10.3.5.1: Education, Experience and Training of Licensing Inspectors

Licensing inspectors, and others in licensing positions, should be pre-qualified by education and experience to be knowledgeable about the form of child care they are assigned to inspect. Prior to employment or within the first six months of employment, licensing inspectors should receive training in regulatory administration based on the concepts and principles found in the National Association for Regulatory Administration (NARA) Licensing Curriculum through onsite platform training or online coursework (1). In addition, they should receive no less than forty clock hours of orientation training upon employment (1). In addition, they should receive no less than twenty-four clock hours of continuing education each year (1), covering the following topics and other such topics as necessary based on competency needs:

1. The licensing statutes and rules for child care;
2. Other applicable state and federal statutes and regulations;
3. The historical, conceptual, and theoretical basis for licensing, investigation, and enforcement;
4. Technical skills related to the person’s duties and responsibilities, such as investigative techniques, interviewing, rule-writing, due process, and data management;
5. Child development, early childhood education principles, child care programming, scheduling, and design of space;
6. Law enforcement and the rights of licensees;
7. Center and large or small family child care home management;
8. Child and staff health in child care;
9. Detection, prevention, and management of child abuse;
10. Practical techniques and ADA requirements for inclusion of children with special needs;
11. Exclusion/inclusion of children who are ill;
12. Health, safety, physical activity, and nutrition;
13. Recognition of hazards.

RATIONALE

Licensing inspectors are a point of contact and linkage for caregivers/teachers and sources of technical information needed to improve the quality of child care. This is particularly true for areas not usually within the network of early childhood professionals, such as health and safety expertise. Unless the licensing inspector is competent and able to recognize areas where facilities need to improve their health and safety provisions (for example prevention of infectious disease), the opportunity for such linkages will be lost. To effectively carry out their responsibilities to license and monitor child care facilities, it is critical that licensing inspectors have appropriate, conceptually based professional development in the principles, concepts and practices of child care licensing as well as in the principles and practices of the form or child care to which they are assigned. When developed, it will be important for licensing inspectors to secure NARA Licensing Credentials.

REFERENCES

1. National Association for Regulatory Administration (NARA). 2000. Phases of licensing. In NARA licensing curriculum. 2000 ed. Lexington, KY: NARA.