Covid-19 Related Health & Safety Requirements

Summary of Requirements

Effective June 15, 2020, and until further notice:

FTC Kids shall screen staff and children for fever and other COVID-19 symptoms prior to entry into the facility each day. Children and staff with a fever in excess of 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit, or exhibiting other symptoms of COVID-19, shall not be allowed to enter the facility, nor will persons that have exposure to persons known to have COVID-19 during the preceding 14 days.
FTC Kids shall minimize the number of people in the clinic and movement between sessions. Number of people in the facility shall not exceed 12 people, and interactions between therapists must be limited.
Therapists shall ensure that the spacing of therapy sessions within the facility always allows for ten feet of separation between all therapist/child grouping .
FTC Kids shall take steps to preclude crowding at pick up and drop off times. FTC Kids is strongly encouraged to schedule and stagger these times.
Sharing of supplies, food, toys and other items must be strictly limited. No snacks or water will be offered. Children must bring their own items, if necessary, for therapy compliance. Children’s belongings shall be kept separate in individual cubbies in transition space.
Close person to person contact (hugging, wrestling, games involving touching or tagging) shall be limited unless required for manual handling.
Staff shall be required to wear masks (cloth or disposable) while working unless doing so would inhibit the individual’s health. We would also encourage face shields, but it is not mandatory through the state. It is encouraged that children shall wear face coverings within the facility whether cloth masks or “shield pals”. Cloth face coverings should NOT be put on children under age two because of the danger of suffocation.
FTC Kids shall continue to teach and reinforce healthy hygiene practices to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Visitors shall not be permitted to enter the center during operating hours, with the exception of emergency or law enforcement personnel in their official capacity, and Department of Children and Families personnel for child protection or childcare licensing purposes. All others, including persons providing maintenance or repair services, prospective customers, prospective employees, entertainers or speakers, and third-party therapists or service providers shall be required to visit the facility after operating hours.
FTC Kids shall plan for and abide by procedures detailed herein for response to COVID-19 exposure in the center. FTC Kids shall immediately notify its county department of health of any known or suspected COVID-19 exposure in the facility.

Screening, Admittance, and Therapy Sessions

Persons that have a fever of 100.40 (38.00C) or above or other signs of illness shall not be admitted to the facility. Encourage parents to be on the alert for signs of illness in their children and to keep them home when they are sick.

Children and staff must be screened for fever or signs of COVID-19 illness prior to entry to the program. Cars or the immediate entryway of the facility must be designated for screening.

Therapists must include the information collected during the screening process in the daily note.

Screening Process

Method 1: Parent Temperature Check

Parents may want to bring their own thermometer. Ask parents/guardians to take their child’s temperature upon arrival at the facility. Upon their arrival, stand at least 6 feet away from the parent/guardian and child.
Ask the parent/guardian to confirm that the child does not have fever, shortness of breath or cough.
Make a visual inspection of the child for signs of illness, which could include flushed cheeks, rapid breathing or difficulty breathing (without recent physical activity), fatigue, or extreme fussiness.
Staff does not need to wear any personal protective equipment (PPE) beyond cloth masks during this process if they can maintain a distance of 6 feet.

Method 2: Therapist Temperature Check

Make a visual inspection of the child for signs of illness, which could include flushed cheeks, rapid breathing or difficulty breathing (without recent physical activity), fatigue, or extreme fussiness.
Conduct temperature screening (follow steps below)
Wash your hands with soap and water for 20 seconds. If soap and water are not available, use a hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol.
Use “non-contact” infrared thermometer so you can maintain distance.

Admittance and Therapy Process

Sessions should be conducted not less than 10 feet in all directions from other sessions or be separated by walls or other physical partitions. Combining or mixing sessions shall not be permitted.

Use of shared spaces (entryways, restrooms) shall be carefully controlled to ensure that children and staff maintain at least six feet of separation from children or other staff.

