Accomplishments
Serious Injury Tracking
Getting hurt is a natural and inevitable part of childhood, but when a child suffers a serious injury (requiring medical attention other than basic first aid) in childcare CCL requires childcare providers to report the injury to CCL so that CCL can look into what happened. Until this year, CCL did not have a quality system to track the frequency of serious injuries in childcare. DFPS made improvements to the CCL automation system in FY 2017, and CCL now requires its staff to document every serious injury of a child in childcare. Tracking this information over time will help us identify trends and make changes to improve health and safety in childcare operations.
Requiring Fingerprint Checks for Child Care Homes
Doing background checks on people who care for or will be around children in childcare operations is an important part of keeping children safe. A background check consists of a name-based criminal history check, an abuse and neglect check, and, in most cases, a fingerprint check run through the FBI’s system. Until 2016, CCL did not require those providing daycare in their homes to get a fingerprint check. After a change in federal and state law, CCL began requiring people who work or live in a childcare home to have fingerprint checks beginning in FY 2017. This gives CCL information about a person’s arrest and conviction history anywhere in the nation, not just in Texas. Having more information about a person’s criminal history helps keep children safe by making sure people convicted of certain crimes are not around them in childcare.