Virginia Law

A. The Virginia Department of Education-sponsored orientation course shall be completed within 90 calendar days of employment.

B. Staff shall complete orientation training in subsection C of this section prior to the staff member working alone with children and no later than seven days of the date of assuming job responsibilities.

C. Orientation training shall be appropriate to the age of the children in care and include all of the following facility specific topics:

1. Job responsibilities and to whom they report;

2. The policies and procedures listed in subsection D of this section, 8VAC20-780-420 A, and the standards in this chapter that relate to the staff member's responsibilities;

3. The center's playground safety procedures unless the staff member will have no responsibility for playground activities or equipment;

4. Recognizing child abuse and neglect and the legal requirements for reporting suspected child abuse as required by § 63.2-1509 of the Code of Virginia;

5. Confidential treatment of personal information about children in care and their families;

6. The center's policies and procedures on the administration of medication;

7. Emergency preparedness and response planning for emergencies resulting from a natural disaster or a human-caused event such as violence at a child care facility and the emergency preparedness plan as required by 8VAC20-780-550 A through K;

8. Prevention of sudden infant death syndrome and use of safe sleep practices;

9. Prevention of shaken baby syndrome and abusive head trauma, including procedures to cope with crying babies or distraught children;

10.Prevention of and response to emergencies due to food and other allergic reactions including:

a. Recognizing the symptoms of an allergic reaction;

b. Responding to allergic reactions;

c. Preventing exposure to the specific food and other substances to which the child is allergic; and

d. Preventing cross contamination; and

11. Prevention and control of disease.

D. Prior to working alone with children and within seven days of the first day of employment, staff shall be provided in writing with the center's information listed in 8VAC20-780-420 A and the following:

1. Procedures for supervising a child who may arrive after scheduled classes or activities including field trips have begun;

2. Procedures to confirm absence of a child when the child is scheduled to arrive from another program or from an agency responsible for transporting the child to the center;

3. Procedures for identifying where attending children are at all times, including procedures to ensure that all children are accounted for before leaving a field trip site and upon return to the center;

4. Procedures for action in case of lost or missing children, ill or injured children, medical emergencies, and general emergencies;

5. Policy for any administration of medication;

6. Emergency evacuation, relocation, shelter-in-place, and lockdown procedures; and

7. Precautions in transporting children, if applicable.

E. Within 30 days of the first day of employment, staff must complete orientation training in first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), as appropriate to the age of the children in care.

F. Before assuming job responsibilities, staff who work with children in therapeutic child day programs and special needs child day programs shall receive training in:

1. Standard precautions procedures;

2. Activity adaptations;

3. Medication administration;

4. Disabilities precautions and health issues; and

5. Appropriate intervention strategies.

G. Volunteers who work more than six hours per week shall receive training on the center's emergency procedures within the first week of volunteering.

H. In a cooperative preschool center that is organized, administered, and maintained by parents of children in care, parent volunteers, or other persons who participate and volunteer in a cooperative preschool center on behalf of a child attending such cooperative preschool center, including such volunteers who are counted in the staff-to-child ratios required in 8VAC20-780-340, shall complete four hours of training per year, and shall be exempt from orientation requirements applicable to staff of child day programs. This orientation exemption shall not apply to any parent volunteer or other person as referred to in this subsection if the cooperative preschool center has entered into a contract with the department or a local department to provide child care services funded by the Child Care and Development Block Grant.

I. Documentation of orientation training shall be kept by the center in a manner that allows for identification by individual staff member, is considered part of the staff member's record, and shall include:

1. Name of staff;

2. Training topics;

3. Training delivery method;

4. The entity or individual providing training; and

5. The date of training.