Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 50, December 13, 2024
Section 78-1-23 - School-Age Program23.1. Centers which operate school-age programs shall comply with previous sections of this rule except as follows:23.2. Training. 23.2.a. Prior to working with children, staff in a summer recreation camp or day camp shall have: 23.2.a.1. Current pediatric CPR certification;23.2.a.2. Current child first aid training;23.2.a.3. Training in child abuse recognition and prevention;23.2.a.4. Approved training in medication administration if applicable;23.2.a.5. Training in guidance and discipline, behavior management, and conflict resolution related to the age of children in care; and23.2.a.6. An additional four hours of instructional training related to camp responsibilities.23.2.b. Summer recreation camp and day camp staff are not required to maintain a WVTCECE credential.23.2.c. Summer recreation camps and day camps shall have a plan for training late-hires and substitutes who were unable to attend pre-camp training.23.3. Staff Responsibilities and Qualifications.23.3.a. In addition to the qualifications stated in section 9 of this rule, qualified staff members acting as a person in charge in a summer recreation camp or day camp shall: 23.3.a.1. Be at least 21 years of age;23.3.a.2. Have at least one season of leadership experience in a summer recreation program; and23.3.a.3. Have knowledge of the camp administrative practices.23.3.b. Director 23.3.b.1. When the center operates a school-age program only, the director may substitute the early childhood credit hours described in section nine of this rule with credit hours in elementary education;23.3.b.2. The director of a summer recreation camp shall substitute the early childhood credit hours described in section nine of this rule with credit hours in recreation or elementary education;23.3.c. Qualified staff positions may substitute the early childhood credit hours described in section 9 of this rule with credit hours in elementary education.23.3.d. Teen aides used in school-age programs shall be at least 16 years of age.23.4. Supervision of Children in Groups. 23.4.a. In determining and maintaining the staff-to-child ratio, the school-age program shall not include any staff member who is performing other duties such as cooking, bookkeeping, or any individual with designated responsibility for a special activity except in an emergency situation when staff may be reassigned to supervise the children.23.4.b. In a summer recreation camp program, a certified lifeguard employed by the center may be used to meet staff-to-child ratio provided the program is using a pool that is reserved exclusively for the program and at least one other staff person who is not lifeguarding is present to supervise the group.23.4.c. An individual school-age child may be permitted to go to a non-public rest room unattended if the restroom is within vision of a supervising staff person.23.4.d. Two or more school-age children going to the same restroom at the same time must be accompanied to the restroom by staff and be within staff hearing at all times.23.5. Staff interaction, Guidance, and Supervision. 23.5.a. The school-age program shall group children according to their developmental levels and skill levels taking into account that the physical, emotional, intellectual, and social development of early middle childhood differs from that of older middle childhood and pre-adolescence.23.5.b. A center shall ensure that staff members in school-age programs have the skills and training to respond to the needs of the older child and recognize that interactions with the school-age child differ significantly from interactions with the younger child. The staff members shall: 23.5.b.1. Be available and responsive to the child;23.5.b.2. Engage the child in meaningful conversation about events of importance and topics of interest, encouraging the child to share experiences, ideas, and emotions;23.5.b.3. Listen to the child with attention and respect;23.5.b.4. Help a child develop problem-solving skills by describing problems and encouraging him or her to evaluate the situation;23.5.b.5. Facilitate learning by guiding, providing positive reinforcement, encouraging efforts, and recognizing accomplishments; and23.5.b.6. Have developmentally appropriate expectations of a child's social behavior.23.5.c. At all times, staff members shall provide positive guidance that is appropriate to each child's age, understanding, and circumstances. Staff members shall: 23.5.c.1. Teach by example;23.5.c.2. Recognize and encourage acceptable behavior;23.5.c.3. Make eye contact with the child whenever possible when speaking to the child;23.5.c.4. Supervise with kindness, understanding, and firmness;23.5.c.5. Set expectations for behavior, define clear limits, set fair and consistent rules and when appropriate, permit the school-age child to participate in the development of rules and procedures;23.5.c.6. Help a child develop self-control to assume responsibility for his or her own actions;23.5.c.7. State expectations in the positive; and23.5.c.8. Visually post expectations so that children are encouraged to