Chapter III

Staffing and Training

The Division of Community Based Regulation has 21 licensing specialists responsible for licensing and inspecting child care centers, group day care homes, and family day care homes statewide. As part of these responsibilities, the specialists provide technical assistance to licensed providers. Another 11 licensing specialists investigate complaints against child care providers and assist in enforcement duties.

Some in the child care community have raised concerns regarding the overall qualifications of the licensing staff and the hiring practices of the division. They believe specialists have not been fully qualified to perform their responsibilities when originally hired.

In the context of providing technical assistance, child care licensing staffing was examined from several perspectives. A review of each licensing specialist's educational background and experience level at the time of their hiring was conducted to determine whether each met the minimum qualifications required by the licensing specialist job description. The division's current training program for licensing specialists was examined, and the committee used results from its survey of child care providers to gauge their viewpoints on the technical assistance received from DPH licensing specialists.

Length of Service as Licensing Specialist

A complaint among some providers is licensing specialists do not possess enough experience to provide proper technical assistance. In addition to staff qualifications, education, and training, the length of service of current licensing specialists was examined by the committee. Length of service was reviewed as a way to gauge the overall experience levels specialists have enforcing child care regulations.

Information about the tenure of the current licensing specialists is presented as a matter of context. Table III-1 shows the number of years licensing specialists have worked as specialists within DPH.

The committee believes the table shows the vast majority of licensing specialists have relatively lengthy experience serving as specialists. Over half have served as licensing specialists with DPH for at least five years, and almost three-fourths have served for at least three years.

Staff Qualifications and Experience

Position description. Like all classified state job descriptions, the current licensing specialist position description includes: 1) duties; 2) required knowledge, skills, and ability; and 3) experience and training. The experience and training provisions represent the minimum qualifications for the job. Potential licensing specialists are required to have:

• A minimum of six years experience in providing professional child care services with involvement in program development and operational policy.
• College education may be substituted for general experience on the basis of 15 semester hours equaling one-half year of experience up to a maximum of four years for a Bachelor's degree.
• A Master's degree in child development, early childhood education, public health, social work, or related area may substitute for one additional year of general experience.

Based on the above, a licensing specialist may be hired without any formal education, as long as the candidate has at least six years of relevant experience, as defined by the job description. A person with a Bachelor's degree, including a degree in fields unrelated to children or education, may become a licensing specialist with a minimum of two years of related general experience. A person with a Master's degree in a related field as outlined in the job description, may become a licensing specialist with one year of general experience.

Records of each child care licensing specialist within the Division of Community Based Regulation were examined. Although some specialists in the division work outside the Licensing Unit, which provides the bulk of technical assistance to child care providers, their records were reviewed because specialists rotate through the division's various child care regulatory units, including licensing.

The record review determined the education and experience backgrounds of the specialists at the time they were hired as licensing specialists by DPH, or transferred from the Department of Social Services in 1994. The committee analysis shows all current licensing specialists met the experience/education qualifications when they began work as DPH licensing specialists.

Experience. Table III-2 outlines the various types of relevant experience licensing specialists prior to becoming specialists with DPH. Since most specialists held multiple positions related to child care prior to becoming a specialist, the committee only used the most relevant position each specialist spent the most time performing.

Table III-2 shows a full 22 percent of the licensing specialists were either directors or assistant directors of child care facilities prior to becoming a licensing specialist. Almost one-fifth of the specialists owned or operated a family day care home, group day care home, or child care center, and 15 percent worked in centers in a teacher capacity.

The committee also determined the average length of time specialists held their previous positions. For example, current licensing specialists who owned a child care facility did so for an average of eight years before becoming a specialist. The time spent as an assistant director averaged eight years, while licensing specialists who were center directors did so for an average of five years.

Former DSS staff. In 1994, the regulation of family day care homes was transferred from the Department of Social Services to DPH, which was already regulating child care centers and group homes. As part of the transfer, DSS family day care staff moved to DPH, where they continue to work in the area of family day care homes.

