within reason outside of normal hours, and if they are providing services they can do a site visit and inspection, as allowed by codes, regulations, and laws, however for this visit family child care services were not being provided.
Lets go more in depth to the 'inspection authority'. In the attached page I was given from (*name removed*), licensing program manager from one of your handbooks you can see where in Health and Safety code section 1596.8535 (a) it has a * after the phrase unannounced site visit. When you look down at the bottom of the code section you will find what the * references. You will find section 1597.55a, and a court case Rush v. Obledo (these can readily be found referenced at the bottom of the code in other locations as well). When you read the court case they clarify that code section 1596.8535a, which includes child care centers, is too general, and overbroad for family child care homes. While the code read a little differently in 1985, the ruling still applies, and it spells out exactly what is allowed for warrant less inspections of family child care homes. "Warrantless inspections are permissible in those portions of the provider's home where day care activities take place only when the home is being operated as a family day care business. Such inspections, however, cannot be justified in purely private contexts"
Clarifying this inspection authority is not only important to me, but other family child care providers as well, so I have begun to include more of them in the conversation.
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This is in California, but the inspection authority affects us all. This has already gone to court, so I'm hoping that I don't need to do that, but I'm willing to take it as far as it needs to go. Didn't they recently change the New York regulations to say they could do inspections at any time? Here is the court case I referenced, I would recommend reading especially the section "B. Standards for the Exercise of Inspection Authority" http://scholar.google.com/scholar_ca...=2006&as_vis=1
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The fourth paragraph of the appeal response says
"When I wrote "plus additional days and hours on request" this gave licensing the authority to visit your FCCH on (*date removed*), and any other days thereafter. According to the Health and Safety Code section 1596.8535 (a) the department shall conduct site visits only during the period beginning one hour before and ending one hour after the facility's normal business hours or at any time childcare services are being provided"
This does not give licensing the right to do a site visit 24 hours, 7 days a week. It is my understanding that providers can provide care outside of their normal business hours without listing it on their application. Listing "plus additional days and hours on request" does not translate into my normal hours are 24/7. Yes they are free to come by any family child care home at any time within reason outside of normal hours, and if they are providing services they can do a site visit and inspection, as allowed by codes, regulations, and laws, however for this visit family child care services were not being provided.
Lets go more in depth to the 'inspection authority'. In the attached page I was given from (*name removed*), licensing program manager from one of your handbooks you can see where in Health and Safety code section 1596.8535 (a) it has a * after the phrase unannounced site visit. When you look down at the bottom of the code section you will find what the * references. You will find section 1597.55a, and a court case Rush v. Obledo (these can readily be found referenced at the bottom of the code in other locations as well). When you read the court case they clarify that code section 1596.8535a, which includes child care centers, is too general, and overbroad for family child care homes. While the code read a little differently in 1985, the ruling still applies, and it spells out exactly what is allowed for warrant less inspections of family child care homes. "Warrantless inspections are permissible in those portions of the provider's home where day care activities take place only when the home is being operated as a family day care business. Such inspections, however, cannot be justified in purely private contexts"
Clarifying this inspection authority is not only important to me, but other family child care providers as well, so I have begun to include more of them in the conversation.
-------------------------------------------------------
This is in California, but the inspection authority affects us all. This has already gone to court, so I'm hoping that I don't need to do that, but I'm willing to take it as far as it needs to go. Didn't they recently change the New York regulations to say they could do inspections at any time? Here is the court case I referenced, I would recommend reading especially the section "B. Standards for the Exercise of Inspection Authority" http://scholar.google.com/scholar_ca...=2006&as_vis=1
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