Lexie's Law

• Lexie's Law is the end result of a long campaigning process by Bryan and Kim Engelman and Steve and Alecia Patrick, whose daughters died as a result of injuries received at in-home day care facilities. The girls, both younger than 2, died in 2004. One had been pinned between a support beam and a playpen, and the other strangled on a fence separating babies from toddlers.
  
  The law provides for regular training and inspections of in-home day care programs. It does away with the category of "registered in-home day care," and it allows only for "licensed day care homes."
  
  

Fees

• If you operate an in-home day care, be prepared to pay increased fees as a result of Lexie's Law. If you are operate a "registered family day care" you must either stop practicing child care in your home or change it to a licensed day care home. Instead of paying $5 to become registered, each in-home day care providers will need to pay $75 to the state as part of the process of becoming licensed day care homes.
  
  Late fees are assessed if a day care provider fails to renew his license within 30 days of expiration. The fees will finance annual inspections by the state of every licensed day care home.
  
  

Training

• Lexie's Law requires all in-home day care providers to complete 15 hours of initial training before becoming licensed. The training includes first aid, nutrition, hygiene, proper hand washing, sudden infant death syndrome, safe sleep practices and early childhood development basics. The training also provides instruction in KDHE's regulations, and information about running a day care in a home as a business.
  
  

Inspections

• Lexie's Law provides for the creation of an online database maintained by the KDHE to post in a public forum, information about licensed in home day care providers including annual inspection results, name and contact information for the owner, as well as the compliance history for each in-home day care. A major provision of the bill is the requirement of an annual inspection for every licensed in-home day care. Be prepared to answer questions from the inspector about your daily routine such as when and where infants under your care nap, to give a detailed explanation of your napping practices, to explain how the activities you offer toddlers differ from those you provide for infants, what you do with the children when you take them outside, and where the children are while you prepare lunch.
  
  Gather your files on the children you watch as well as any and all adults that work in your home with the children. Be prepared to show medical records, health assessments, immunizations, emergency medical release forms, and any "critical incident" forms you have on file for the children you watch. Show the inspector your health assessments, records of TB skin tests for everyone older than 16 in the home, and first aid and CPR initial and renewal documentation information on yourself and any other adult employee in the home. Provide your license information with Kansas, your Fire Life Safety Agreement, Disaster Plans, Emergency Numbers and Diapering Procedures paperwork to the inspector.
  
  Show inspectors additional paperwork that you keep on the children you watch such as your written discipline policy, well-child health information, vehicle records if you transport children, fire and tornado drills, emergency plans and pet immunizations if there are pets in your home.