IMPROVING TRANSPORTATION SERVICES IN EARLY EDUCATION AND CARE SETTINGS

1. IMPROVING TRANSPORTATION SERVICES IN EARLY EDUCATION AND CARE SETTINGS EEC Board Meeting – November 8, 2011

2. Recommendations from the Special Committee on Transportation Final Board Vote of October 11, 2011: The Board of Early Education and Care hereby approves the Special Committee’s recommendations by: • Enacting the transportation policy recommended by the Special Committee that details the procedures for the drop-off and pick-up of children by Transportation Providers and for Parent/Program Notification in the event a child does not arrive at a program; • Reviewing the proposed Transportation Provider Performance Standards for contract implementation in an expedited manner; and • Reviewing regulation amendments relative to the safe transport of children to be presented to the Board in December, 2011.

3. Parent/Program Notification: The Early Education and Care Licensed Provider shall notify a parent immediately if/when a child does not arrive at child care within 30 minutes of his/her scheduled arrival time, unless the parent has previously notified the program of the child’s absence or alternative arrival time.

4. Details of Transportation Policy - Notification Parent/Program Notification: • Parents and guardians are urged to notify the child care program that their child will be absent or will arrive later than scheduled that day. • The child care program shall note on the attendance sheet the absence or late arrival of the child on the appropriate day as well as the name of the person who notified the program of the absence or the late arrival. • When a child enrolled in a child care program does not arrive within 30 minutes of his or her scheduled arrival time and the parent or guardian has not provided notification, the provider shall immediately notify the parent or guardian that the child has not arrived. • If the parent or guardian cannot be reached directly by telephone, the provider shall then contact the child’s emergency contact person. The provider must speak personally with the parent or emergency contact person; leaving a message or sending a text is not sufficient.

5. Details of Notification Policy – (cont’d) Parent/Program Notification: • If a child who receives transportation services does not arrive within 30 minutes of his or her scheduled arrival time, the provider shall also contact the Transportation Provider and the System, after notifying the parent or guardian of the child’s failure to arrive at the child care program. • Once the provider reaches a person who can confirm the location of the child, the provider shall log the location of the child, the name of the individual spoken to and the time on the attendance sheet. • If the child care provider cannot reach any of the individuals identified above and the location of the child cannot be determined definitively, the local police department shall be notified as soon as possible. • Recurrent failure of a parent to notify the child care program of a child’s absence may be the grounds for termination of a child care subsidy or may be grounds for dismissal from the program.

6. Pick-Up, Drop-Off, and Post-Inspection of Vehicle: All Transportation Providers* shall ensure that their drivers carry and complete a passenger log for each route, identifying the name of each child transported, the time picked up, the time dropped off and initialed by the educator or parent/guardian. The driver shall sign the passenger log at the conclusion of the route, certifying completion of the inspection of each seat, under all seats, and in all compartments or recesses in the vehicle’s interior. If there is no electronic vehicle monitoring device installed on the vehicle, the monitor, if assigned to the vehicle or the reviewer designated by the Transportation Provider must also certify completion of the post-trip inspection. * Transportation Provider is defined as an individual or entity that is employed by or has subcontracted with a Family Child Care System or Early Education and Care Licensed Provider to provide transportation services and who drives a child in a motor vehicle, car, bus, or school bus from a child’s home to a child care program and/or from a child care program to the child’s school as defined in M.G.L. c. 90 §7B or §7D.

7. Details of Pick-Up, Drop-Off, and Post-Inspection of Vehicle Policy Responsibility for Pick-Up, Drop-Off and Tracking of Each Child: • Passenger Log: • A passenger log provided by, or in a format approved by the Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) shall be used to track each and every child during transportation. • The first and last name of each and every child received for transport shall be recorded on the passenger log. A sibling group shall not be listed as a single entry. • The driver of the vehicle shall be responsible for completing the log. • Pick-Up Procedures: • As each child is picked up and is seated on the vehicle the time the child was placed in the vehicle shall be recorded on the passenger log by the driver. • If the child is picked up at home, from a designated stop, or from a child care program, the parent/caregiver or other authorized person, such as a child care educator, must initial the passenger log indicating that the child was placed on the vehicle.

