PARENT LETTER
NEW REQUIREMENT TO POST SERIOUS OCCURRENCES
IN LICENSED CHILD CARE PROGRAMS
Oct 1st, 2011
Dear Parent/Guardian:
The safety and well-being of our children in licensed child care programs is the highest priority. Operators of licensed child care centres and private-home day care agencies work diligently to provide a safe, creative and nurturing environment for each child. In spite of all the best precautions, serious occurrences can sometimes take place.
The Ontario government has introduced a new policy that requires licensed child care centres and private-home day care agencies to post information about serious occurrences that happen at a centre or a home location effective November 1, 2011. To support increased transparency and access to information, a “Serious Occurrence Notification Form” must be posted at the centre or home location in a visible area for 10 days.
A serious occurrence could include:
-Serious injury to a child,
-Fire or other disaster on site,
-Complaint about service standard.
Licensed child care centres and private-home day care agencies are already required to report serious occurrences to the Ministry of Children and Youth Services, which is responsible for child care licensing. This new policy requires child care operators to post information in their facilities so that parents also have access to it.
This posting will give parents information about the incident and outline follow-up actions taken and the outcomes, while respecting the privacy of the individuals involved. Longer-term actions taken by the operator will also be included to help prevent similar incidents in the future, where applicable.
Many factors may lead to a serious occurrence report. A serious occurrence does not necessarily mean that an operator is out of compliance with licensing requirements or that children are at risk in the child care program.
This new policy supports the government’s efforts to increase access to information about licensed child care programs in Ontario. This includes the recent launch of child care licensing inspection findings on the Licensed Child Care Website which is available at: http://www.ontario.ca/ONT/portal61/licensedchildcare.
I encourage you to ask any questions that you may have and if you require more information in regards to the new Serious Occurrence Notification form posting policy just let me know
Thank-you for your attention to this matter
Miss Tammy
Owner/Operator