Currently, the Division of Community Based Regulation has 10 former DSS staff designated as child care licensing specialists - six within the Licensing Unit, two in the Quality Enhancement Unit, and two in the Investigations Unit. Two additional former DSS staff are supervisors in the licensing and complaints units. All six of the former DSS specialists in the Licensing Unit are responsible for regulating and providing technical assistance to family day care homes; none of the specialists is responsible for centers or group day care homes.

Some in the child care community maintain the licensing specialists who transferred to DPH from DSS are somehow less qualified than specialists hired directly by the public health department. As such, the belief is their ability to provide adequate technical assistance may be lessened.

The experience and educational backgrounds of the former DSS staff were reviewed in comparison with other current licensing specialists, and while the former DSS staff as a group did not have the same level of formal education when they transferred to DPH as other licensing specialists, they all met the job position qualifications. The committee also determined since the transfer occurred seven years ago, and the transferred staff continue to work in the family day care area, concern about any impact on technical assistance delivery is moot. Certainly, however, concern about overall consistency on the part of all staff in regulating providers and the need to clarify the role of technical assistance remain important regardless of whether licensing specialists were directly hired by DPH.

Education. Table III-3 shows the educational backgrounds of the current licensing specialists when they became licensing specialists with DPH. The table also shows whether the college degrees of the specialists were primarily related to the fields of children or education. It should be noted the job description currently used by DPH for licensing specialist allows formal education to substitute for some experience requirements (explained in more detail below.) Under the current job description, however, the department may hire a licensing specialist based solely on relevant experience without formal education. Overall, Table III-1shows the education levels of the current licensing specialists at the time they were hired as specialists or transferred to DPH from DSS in 1994:

• 8 specialists (25 percent) held a Master's degree;
• 12 specialists (38 percent) held a four-year college degree;
• 4 specialists (13 percent) held an Associate's degree
• 8 specialists (25 percent) were hired with either a high school diploma or other professional schooling; and
• 19 specialists (59 percent) held some form of college degree primarily related to children or education (one person with a nonrelevant Master's degree held a relevant Bachelor degree.)

Summary of Findings: Staff Qualifications and Experience

· All licensing specialists met the job qualifications when they began work as DPH licensing specialists.

· Almost one-fifth of the current licensing specialists owned or operated a family day care home, group day care home, or child care center prior to becoming a specialist. Twenty-two percent were either directors or assistant directors of child care facilities, and 15 percent worked in centers in a teacher capacity.

· Although formal education is not required for the child care licensing specialist position, the types of education specialists possessed at the time of their hiring ranged from Masters degrees to high school diplomas/professional education.

· Sixty-three percent of the current licensing specialists were hired with at least a four-year college degree.

· Fifty-nine percent of the current licensing specialists held a four-year college degree related to children or education at the time of their hiring.

· Over half of the child care licensing specialists have been with DPH as specialists for at least five years, almost three-fourths have served for at least three years, while 28 percent have less than three years' experience.

· DPH needs to regularly monitor staff qualifications and training to ensure all licensing specialists meet the technical assistance (and regulatory) requirements of licensed child care providers.

Technical Assistance Training

An important component of licensing specialists providing adequate technical assistance to child care providers is proper training. The committee believes licensing specialists need frequent training, from the time they are hired and throughout their service as specialists.

The current DPH training efforts for licensing specialists were examined with a focus on technical assistance training. A review of the overall training "program" was made, including the type of training given to new specialists and any in-service training.

New specialists. New licensing specialists receive initial training in basic office operations, child care regulations, licensing procedures, and field work. When initially hired, specialists are given training materials to review, including the regulations for family day care homes and center-based facilities.

Each new specialist also goes through a six-month working test period. A new employee orientation and training guideline was developed within the past year for use by supervisors and new licensing specialists during the test period. The guideline lists the various training criteria to be covered by supervisors. Supervisors are required to review specific topics with each specialist, including processes and procedures. At the three and six-month intervals of the test period, supervisors and employees are to review the criteria to ensure satisfactory performance.