regulate their own behaviors.23.5.d. When unacceptable behavior persists with the school-age child, the qualified staff member in accordance with the child's age and developmental level shall: 23.5.d.1. Talk with the child privately and calmly;23.5.d.2. Help the child to verbalize the expectation that is not being met;23.5.d.3. Help the child to verbalize the reason for the expectation;23.5.d.4. Help the child to verbalize acceptable choices and possible solutions; and23.5.d.5. Help the child to verbalize possible consequences if the unacceptable behavior continues.23.5.e. When conflict between children becomes physical, staff shall intervene immediately and use positive problem-solving methods.23.6. Space. When a center operates a summer recreation camp:23.6.a. The center shall provide at least 10 square feet of useable indoor activity space per child inside or provide a covered permanent structure that has the required activity space;23.6.b. The center shall submit a plan for the Secretary's approval for outdoor activity space to meet the children's outdoor activities requirement and shall use the outdoor space only after receiving the Secretary's written approval.23.7. Toilets. A summer recreation camp program that receives written approval from the local health department may use a commercial portable toilet and warm water, soap, paper towels, rinse water, and a pit or other method for disposing of waste water.23.8. Program. Programs for school-age children shall:23.8.a. Meet the goals of the center as established by the statement of purpose;23.8.b. Be based on knowledge of child development for the school-age child;23.8.c. Have a schedule for routines that is posted and is predictable and in accordance with subsection 14.1. of this rule other than the following:23.8.c.1. Out-of-school time programs shall reflect the time of day and the number of hours that care is provided before school, after school, and on days when school is closed;23.8.c.2. Out-of-school time programs shall provide activity that transitions the child from home to school in the morning and from school to home in the evenings;23.8.c.3. Summer recreation camps shall have a schedule that provides for outdoor or off-site activity 80 percent of the time weather permitting.23.8.d. Have varied and well-planned activities;23.8.e. Have a qualified staff person verbally communicate the expectations for each activity;28.8.f. Have activities which are age appropriate, offer challenges, and incorporate skill level progression of the school-age child;28.8.g. Offer options when it is recognized that the skill level is too difficult for the child;28.8.h. Engage children in decision making and program activity development;23.8.i. Offer the opportunity for projects that can be completed independently with only guidance from staff;23.8.j. Offer group projects, group play and interest group involvement;23.8.k. Offer interest centers such as art, dramatic play, school work, science, nature, music, reading, construction, physical activity;23.8.l. Include activities within the community such as field trips, community work projects, or volunteer activities;23.8.m. Include diversity within activities;23.8.n. Offer activities without bias to gender; and23.8.o. Encourage the development of life skills.23.9. A center operating a summer recreation camp may allow for an occasional overnight activity. When offering the overnight activity, the summer recreation camp shall: 23.9.a. Have a written plan of the activity and its oversight that is kept in an administrative file;23.9.b. Provide staff with written instructions on the operation of the activity;23.9.c. Provide parents with written information and any special instructions for the activity;23.9.d. Ensure that the child's daily nutritional requirements are met;23.9.e. Ensure there is safe drinking water available;23.9.f. Provide a mat, cot, or bed for each child;23.9.g. Not have a child in care for more than 24 hours; and23.9.h. Ensure that no staff member must remain awake for more than 18 hours and that if children are sleeping at least one staff member is awake at all times.23.10. Nutrition. A center with an out-of-school time program shall serve a snack to the school-age child arriving after school.23.11. Emergency procedures. A summer recreation camp and day camp shall comply with section 19 of this rule regarding emergency procedures except as set forth in this subsection:23.11.a. The camp shall have a procedure for practicing moving to the safe location within the first two days of camp and mid-way through the summer;23.11.b. The camp shall teach and implement a system that has staff and children taking account of children in the camp and immediately reporting if a child is missing;23.11.c. A qualified staff member assigned to each group of children shall be responsible for carrying or having immediately available a first aid kit; and23.11.d. When a center operates a summer recreation camp program or day camp program at a site where a direct-line telephone is not available then the center shall ensure that staff members have access to a working communication device that will allow contact to emergency personnel.