§ 12-86-203 - Division of Child Care and Early Childhood Education policies. - Arkansas Statutes

12-86-203. Division of Child Care and Early Childhood Education policies.

The Director of the Division of Child Care and Early Childhood Education of the Department of Human Services shall coordinate efforts with other state agencies and appropriate organizations to:

(1) (A) Share with the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management on a quarterly basis an integrated list of all licensed child care facilities and all known license-exempt child care facilities, including without limitation physical addresses, maximum capacity, emergency contact information, and hours of operation.

(B) The integrated list is to be sorted by county;

(2) Include early childhood emergency preparedness courses and workshops that address specific risk factors and evacuation procedures in particular geographic areas among approved courses and workshops for meeting requirements for in-service training for licensed child care providers in those geographic areas;

(3) Incorporate specific indicators of emergency preparedness linked to specific disaster risk factors in licensed child care providers' geographic areas into each level of any quality ratings above minimum licensing standards; and

(4) (A) Require a child care facility to have a written plan for evacuation in the event of fire, natural disaster, or other threatening situation that may pose a health or safety hazard to the children in the child care facility;

(B) Require the plan to include without limitation:

(i) A designated relocation site and evacuation route;

(ii) Procedures for notifying parents of the relocation and ensuring family reunification;

(iii) Procedures to address the needs of individual children, including children with special needs;

(iv) Instructions relating to the training of staff or the reassignment of staff duties, as appropriate;

(v) Coordination with local emergency management officials; and

(vi) A program to ensure that appropriate staff are familiar with the plan's components.