Serious Occurrence Policy

In the case of allegations of abuse or unverified complaints, the Notification Form will be posted unless otherwise instructed by the MED.

Guidelines to be followed:

  1. No identifying information will be included in the Notification Form, e.g. child name; staff name; age or birth date of child, age group or room.
  2. Notification Form will be posted on the Parent Information Board.
  3. Notification Form will be updated as additional actions or investigations occurs.
  4. Notification Form will be posted for a minimum of 10 business days. If the form is updated with additional information, the notification form remains posted for 10 days from date of update.
  5. The Centre will retain the Serious Occurrence Notification Form for at least 3 years from the date of occurrence.
  6. Completed Notification Forms will be made available for current and prospective parents, licensing specialist and children’s services staff upon request.

Allegations of Abuse

The person who has the reasonable grounds to suspect that a child is, or may be, in need of protection MUST make the report directly to a Children’s Aid society no matter. The person must not rely on anyone else to report on his/her behalf. Kids Come First requires that the staff inform the supervisor/Executive Director/Designate after a call has been made.

If allegations of abuse are about an incident at the Centre or involves an employee of the Centre; the Executive Director or designate will immediately contact the Board of Directors and the MED Program Advisor. If the allegation is about the Executive Director, the person must contact the Board of Directors who will contact the MED Program Advisor. In the event s/he is not available, KCF will contact the following people:

  • Emergency on Call Number
  • Area Manager
  • Regional Director

Forms will include clear and concise information regarding whether the CPA has conducted an investigation into the report, if the CPA has or has not verified the allegation, if the operator has taken action other than the directions given by the CPA and if applicable, if Kids Come First has addressed any associated licensing non-compliances identified by the Ministry. Staff who are unsure about what to post in a Serious Occurrence Notification Form in regards to situations or allegations of abuse are encouraged to contact the MED regional office for further clarification.

COMPLAINTS FROM PARENTS REGARDING THE OPERATIONAL, PHYSICAL AND SAFETY STANDARDS

Kids Come First is responsible for managing complaints from Parents regarding any operational, physical and safety standards. Kids Come First has a conflict resolution policy that provides for a transparent procedure, open discussion and ensuring that concerns are addressed in a timely manner. The intention is to provide support to families and to help develop positive relationships with all parents.

For complaints that are serious in nature, the Executive Director or designate may forward the complaint to the Board of Directors and/or the MED Program Advisor

COVID-19 Related Serious Occurrence Reporting Requirements

In the event that KCF voluntary closes or is ordered to close a program room by Public Health due to COVID-19 cases, it is not reportable unless the whole Centre is closed. A serious occurrence will be submitted in the Child Care Licensing System, under the category of “Unplanned Disruption of Service”.  The Serious Occurrence will be updated in CCLS if there is a change from Voluntary closure to Public Health ordered closures or vice versa.

A Serious Occurrence is not required when a child care Centre closes a program room but not the entire Centre.

A Serious Occurrence notification form is required to be posted as indicated in the CCEYA, unless the local public health unit advises otherwise 

Serious Occurrences Notification Form

Name of the child care centre or private-home day care agency.

Date:

Date that the Serious Occurrence Notification Form is posted on site.

Date of Occurrence:

Date that the serious occurrence happened.

Type:

Type of serious occurrence. Kids Come First will use one of the following terms:

* Death of a child

* Life threatening injury caused by service provider

* Life threatening injury – accidental

* Life threatening injury – self-inflicted/unexplained

* Alleged abuse/mistreatment

* Missing child or temporarily unsupervised

* Disaster on the premises or unplanned disruption of the normal operation of the child care that poses a risk to the health, safety or wellbeing of the children receiving care.  

* Abuse, neglect or an allegation of abuse or neglect while child receives child care  

Description of Occurrence:

Kids Come First will provide a one sentence description of the occurrence. E.g.

·Serious injury caused by service provider:

    A child was seriously injured and lost consciousness when a staff tripped and knocked over a child.  

· Serious injury – accidental:

    A child was injured while running in the playground and broke his arm. A bone from his arm was protruding.

·  Alleged abuse/mistreatment:

            A staff member was alleged to have abused a child while participating in the child care program.

· Missing child:

A child was left on the playground unsupervised at the end of outdoor play.

A child left the centre and was found later at home.           

· Disaster on the premises

      Smoke was observed coming from the furnace room.

Action Taken by

Operator / Outcome:

(add update if applicable)

Kids Come First will describe the action taken by the staff. We will include the long term plans and additional outcomes to minimize recurrence of the occurrence, e.g. behaviour management training.

Eg:

·  KCF sought medical attention for the child’s injury.

· The child was transported to hospital by ambulance, treated and released that day.

· Behaviour management monitoring will be conducted each month.

· CAS was contacted.

 

If an update is made to add additional actions taken/outcomes, the operator will indicate the date of the update.

Signature:

The operator or designate (e.g. the child care centre supervisor) signs the Serious Occurrence Notification Form.

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Updated January 06, 2023