Bureau of Certification eNewsletter, 1st Quarter 2026

Announcement C-26-01, Clarification of program licensure requirements pursuant to 55 Pa Code Chapters 3270; 3280; 3290; 20; and Articles IX and X of the Human Services Code 62 P.S. §§ 901—922 and 1001—1088.

Registration of your business with the Department of State.

Certification Impact Project – The Pennsylvania Key

Confluence Podcast Episode #9 – Facility File Requirement Fundamentals: Understanding What’s Required and Why

• File Requirements for Facility Person(s) in a Certified Child Care Facility
  • Child Care Staff Data Center Renewal Worksheet
  • Group Child Care Staff Data Worksheet
  • Family Child Care Home Data Worksheet

• Provider tip sheets can be found at the bottom of the Child Care Regulations page of the Commonwealth’s website

Confluence Podcast Episode #10 – Putting Our Eyes on Supervision: It’s Essential

Confluence Podcast Episode #11 – Getting to Know OCDEL’s Bureau Directors, Because Connection is Key to Our Work!

If your smoke detector is on one of the lists of those recalled (below), you must purchase a new one to replace it.  Retain proof of purchase for an interconnected alarm.

• LShome Photoelectric Smoke Detector Fire Alarms Recalled Due Failure to Warn During Fire Posing Serious Injury or Death Hazard; Sold Exclusively on Amazon.com by TIANJINSHIHAOWEIXINSHENGJIDIANANZHUANGGONGCHENG | CPSC.gov
• Apollo America Recalls Combination Smoke and Carbon Monoxide (CO) Detectors Due to Failure to Alert Consumers to a Fire or Carbon Monoxide Leak; Risk of Serious Injury or Death; Sold Exclusively by Vivint | CPSC.gov
• Kidde Recalls TruSense Smoke Alarms and TrueSense Smoke and – Consumer Reports

From the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Bureau of Epidemiology: Measles is a very contagious virus that spreads through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Cases have been reported in Pennsylvania, so child care operators should remain alert. 

Access the resources on measles for child care operators and parents or guardians at Measles Update: Resources for Child Care Providers.

A tick is an arthropod, like a spider. Ticks have 8 legs, are very small, and attach to a person or animal to suck blood. In Pennsylvania, many ticks carry diseases. Ticks can be found anywhere: outdoors in areas with long grasses and weeds, leaf piles, the woods, and even in your own yard. [Reference: health.pa.gov/ticks]

It is important to remove a tick as soon as the tick is found embedded in the skin. The longer time a tick is attached to a child or adult increases the risk of Lyme disease transmission.

How to remove a tick

• Use tweezers and grasp the tick close to the skin (on its head).
• Hold the tweezers sideways next to the skin surface.
• Pull the tick straight upward without twisting or crushing it.
• Maintain a steady pressure until it releases its grip.
• If you don’t have tweezers, you can use your fingers.
• Not helpful: Covering the tick with petroleum jelly or nail polish doesn’t work. Neither does rubbing alcohol or a soapy cotton ball. Touching the tick with a hot or cold object also doesn’t work.

If the tick’s head breaks off in the skin during removal

• Remove any large parts.
• Clean the skin with rubbing alcohol.
• Use clean tweezers to uncover the head and scrape it off.
• If the tick is so tiny that tweezers or fingers won’t work, use the edge of a credit card to scrape it off the skin
• If a small piece of the head remains, the skin will slowly shed it.

After you’ve removed a tick, it’s important to:

• Wash the wound and your hands with soap and water after removal. This helps to prevent catching any disease carried by the tick.
• Inform the parent or guardian that you have removed a tick from the child. Alert them to watch the bite area for appearance of a rash. If a rash appears, or the child becomes ill, the child needs medical care.

Tick bite symptoms

Tick bites normally don’t itch or hurt. That’s often why they may not be noticed. If the tick transferred a disease, a rash will occur. It will appear in the next 2 to 4 weeks.

Contact a healthcare provider if:

• You tried and can’t remove the tick
• Fever or rash happens in the next 4 weeks
• Tick bite starts to look infected
• You think the child needs to be seen
• The child becomes worse

Prevention of tick bites

Perform daily tick checks after outdoor play and encourage families to check again at home. Use light clothing so ticks can be spotted, tuck socks into pants, avoid tall grass, and stay on clear paths outdoors.

PA Department of Health Resources

• Tick and Lyme Educational Materials:
  • Educational Materials | Department of Health | Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
  • Tick Myths vs Facts Poster, Tick Myths vs Facts Poster (Spanish)
  • Schools and Camps | Department of Health | Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
• Tick Removal Poster:
  • Health Room Tick Removal Reporting Form | PA Department of Health

A child care operator needs to use their best judgment on what they think they are capable of, with the child’s safety coming first. The parent should be notified at the time of discovery of an embedded tick. The child care operator can work with the parent to determine removal or next steps. (As a reminder, an incident report must be completed and provided to the parent on the day of the incident.)  

It is recommended that a tick is removed by the child care provider, the parent, or by a medical professional as soon as possible on the day of discovery.

Childcare operators may request a FREE tick puller from the Pennsylvania Department of Health by reaching out to RA-RA-DHVBDmaterials@pa.gov.

In this video you will review the regulatory requirements surrounding water activity as outlined under 55 Pa. Code §§ 3270.115, 3280.115, and 3290.115. This vodcast does not satisfy the requirements for water safety instruction outlined in 55 Pa. Code §§ 3270.115(a)(8), 3280.115(a)(8), and 3290.115(a)(8).