Procedures for Child Care Regulation Waivers

The Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) has released Announcement C-21-01 Waiver of Child Care Facility Regulations to inform child care center, group child care home, and family child care home operators of the procedures for requesting a waiver of the Department of Human Services (DHS) regulations.

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A waiver is a written statement from DHS that excuses a child care operator from meeting a specific regulation and substitutes another standard that the operator must meet. The substituted standard has the same legal effect as the regulatory standard.

Waivers can be submitted for some accreditation, physical site, equipment, and program requirements. Granting a waiver is discretionary. A waiver is granted to a specific operator for a specific child care facility location and cannot be transferred to a different operator or location. A waiver is not a substitute for correcting regulatory noncompliance cited as the result of an inspection.

In the announcement, OCDEL outlines details about:

• Operator Responsibilities

• Inspection While Waiver Request is Pending

• Monitoring Requirements

• Operator’s Right of Appeal

• Next Steps

For details, see Announcement C-21-01 Waiver of Child Care Facility Regulations.