Illness Policy
Children may become sick during the day or show signs or symptoms of illness before arrival. We know how it goes! You may not send a sick child to the center with fever-reducing medicine if they have not been fever-free for a full 24 hours without the aid of fever-reducing medicine at home. If you keep your child at home, please notify your Center Administrator as soon as possible. If a child is kept at home due to a communicable illness, the sibling is not able to attend. Administrators reserve the right to make decisions on child attendance based on this sick policy.
Should your child become ill during their time at the center, the child will be removed from the classroom upon notice and kept in an area where there will be no direct contact between them and other children.
If a child is ill or shows symptoms of being ill, we will contact the parent/guardian to pick them up (or for the parent/guardian to keep their child home) if they show signs including, but not limited to:
Temperature of 100°F or more
Coughing
Skin rash
Diarrhea or vomiting
Evidence of lice infestation or nits
Staff will separate (within the classroom or office) and send home a child if any of the following are present:
Temperature of 100°F or more
Vomiting or diarrhea
Severe coughing
You will be contacted to pick up and remove the ill child from the center within one hour of notification. Children will not be able to return to the center until either a doctor’s note approves re-admittance, or the child has been symptom-free for up to 24 hours with no fever without fever-suppressing medicines.
In the event of a serious accident or illness, an ambulance will be called. To ensure your child’s safety, your Enrollment Agreement provides a record of the names, addresses, and phone numbers of the people you have authorized to pick up your child. We ask you to keep this information current and supply names and phone numbers for your child’s doctor and preferred hospital.
Our center will follow all protocols prescribed by the Health Department and DCY (Department of Children and Youth) as they pertain to pandemics, plagues, or any serious health concern. Because rules and regulations on these types of illnesses are continually evolving, please speak to your Center Administrator for updated policies.
Temporary Exclusion for Illnesses
To reduce the spread of illness and maintain the health of all children at the center, we may temporarily exclude your child from attending the center.
In general, an individual must be fever-free for up to 24 hours without the aid of fever-reducing medication to return. Please refer to the criteria below for the types of illnesses that we cannot support at the center and the criteria required to return. If you have any questions or need more information on a specific illness or criteria for return, please ask your Center Administrator.
We will ask that your child remain away from the center if they have an illness or symptom that prevents participation in routine daily program activities, including outdoor activities—or if your child has an illness that requires more individual care than our center staff members can provide without compromising the health, safety, and activities of the other children. For their protection, children who have not been immunized against certain childhood illnesses may be subject to longer periods of temporary exclusion from the center.
We may also ask you to keep your child at home if they have any other illness that local regulations require us to exclude from a group care setting. Unless our policy is more stringent, we use state childcare licensing regulations and health department regulations when making decisions about temporary exclusion.
In addition to the illnesses and procedures referenced here, we reserve the right to require healthcare provider clearance or make other updates to these policies as needed to help keep everyone in our centers safe.
Criteria to Return to the Center
Abdominal pain which is persistent and continues two or more hours — Return: When symptoms are no longer present
Boil, abscess, or cellulitis — Return: When lesion(s) are covered, and drainage is contained in covering/bandage
Chicken Pox/Varicella — Return: When all sores have dried and crusted, usually after six days
Conjunctivitis (eye discharge) or pink eye accompanied by a fever, behavioral changes, or a recommendation for exclusion from the health department — Return: When fever or behavior changes are no longer present, and symptoms of red, watery eyes are resolved
Coughing (severe) including Croup — Return: When symptoms are no longer present
COVID-19 (coronavirus) — Return: When symptoms are no longer present without medication for at least 48 hours (We will also refer to current Belmont County Health Department recommendations)
Cytomegalovirus accompanied by fever — Return: When fever has been resolved
Diarrhea, including conditions with diarrhea symptoms (Campylobacter, Yersinia, Giardiasis, Rotavirus) — Return: When the stool of diapered children is contained by the diaper (even if the stools remain loose), and when toilet-trained children do not have toileting accidents OR when stool frequency has reduced to fewer than two stools above normal for that child (even if stools remain loose)
Diarrhea if bloody or caused by Cryptosporidium — Return: Health Care Provider clearance required
Diphtheria — Return: Health Care Provider clearance required