Based on discussions with licensing specialists and supervisors and review of training material, the committee believes the training given to current licensing specialists specific to technical assistance is limited and not well defined. The primary training in this area only outlines the differences between technical assistance and consultation, as discussed in Chapter II. Although this is useful, a more defined, structured approach to technical assistance training is required. Licensing specialists need to fully understand what constitutes technical assistance and how it is applied, as recommended in Chapter II. The committee also learned not all the supervisors were fully aware of the training guideline for new specialists outlining specific training topics, and the NARA training material used for technical assistance is not the most current version available, further indicating better coordination and organization need to occur.

In service training. In-service training for specialists is encouraged by the division. For example, each specialist has received investigator training through the Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation (an association focused on professional and occupational regulation.) The program offers training on the various steps in the investigative process. The committee was also informed eight licensing specialists have become nationally certified playground inspectors following training from the National Playground Safety Institute. The manager of the Licensing Unit is also a member of NARA, and has attended the organization's past conferences, as have several other specialists. No other specialists, however, are actual NARA members, and the NARA materials on licensing and training are used sparingly for licensing specialists.

In service training from other DPH units is also available to licensing specialists. For example, the committee was told the lead paint and water units work with child care licensing specialists to ensure they are aware of requirements and processes of used by these other areas with the department.

The division holds several types of regular internal meetings among specialists, supervisors, and managers, which may serve for training purposes. The meetings are used, in part, to discuss various components of child care regulation, including areas related to technical assistance.

Cross-training. The Division of Community Based Regulation is undergoing an effort to "cross-train" its child care licensing specialists. Specialists have traditionally been responsible for regulating either family day care homes or centers/group day care homes, because the two types of facilities operate under distinct regulations. The division is gradually changing that system and training its specialists to regulate and provide technical assistance to both types of facilities. The new system is said to allow greater staff flexibility and mobility, increase specialists' knowledge of the full range of child care facilities regulated by DPH, and is more consistent with regulatory system used in other parts of the public health department.

The division is attempting to initially cross-train all licensing specialists with three years or less experience, which is about a third of the specialists. The program, implemented several years ago, will be expanded to additional specialists identified by the division on an as-needed basis. Specialists receive cross-training in three areas: family day care home regulation, center-based regulation, and complaints.

The most recent staffing plan proposal for 2001 (dated January 2001) was examined. The proposal outlines the training assignments for the year, and is to be updated on six-month intervals. According to the proposal, six specialists are targeted for cross-training in 2001. To date, 10 of the 32 licensing specialists are considered fully cross-trained, while another eight have been trained in at least two of the three required areas.

Although cross-training licensing specialists may increase staffing flexibility, the committee could not identify a process in place to gauge the effect "cross-training" has on the delivery of technical assistance services. It is imperative the division fully understand the overall effects its cross-training program has on licensing specialists, as well as providers, for implementation of an effective cross-training program. If licensing specialists do not feel comfortable with their various responsibilities or providers are not satisfied with the technical assistance to which they are entitled by law, the division needs to re-examine its cross-training approach.

Field visits. Supervisors in the Licensing Unit make periodic site visits with licensing specialists. Although no standard exists as to the frequency of visits, supervisors attempt to make at least semi-annual field visits with each licensing specialist in their respective units. The visits are used, in part, to help monitor the technical assistance performance of the specialists.

Summary of Findings: Technical Assistance Training

· Specific technical assistance training for licensing specialists, especially new specialists, is provided in a limited form, although a more defined, structured approach based on specialists' needs is required.

· The child care regulation division is transitioning to a system of "cross-training" its licensing specialists. The specialists will be trained in family day care regulations, center-based regulations, and complaint investigations. Currently, 10 of the 32 specialists are considered "cross-trained."

· There is no formal oversight system in place to fully gauge whether "cross-training" actually enhances the delivery of technical assistance services.

Recommendations

7. The overall training program regarding technical assistance for child care licensing specialists, including the current emphasis on cross-training, needs to be formalized and enhanced based on specialists' needs. As part of this process, the Division of Community Based Regulation should update the relevant components of the NARA training curriculum it uses relating to technical assistance.

8. The Division of Community Based Regulation needs to develop a system to regularly monitor its staff training efforts to ensure such training enhances the effectiveness of technical assistance services to child care providers as required by C.G.S. Sec. 19a-82.

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