The Child and Family Network Centers is strongly opposed to the Virginia Department of Education’s proposed amendments to 8VAC20-780 (Standards for Licensed Child Day Centers) and 8VAC20-790 (Child Care Program) for the reasons stated below. At the very least, this new regulatory requirement should not be fast tracked as it significantly affects the health and safety of our youngest Virginians. 

The Child and Family Network Centers (CFNC) is a nonprofit organization located in Alexandria, Virginia that operates 8 preschool classrooms in the City of Alexandria. We provide free, high quality early education to under resourced children and their families in their own neighborhoods. Each year, we serve 139 three and four year olds and their families. Now entering our 41st year, CFNC is deeply embedded in the neighborhoods we serve and are able to make our services free for familes through the Virginia Preschool Initiative as well as the child subsidy program. All 8 of our classrooms are accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and we participate in Virginia’s VQB5 program.

While the proposed changes are being advanced in response to new state law (§22.1-289.059 of the Code of Virginia) and are intended to strengthen emergency response capacity in cases of anaphylaxis, as they may deeply affect the health and safety of our youngest Virginians, a more careful consideration is required. These changes should not be fast tracked nor adopted as written. 

CFNC is strongly opposed to these amendments as written because they place an unfair and unsafe burden on childcare providers.

Summary of What the Proposed Amendments Require

If adopted, the amendments to 8VAC20-780 and 8VAC20-790 would require:

Licensed Child Day Centers to:

• Maintain an appropriate weight-based stock dosage of epinephrine, stored in a locked or otherwise inaccessible container.

• Ensure that at least one trained and authorized individual — a school nurse, a center employee, or a local health department employee — has continuous access to this medication during all operating hours.

• Implement policies outlining the possession, storage, and administration of epinephrine for any child believed to be experiencing an anaphylactic reaction.

REASONS FOR OPPOSITION

1. Increased Health and Safety Risk: Epinephrine is currently available by prescription and is intended for use ONLY by children who have a recognized allergy significant enough to cause anaphylactic reaction. It is not, nor has it ever been, available or intended for general use in any situation for any child. According to one pediatrician, providing epinephrine to a child who does not have a prescription for it could have disastrous consequences. Childcare providers are not doctors or nurses and should not be asked to substitute their judgement for those professionals.

2. Significant New Costs for Childcare Providers: Requiring providers to obtain and maintain weight-based epinephrine — costing $290 to $850 per device — creates a sizeable new financial obligation. Childcare programs already face rising operating costs, workforce shortages, and constrained budgets; absorbing this expense is unrealistic for many. 

CFNC has been protecting children’s health and well-being for over 41 years and these proposed regulations are not only overly burdensome to our work, but they may result in significant health and safety risks to our children.

For this reason, the Child and Family Network Centers is strongly opposed to these proposed amendments to Virginia’s childcare regulations.

I respectfully urge the Virginia Department of Education to reconsider implementation of these amendments and to engage childcare providers, medical professionals, and families in crafting a more workable policy solution.

Thank you for the opportunity to comment.

Submitted by Barbara McLaughlin, Executive Director for the Child and Family Network Centers