E-coli (0157:H7) — Return: Health Care Provider and Public Health Authority clearance required
Fever ≥ 100°F (armpit or ear) accompanied by signs or symptoms of illness or behavior change (We will follow state licensing and health department requirements if fever is defined differently.) — Return: When fever is below 100°F (armpit or ear) for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medicines
Fifth Disease (Human Parvovirus) accompanied by fever or behavior change or the child has an underlying blood disorder, such as sickle cell disease, or compromised immune system. Children with these conditions may shed large amounts of virus and may appear ill. — Return: When symptoms are no longer present
Hand-Foot-and-Mouth Disease (Coxsackievirus) accompanied by mouth ulcers or blisters and no control of drooling or fever or behavior change — Return: When the child has stopped drooling and does not have exposed open sores
Head Lice/Nits or other infestation — Return: When all signs of lice/nits or other infestations are absent
Hepatitis A virus — Return: Health Care Provider clearance required
Hepatitis B virus — Return: Health Care Provider clearance required and skin lesions, if any, are dry or able to be completely covered by a bandage
Herpes Simplex accompanied by mouth ulcers or blisters and no control of drooling or fever or behavior change — Return: When the child has stopped drooling and does not have exposed open sores
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV/AIDS) — Return: Health Care Provider clearance required and skin lesions, if any, are dry or able to be completely covered by a bandage
Impetigo — Return: When 24 hours have passed since topical, oral, or other systemic antibiotics were started, if the sores can be kept clean and dry and if they can be completely covered
Influenza/Flu (including H1N1 and H5N1) accompanied with fever — Return: Child’s fever and signs of fever must be resolved for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medications
Lyme Disease (or other tick-borne diseases) accompanied by fever — Return: When fever is no longer present
Measles — Return: Health Care Provider clearance required
Meningitis (bacterial or viral) — Return: Health Care Provider clearance required
Mononucleosis accompanied by fever and/or behavior change — Return: When symptoms are no longer present
MRSA (Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) — Return: Health Care Provider clearance required
Mumps — Return: Health Care Provider clearance required
Pertussis (whooping cough) — Return: Health Care Provider clearance required
Pneumonia if accompanied by fever, severe coughing, rapid breathing, or behavior change — Return: When fever is no longer present
Ringworm (Tinea) — Return: After treatment has been started
Roseola (Human Herpesvirus 6) accompanied by fever — Return: When fever is no longer present
Rubella — Return: Health Care Provider clearance required
Salmonella — Return: Health Care Provider clearance required
Scabies — Return: After treatment has been completed
Shigella — Return: Health Care Provider clearance required
Strep Throat or other streptococcal infection — Return: 24 hours after initial antibiotic treatment and when fever is no longer present
Tuberculosis — Return: Health Care Provider clearance required
Vomiting more than two times in a 24-hour period or accompanied by fever, green or bloody vomit, no urine output in eight hours, recent history of head injury or looks/acts very ill — Return: When symptoms are no longer present
No Nit Policy
Due to the easy spread of head lice in a childcare setting, we have a strict “No Nit” policy: any child who gets head lice may not return to the center until a doctor has signed off that the child has “No Nits” in their hair.
Contagious Disease Reporting
We value your child’s health and recognize that preventing the spread of infectious diseases is a very important part of quality childcare. Likewise, we need your help to keep the other children safe. If your child has a contagious disease, parents must inform the center within 24 hours or the next business day after a child or any member of their immediate household has developed any reportable communicable disease, as defined by the state board of health—except for life-threatening diseases, which must be reported immediately. We will:
Send the child home immediately if they haven’t already been sent home.
Document the evaluation and treatment by the child’s health care provider (to be turned in).
Notify the families of other children in our center and staff members.
Notify the local health authorities (i.e., the Health Department).
We will keep you informed of any instances of contagious diseases affecting children who may have had direct exposure at the center and will immediately report such diseases to the local health authorities where required by law. Written health care provider clearance is required where noted in the criteria above. Additionally, we may require provider clearance for illnesses at our discretion.
Dental Emergencies
In cases of dental emergencies, first aid will be administered, and the tooth will be placed in fresh milk or a tooth solution approved by the Department of Job and Family Services. A cold compress will be applied to calm and stop bleeding. Gauze may be used if necessary to stop bleeding. The child’s parent/guardian will be notified by phone, and an incident report will be filled out to be signed by the custodial parent, with a copy given.
