An Administrator's Guide to California Private School Law

Chapter 21 – Child Care Centers/Preschools

The evaluator will list deficiencies on the Facility Evaluation Report unless the deficiency is not serious and is corrected during the visit. 2987 A “serious deficiency” is any deficiency that presents an immediate or substantial threat to the physical health, mental health, or safety of the children. 2988 Serious deficiencies are often referred to as Type A deficiencies. Type B deficiencies are violations that could become a risk to the health, safety, or personal rights of the children if not corrected, but do not pose any immediate threat or risk to the children. The following are examples of requirements which, if not complied with, are almost always considered a serious deficiency for which a notice of deficiency must be issued:  Operating beyond capacity limitation; 2989  Criminal record clearances; 2990  Fire clearances; 2991

 Water supply clearances; 2992  Child’s personal rights; 2993  Telephone service; 2994

 Storing and disposing of medications; 2995  Food storage, preparation and service; 2996  Safety of children’s accommodations; 2997  Hot water temperature and toilet facilities; 2998  Storage and disposal of solid wastes; 2999 and  Other violation of Title 22 regulations deemed by the DSS to be a serious deficiency. 3000

If a deficiency poses a clear and immediate threat to children’s health and safety, such as a broken, jagged window in an area frequently used by children, the evaluator may remain at the facility until that dangerous condition is remedied. The evaluator will meet with the individual in charge of the child care center if any deficiencies are noted during the evaluation. During this meeting the parties must jointly develop a plan for correcting each deficiency and acknowledge the preschool’s receipt of the notice of deficiency. 3001 CCLD will discuss the civil penalties process and the child care center’s appeal rights during this meeting. At the end of the visit, the evaluator will personally delivery a notice of deficiency to the person in charge and, if that person is not the licensee, will mail a copy of the notice to the licensee. 3002 Type A or serious deficiencies must typically be corrected within 24 hours. A written citation will be issued for a Type A deficiency even if the problem is corrected during the field visit. CCLD will assess a $50 civil penalty per violation per day for failure to correct this deficiency by the plan of correction date. 3003 If, however, the deficiency is the preschool’s failure to obtain a California clearance or criminal record exemption for any individual required to be fingerprinted, CCLD shall issue an immediate penalty of $100 per violation per day for a

An Administrator’s Guide to California Private School Law ©2019 Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 657