Friday, September 5, 2008
Toileting Clarification
On a recent visit to a provider, a staff member and the director stated they were unable to help VPK children who had accidents, they could only give them wipes and tell them what to do "because licensing won't allow it". I was unable to find this mentioned in the ordinance. Please clarify what is the correct procedure and indicate which ordinance specifically address this in order to review it with the provider. Thank you.
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4 comments:
Jennifer,
I checked with William Karp, a Supervisor at Child Care Licensing. There is nothing in the Broward County Child Care Ordinance prohibiting staff from assisting a child of any age with toileting or cleaning themselves after an accident.
A further question: This also came up at a center training last night. When I told them what Anita said in this post, the director responded that when their licensing coordinator comes through she/he checks to see if teachers are in the restrooms. They have been told that under no circumstances can they go into the restroom with a child. I told the director that we need to talk to the coordinator to make sure that she/he is correctly evaluating the center, but she is reluctant to confront her. Several staff members also reported that they were taught this in their CDA and in their 40 hour DCF trainings. How can I help this center? I have an entire group of teachers who will not assist children in the restroom for fear of being accused of abusing a child.
From Charlene Swanson, Coordinator for 40 hour training:
The DCF curriculum does not say that caregivers cannot help children with bathroom needs. If this is being taught then the instructor is teaching his/her own philosophy. If you give me the name of the teacher, director, who is saying this I will determine who taught them and make sure that this is corrected. Or perhaps, you can get the name of the instructor from them. Also, the 40-hours is pretty big can we narrow it down to a specific topic? How sad for children.
Charlene
Just to piggy back on Kimberly's comment. After speaking to several schools, the concern is not so much as to what the staff might be learning in CDA or from the DCF curriculum, it is what they are told by their licensing monitor. Is there a way to clarify this for all parties involved besides the blog? Email?
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