For the purpose of this chapter:
"Accessible to children" means areas of the facility and materials that children can easily get to on their own.
"Age appropriate" means the developing stages of growth typical of children within a given age group.
"American Indian child" means any unmarried person under the age of eighteen who is:
(1) A member of or eligible for membership in a federally recognized Indian tribe, or who is Eskimo, Aleut or other Alaska Native and a member of an Alaskan native regional Corporation or Alaska Native Village;
(2) Determined or eligible to be found to be Indian by the Secretary of the Interior, including through issuance of a certificate of degree of Indian blood;
(3) Considered to be Indian by a federally recognized Indian tribe; or
(4) A member or entitled to be a member of a Canadian tribe or band, Metis community, or nonstatus Indian community from Canada.
"Antibias" is an approach that recognizes when others are treated unfairly or oppressively based on race, color, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, gender, class, religion, creed, disability, or age.
"Assistant" means a person fourteen years or older (whether a volunteer or an employee) who assists a licensed home provider in the operation of the family home child care and is not solely responsible for the supervision of children.
"Capacity" means the highest number of children you can care for at any time, as written on your license.
"Child" means a person who has not yet reached the age of twelve years.
"Child care" means the developmentally appropriate care, protection and supervision of children that is designed to promote positive growth and educational experiences for children outside of their home for periods of less than twenty-four hours a day.
"Child abuse and neglect" means the injury, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, negligent treatment or maltreatment of a child by any person indicating that the child's health, welfare, and safety is harmed.
"Communicable disease" means an illness that can be spread from one person to another, in the child care setting, by either direct or indirect contact.
"Conditions of the license" means what you must do to keep a license.
"Confidentiality" means the protection of personal information, such as the child's records, from persons who are not authorized to see or hear it.
"Corporal punishment" means the infliction of pain by any means for the purpose of punishment, correction, discipline, instruction or any other reason.
"Cultural relevancy" means an environment in which the learning experiences, play materials and activities are meaningful, inclusive and respectful for the participating children, their families and the community at large.
"Department," "we," "us," or
"our" refers to and means the state department of early learning (DEL), and its predecessor agency the department of social and health services (DSHS).
"Department of health" means the state department of health.
"Developmentally appropriate" means activities and interactions that recognize and address how children learn and what they can do at each stage of development - socially, emotionally, cognitively, and physically.
"Discipline" means a process of guiding children to develop internal, positive social behaviors through methods that include consistent use of the following: Modeling appropriate behavior, positive reinforcement, active listening, limit setting, redirecting and modifying the environment.
"Facility licensing compliance agreement" means a written notice of rule violations and the intention to initiate enforcement, including a corrective action plan.
"Family home" means a single dwelling unit and accessory buildings occupied for living purposes by a family which provides permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking, and sanitation.
"Family home child care" means a facility licensed to provide direct care, supervision and early learning opportunities for twelve or fewer children, in the home of the licensee where the licensee resides and is the primary provider.
"Family home child care provider" means a person who provides direct care, supervision, behavior management, and early learning opportunities for twelve or fewer children in their family home living quarters for periods of less than twenty-four hours.
"I," "you," and
"your" refer to and mean the licensee or applicant for a child care license.
"Inaccessible to children" means areas kept or items stored in a manner that makes it impossible for children to reach, enter, or use potentially hazardous items or areas. Examples of how this can be accomplished are through the use of locks, gates, or other means that are effective to prevent access by the children in your care.
"Infant" means a child birth through eleven months of age.
"License" means an official document that certifies you have been granted permission by the department to operate a family home child care in compliance with the rules.
"Licensed space," means the indoor and outdoor space approved by the department as useable space where children in care may be present, or space that is otherwise accessible to children.
"Licensee" means the person or persons named on the license as having been issued the license and who are responsible for maintaining compliance with the regulations.
"Licensor" means the person with authority to grant licenses.
"Parent" means a child's parent or legal guardian.
"Premises" means the buildings where the home is located and the adjoining grounds (at the same address) over which the licensee has control.
"Preschool age child" means a child thirty months through five years of age not attending kindergarten or elementary school.
"Primary staff person" means a person who has been authorized by DEL to care for or have unsupervised access to children in child care under chapter
170-06 WAC, age eighteen years or older, who has responsibilities for the operation of the program and the direct supervision, behavior management and care of children.
"Provider" means the same as licensee.
"Repeatedly" means a violation of a licensing regulation that is written on a facility licensing compliance agreement that occurs more than once during a twelve-month time frame.
"Reportable communicable disease" means an illness that can be spread from one person to another by either direct or indirect contact, and is of the type that is required by law to be reported to the department of health. Examples include Hepatitis, measles, smallpox, and tuberculosis.
"Revocation" means the formal act of closing your child care business and taking your license from you due to your failure to follow the rules.
"Sanitize" means a surface must be clean and the number of germs reduced to a level where disease transmissions by that surface are unlikely.
"Staff" means a child care giver or group of child care givers employed by the licensee to assist with or supervise children served at the family home child care who have been authorized by DEL to care for or have unsupervised access to children in child care under chapter
170-06 WAC.
"STARS" (Washington state training and registry system) means the entity approved by the department to determine the classes, courses, and workshops that licensees and staff may take to satisfy training requirements.
"Summary suspension" means the formal act of immediately stopping your license for a certain time because the health, safety or well being of a child is at risk.
"Supervision of children," means the knowledge of and responsibility for the activity and whereabouts of each child in care and assuring immediate intervention of staff to safeguard a child from harm.
"Terms of the license" means the address, number and ages of children, and the beginning and ending dates listed on the license issued by the department.
"Toddler" means a child twelve months through twenty-nine months of age.
"Useable space" means the space actually available for children to engage in developmentally appropriate activities, that has been inspected and approved by the department for providing child care.
"Weapons" means an instrument or device of any kind that is designed to be used to inflict harm on another person. For example, BB guns, pellet guns, air rifles, stun guns, antique guns, bows and arrows, handguns, rifles, shotguns, knives.
[Statutory Authority: Chapter 43.215 RCW, RCW 43.43.832, 2006 c 265 and 2007 c 387. 08-10-041, § 170-296-0020, filed 4/30/08, effective 5/31/08. Statutory Authority: Chapter 43.215 RCW and oral ruling in DeLaO v. Arnold-Williams and Fernandez v. DSHS. 07-24-028, § 170-296-0020, filed 11/28/07, effective 12/29/07. 06-15-075, recodified as § 170-296-0020, filed 7/13/06, effective 7/13/06. Statutory Authority: RCW 74.08.090, 74.15.030, chapters 74.12 and 74.15 RCW. 04-18-082, § 388-296-0020, filed 8/31/04, effective 10/1/04.]