This is a new day! 

The ICA would like to thank the team of our new administration; Michelle Thomas, and Melanie Brizzi.  You have been so gracious to the ICA and to the providers in the state of Indiana. Thank you for seeing the common sense factor in regulating childcare.  We look forward to working with you in the upcoming years.

We would like to keep these top 10 Issues on this web site, but only for the purposes of letting you know how far we as an association have come!  It has been a long year, but with the ear of our new Governor,the support of our Legislators, and the new FSSA administration, we have been able to see these proposed rules recalled.   The Secretary of the FSSA, Mitch Roob has hired an independent contractor to come in and review how policy procedure should go!  This new administration has listened to us, and for that, we are grateful! We will continue to plow through issues!  Please communicate with us!  Let us know what you are thinking, and how we can help you!  For the record... We are now to follow the previous rules and regulations set forth by the FSSA.  As soon as they are found, we will post them on our site!

2004

   1. The State Web Site (Childcare Finder)  gives out all of providers personal information.  This makes us sitting ducks for  any child molester, child predator to come into our homes.  We were not told when we became licensed, that we were public knowledge. 

2. "Sight &  Sound"  rule states that supervision is "within line of sight and range of sound" at all times.  You may have a "brief"  period of time to use the bathroom for yourself;  you may answer the door, or throw a diaper away. ... You must be in the bathroom with each child until they reach their 5th birthday. (child gender and provider does not matter)

3. You must have 35 square ft per child of  USABLE space.  (left to the license inspectors discretion)

4.  Class II licensed homes must have Sprinkler systems (if upstairs is used) emergency lighting,  and  lighted exit signs in your home.

5. Education: You must have 12 additional hours of training per-year. 

6. Parents Rights:  Parents may not tell the provider what to do with their children.  Example: sleep away from other children; rather a provider NOT be in the bathroom with their child under 5; how to discipline; etc.   Parents loose all rights to the children when they enter a licensed childcare home. 

7.  Provider's Rights as a Parent: Providers own children may not play in their own rooms. (separate  from where the daycare children are)  They must be within sight and sound at all times.   They may only sleep in their own beds until they wake up, and while taking a nap.

8. Ratio for infants and toddlers changed to 4:1

9. The Licensing agent is able by law to interpret, and enforce the law at their own discretion.  You will  be written up for failure to abide by the "proposed rules and regulations" because you are in a "gray area of interpretation."

10. Illegal Babysitters:  Elkhart county has done a study, and found that the illegal babysitters outnumber licensed child care providers 3:1.  By illegal we mean that they provide care for more than 5 children without a license.  Children are stuffed into homes that have no accountability, no criminal background checks, and they do not even have to pay taxes!   We have been informed by the state, that they do not have time to prevent this from happening. 

One last free one... If you have ANY volunteers, they must be treated as paid employees... Drug tested, TB tested, criminal history checked, ect.

You may read the rest for yourself!  There are 32 pages of them.  ONE of them WILL affect you.  As one State Representative has said it best... "They have micromanaged you to the point you are afraid to turn around."