Procedures shall be implemented to prevent crowding at pick up and drop off. Prohibit the entry of parents or others into any entry vestibule or pick up area in excess of the number that can be accommodated with at least six feet of distance between persons. It is highly recommended that centers prohibit any entry of parents into the facility and, instead, walk children to cars or waiting parents outside the building.

Staff shall be required to wear masks/shield while working unless doing so would inhibit the individual’s health. If a staff member refuses to a wear a face covering for non-medical reasons and if such covering cannot be provided to the staff person at the point of entry, the center must decline to allow them to enter.

When feasible, children shall be encouraged to wear cloth face coverings within the center. Cloth face coverings should NOT be put on children under age two because of the danger of suffocation.

Visitors

Visitors shall not be permitted to enter the center during operating hours, with the exception of emergency or law enforcement personnel in their official capacity.

All others, including persons providing non-emergency maintenance or repair services, prospective customers, prospective employees, entertainers or speakers, and third-party therapists or service providers shall be required to visit the facility after operating hours.

Unless precluded by emergency circumstances, visitors to the facility shall be subject to the same screening procedures as children and staff, and shall be denied admission on the same basis unless the center is legally precluded from denying access (e.g. a law enforcement agent with an appropriate warrant).

Visitors shall be required to wear cloth masks while visiting the center unless doing so would inhibit the individual’s health. If a visitor refuses to a wear a cloth face covering for non-medical reasons and if such covering cannot be provided to the individual by the business at the point of entry, the center must decline to allow them to enter.

Promoting Healthy Hygiene Practices

FTC Kids shall teach and reinforce washing hands and covering coughs and sneezes among children and staff.

FTC Kids shall teach and reinforce use of cloth face coverings among children, where appropriate, and staff. Face coverings are most essential at times when social distancing is not possible. Staff and children should be frequently reminded not to touch the face covering and to wash their hands frequently.

FTC Kids shall have adequate supplies to support healthy hygiene behaviors, including soap, hand sanitizer with at least 60 percent alcohol (for staff and older children who can safely use hand sanitizer), and tissues.

Children and staff shall practice frequent hand washing with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, and shall be required to wash their hands upon arriving at the center, when entering the classroom, before meals or snacks, after outside time, after going to the bathroom, and prior to leaving for home. Children should be monitored to ensure proper technique.

Response Procedures for COVID-19 Symptoms or Exposure

Children or staff members who develop symptoms of COVID-19 while at the facility

If a child or staff member develops symptoms of COVID-19 while at the facility (e.g. fever of 100.4 or higher, cough, shortness of breath), immediately separate the person from the well people until the ill person can leave the facility. If the child has symptoms of COVID-19 (e.g. fever, cough, shortness of breath), the caregiver waiting with the child should remain as far away as safely possible from the child (preferably, 6 feet).
If symptoms persist or worsen, they should call a health care provider for further guidance. Advise the employee or child’s parent or caregiver to inform the facility immediately if the person is diagnosed with COVID-19.

Children or staff members who test positive for COVID-19

If FTC Kids becomes aware of a COVID-19 positive case in their facility, they shall contact their local health department for guidance.
Health officials will provide direction on whether an FTC Kids should cease operations following the identification of a positive case in the facility. The duration may be dependent on staffing levels, outbreak levels in the community and severity of illness in the infected individual. Symptom- free children and staff should not attend or work at another facility during the closure.
All rooms and equipment used by the infected person, and persons potentially exposed to that person, should be cleaned and disinfected in accordance with CDC guidance referenced above. If FTC Kids is uncertain about the extent of potential exposure, we shall clean and sanitize all rooms.

Returning to Work After COVID-19 Diagnosis or Exposure

If a staff member or child contracts or is exposed to COVID-19, they cannot be admitted to a center again until the criteria for lifting transmission-based precautions and home isolation have been met. Those criteria are included in the Department of Health’s guidance.

Cleaning and Disinfecting after a Suspected or Confirmed COVID-19 Case

For additional guidance on the cleaning and disinfection of rooms or areas that those with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 have visited, please see the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Coronavirus Disease 2019 Environmental Cleaning and Disinfection Recommendations.