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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>New Regulations re: Nursery Care at Church
MOM OF 4 12:24 PM 04-03-2015
So, I now work in my church's nursery during services. There are very few kids there, however, the state has implemented a "safety first" rule that talks about how there MUST be two caregivers at ALL times in the nursery. Now, the nursery is fully accessible to parents and it used to be parents could sit in with their child. Now, in order to visit with their child, the parent MUST sign them in/out. WHICH IS THE WORST THING EVER. Parents will bring them back and each time they sign out/bring back it's HORRIBLE. We have only under 5's in care. Service is about 1 1/2 hr, with choir practice before and adult sunday school after, so a total of about 4 hours per week is when staff is needed.
Sometimes we are full, sometimes we have one child. The rules state that an attendant must be in nursery at ALL times WITH another attendant regardless of number of kids. When I took on the job, it was explained this was due to liablity reasons and potential for lawsuit.

Most EVERY other church nursery I have ever been to is ALL volunteer and do not have the same policies, and I can't find info on our state website. I just see it as overkill to pay 2 nursery workers almost $10 per hour each for when there is only one or two children. I could take EIGHT at home BY MYSELF.

Anyone else ever see something like this either in a nursery setting, regular daycare or even home settings now? Thanks! :-)
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Heidi 12:30 PM 04-03-2015
In WI, these situations are totally exempt because the parents remain on the premises. Sound like a major PITA!
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jenboo 02:44 PM 04-03-2015
Originally Posted by Heidi:
In WI, these situations are totally exempt because the parents remain on the premises. Sound like a major PITA!

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Thriftylady 05:12 PM 04-03-2015
I know things have changed in our church in the last few years because of insurance requirements, not the state. Our church nursery workers are volunteers, but the church now has to do background checks and all that on everyone who does work in the nursery. I thought of volunteering, but it was a ream of paperwork.
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originalkat 06:56 PM 04-05-2015
In KS church nurseries are exempt from licensing regs.
It seems silly what the church is doing, but if you are getting paid then what is the problem?
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Unregistered 05:10 PM 08-27-2015
In Kansas you better check being exempt again. In 1985 the Kansas Supreme Court ruled in Pringle vs Heritage Baptist Temple a church is not exempt from state regulations.
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Thriftylady 05:54 PM 08-27-2015
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
In Kansas you better check being exempt again. In 1985 the Kansas Supreme Court ruled in Pringle vs Heritage Baptist Temple a church is not exempt from state regulations.
In 1985 I worked in our church nursery in KS. I was paid and so were all the other workers. We had a director but I don't know much more than that.
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Play Care 05:35 AM 08-28-2015
I'm confused, are we talking about child care during Sunday service? Or are we talking about a church run child care that operates M-F during typical business hours?

I always thought that in the former it was more like a casual babysitting situation, as parents and other adults are still in site. It's also usually a volunteer situation (usually the moms) taking turns covering the nursery. So your church now pays people rather than have its congregants cover? Maybe the paid part is why the regulations?

In the latter, they would absolutely have to follow state regs.
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Sugaree 07:07 AM 08-28-2015
In AL church affiliated daycares, even ones that operate M-F during regular business hours are exempt from a lot of state regulations. Which actually explains why there are dozens of religious daycares available, but only 2 that are more academically oriented.
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mom2many 08:53 AM 08-28-2015
I was the coordinator in the one year class at our church for many years. We were strictly on a volunteer basis, but always had two adults in the classroom at all times.
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