8. Pick-Up, Drop-Off and Post-Inspection of Vehicle Policy (cont’d): • Drop-Off Procedures: • The driver shall update the passenger log immediately upon the child being released from the vehicle and dropped off. The driver shall update the passenger log by: • Recording the time the child was dropped off; and • Initialing next to the time of drop off. • When the child is dropped off at a child care program, a designated stop, or at home, the authorized person, such as a child care educator, or parent/caregiver must initial the passenger log indicating the child was released to him/her.

9. Pick-Up, Drop-Off and Post-Inspection of Vehicle Policy (cont’d): • Inspection to Confirm that No Child is on the Vehicle: • Driver Responsibilities. Immediately upon dropping off the last child and to ensure that all children have been dropped off the driver shall: • Physically walk through the vehicle; • Inspect all seat surfaces, under all seats and in all compartments or recesses in the vehicle’s interior; • Sign the passenger log, with the driver’s full name and time, indicating that each and every child is unloaded; and • Give the passenger log to the monitor (e.g. an adult assigned to the vehicle to assist a specific child or supervise a group of children), or to the additional reviewer (e.g. an employee of the Transportation Provider), when there is no electronic vehicle monitoring device on the vehicle.

10. Pick-Up, Drop-Off and Post-Inspection of Vehicle Policy (cont’d): • Monitor or Additional Reviewer Responsibilities. A monitor who was also on the vehicle or another person designated by the Transportation Provider (“reviewer”) shall: • Physically walk through the vehicle, in addition to the walk through required of the driver; • Inspect all seat surfaces, under all seats and in all compartments or recesses in the vehicle’s interior, in addition to the inspection required of the driver; • Reconcile the passenger log with the Transportation Provider’s list of children assigned to that transit route to verify that each and every child is no longer on the vehicle. The monitor or reviewer shall then sign the passenger log with the monitor’s or reviewer’s full name and time; and • Immediately notify the Transportation Provider and the child care program of any discrepancies between the passenger log and the Transportation Provider’s list (e.g. child’s name appears on one list and not on the other, the number of children does not match, etc.).

11. Actions and Next Steps • Incorporated into Transportation Policy enacted on October 11, 2011; further clarifies existing attendance policy for drivers found at 606 CMR 7.13 and incorporates best practice • All EEC Licensed Providers notified on November 2, 2011 that Transportation Policy to go into effect December 1, 2011 • Based upon several questions from programs and providers, EEC to further review and clarify Parent Notification process for the field prior to 12/1/11 • Requires regulation amendment to clarify EEC Licensed Provider’s responsibility for child during transport – to be drafted for Board’s December 13, 2011 meeting

12. Provider Responsibility The Early Education and Care Licensed Provider shall be responsible for full compliance with transportation laws/policies, regardless of how transportation is provided. Next Step: • Requires regulation amendment to clarify EEC Licensed Provider’s responsibility for child during transport – to be drafted for Board’s December 13, 2011 meeting

13. Vehicle Monitoring All Transportation Providers shall ensure that vehicles designed to transport 6+ children shall be equipped with approved electronic vehicle monitoring devices that prompt staff to inspect. Vehicle monitoring devices are notrequired for vehicles that carry an assigned monitor, that only transport school aged children, unless the children are developmentally or physically disabled or on vehicles that are only used for occasional field trips or other similar trips. Next Steps: • Review of vehicle monitoring options, effectiveness, and affiliated costs has been undertaken by Policy and Fiscal Committees. • Regulation amendment to enforce post-trip inspection– to be drafted for Board’s December 13, 2011 meeting

14. Transportation Performance Standards: The Department shall develop customized transportation performance standards, based upon those created by the Human Service Transportation (HST) Office of EOHHS, to be incorporated into all contracts for transportation services. Standards must be adhered to by all Transportation Providers and are applicable to all Family Child Care Systems/Providers Next Steps: • Review of Transportation Performance Standards has been undertaken by Policy and Fiscal Committees. • Requires amendments to existing Income Eligible and Priority Population Contracts prior to December 30, 2011 • May require amendments to existing regulations - to be drafted for Board’s December 13, 2011 meeting

15. Proposed Contract Amendment and Regulation Promulgation Timetable