From: Cassidy, Erin (OCFS) 
Sent: Friday, December 15, 2023 9:26 AM
To: nyschildcareowners@gmail.com
Cc: Yates, Nora (OCFS); DuVal, Barbara (OCFS) 
Subject: RE: Formal Request to Reform the NYS Childcare Regulatory and Enforcement Regulations and Policies

Good morning,

Thank you for your recent emails regarding child care reform in New York State. As stated in your online petition, the OCFS Division of Child Care Services, strives to work in partnership with child care providers statewide and we welcome your suggestions on ways to improve that relationship.

We would be happy to provide more information on the points outlined in your email dated November 30, 2023. Specifically, regarding the roles and responsibilities of the regional offices, the process for escalating questions or concerns, information that is posted on the OCFS website, the comprehensive and ongoing training that OCFS staff receive, as well as the many ways that we communicate with child care programs and other stakeholders statewide.

Please provide me with a point of contact that we can work with to schedule either an in-person or virtual meeting on a date that is convenient for you. We look forward to speaking with you soon.

Sincerely,

Erin Cassidy

Associate Commissioner, Division of Child Care Services

New York State Office of Children and Family Services

52 Washington Street, Rensselaer, New York  12144

____________________________________________________________________________________

Hello Erin,

Thank you for reading the petition.  Despite the mission statement of the OCFS Division of Childcare Services describing an entity that is “serving New York’s public by promoting the safety, permanency and well-being of our children, families, and communities” […] “by setting and enforcing policies, building partnerships, and funding and providing quality services,” we have shared numerous provider experiences that prove the contrary.  Systemic issues have been discussed and exposed on numerous occasions, and we are requesting the OCFS to make a significant effort to adjust existing policies and procedures to demonstrate, through action, their effort to work in partnership with childcare providers statewide.

To be clear, we are not seeking an informative, Q&A meeting format regarding the existing state of OCFS systems.  The system and communications are insufficient, subjective, unfair, unconstitutional, and punitive and we are seeking to discuss specific, necessary changes to prevent the industry from imploding. We understand that the OCFS is limited by the laws governed by Chapter 55 of the Social Services Law Article 6 Children Title 1 Care and Protection of Children, however, our requests are within the jurisdiction of the OCFS.  We are asking the OCFS to, in good faith, demonstrate a partnership effort by submitting our reasonable rule changes in accordance with the State Administrative Procedure Act (SAPA) Rule Making Manual to amend the regulations to preserve the integrity of our industry; this will be the subject of the meeting.

The agenda topics will include:

• Utilizing the existing definitions and categorization of violations currently used for the purpose of issuing fines (see here) and applying them to compliance reports in addition to a statement from the provider regarding violations.
• Removing unsubstantiated claims from public compliance reports as already stated on pages 2 and 3 of the Bureau of Early Childhood Services Policy Statement Form 96-08.
• Implementing an objective decision matrix utilized by licensors when deciding whether to issue a violation to prevent inconsistent enforcement of the regulations.
• Replace or define the subjective wording in the regulations that currently result in unpredictable and contradictory interpretations by various licensors (copy of center-based regulations highlighting specific subjective phrases was attached in a previous e-mail).  Since these changes will not cause the regulations promulgated by your office to become less stringent than parts 414, 416, 417 and 418 of the New York Code of Rules and Regulations, this is within your jurisdiction. (Legislation)
• Reducing the tenure of compliance report violations.
  Increasing/improving industry communication regarding shareholder meetings and participation
• Implementing a transmittal sheet to be used when changes and updates are made to the regulations to easily visualize what content was removed or inserted (tangible example shared in the 11/30 e-mail)

The pre-work your office should prepare and send prior to the meeting to ensure a productive and informed conversation include:

• NYS version of Evaluator Manual (tangible example shared in the 11/30 e-mail) showing the step-by-step instructional guide used by licensors when licensing and evaluating facilities.
• A current roster with titles, roles, and responsibilities of the OCFS executive team
• Documentation showing due process providers are entitled to pursuant to Executive Order No.131 issued by Governor Mario Cuomo that has been codified in the regulations of the Executive Department to appeal general violations and compliance report citations that don’t qualify for a hearing under 18 CRR-NY 413.3.  Are providers to follow Article 78 proceedings to challenge actions and violations or is there a portion of the Administrative Adjudication Plan that applies to appeal procedures for general violations?
• Specific trainings OCFS staff receive regarding citing violations, reasonability, interacting with providers and teaching staff, and building partnerships with providers.
• Separate directives to licensors outside of typical training processes.

We will work with Barbara to schedule an in-person, recorded meeting. Thank you.

NYS Childcare Providers