Caring for children at home: the family care home

It is one of the establishment types licensed by the Department of the Family under Act 173-2016 and Regulation No. 8860. Unlike a centre, the service is carried out in a family’s home and the person the licence is granted to is responsible for direct service to the children. A care home must meet the general provisions of Article 12 of the regulation, as applicable, plus Article 15’s own requirements.

You need a licence if you will regularly care for children above the threshold the regulation itself excepts: someone caring for one or two children, or caring for children related to them by blood or affinity to the third degree, up to a maximum of five related children in their care, needs no licence. Above that, you do. The person the licence is granted to must be twenty-one or older, have knowledge of child care, development and learning by stage, and be — along with the other family members — a person of good reputation and moral solvency, accepted in the community.

• Not exceeding the maximum of six (6) children not related by blood to the family, counting within that maximum the children aged twelve (12) or under with family ties living in the home.Verified against the official source
• That the person the licence is granted to be twenty-one (21) or older and be responsible for direct service to the children.Verified against the official source
• Carrying out a social study evidencing the home’s capacity to offer the services, considering each family member’s individual functioning and interfamily relations.Verified against the official source
• That all household members consent in writing to the home being used as a care resource for children.Verified against the official source
• Completing, at licence renewal, the Basic Competencies Training Course described in Section 12.3 of the regulation.Verified against the official source

• An annual health certificate, a negative criminal-record certificate every six months, a SICHDe certification and the annual certifications from the sexual-offence registries and ADFAN’s Central Registry.
• An annual negative ASUME certification, a tax-filing certification with a copy of the return — the regulation asks care and foster homes for it expressly — and a Nutrition Assistance Programme participation certification.
• Three personal reference letters with the signer’s name, address and telephone: one from the last job and two from neighbours not related by blood or affinity. The regulation applies this requirement only to foster and care homes.
• A current First Aid and CPR course and evidence of academic preparation and training taken.
• Written authorisation from the parent, guardian or holder of parental authority to arrange the child’s medical services in emergencies and to administer medication.

1. 1

   Step 1: The count of six children

   The regulation defines a care home as a family’s home that regularly cares for a maximum of six children not related by blood to that family, during part of the twenty-four hours of the day. And it adds the sentence to read twice: children aged twelve or under with family ties living in the home are included in the maximum capacity. Your own small children take up places. If two children aged twelve or under live with you, the home can only take four more. The regulation also clarifies that a care home may belong to a single person: no couple or large family is needed.

2. 2

   Step 2: When no licence is needed

   The ban on operating without a licence has an exception written into the regulation itself: it excepts anyone caring for one or two children, and people caring for children related to them by blood or affinity to the third degree, up to a maximum of five related children in their care. Outside those two cases, no natural or legal person, private or public, may operate or maintain a care establishment without a Department licence.

3. 3

   Step 3: The social study and the household’s consent

   Two Article 15 requirements are specific to this type and do not exist for a centre. The first is a social study evidencing the care home’s capacity to offer the child care, development and learning services meeting their welfare, safety and biopsychosocial needs; the study must consider each family member’s individual functioning and interfamily relations. The second is that all household members must consent in writing to the home being used as a care resource for children. It is not only your decision: it is the household’s.

4. 4

   Step 4: Who can be the operator

   The service is carried out in a family’s home, and the person the licence is granted to is responsible for direct service to the children and must be twenty-one or older. The regulation also asks for knowledge of child care, development and learning by developmental stage, and demonstrated capacity to solve the household’s daily problems and those relating to the child’s needs. The operator and the other family members must have good reputation and moral solvency plus acceptance in the community, and be capable of showing affection to children and understanding of their needs, with flexibility to give them the attention they need.

5. 5

   Step 5: The house: what it must have

   The home must be accessible to community resources and public transport, and will have a living room, dining room, bedrooms and a sanitary service. It will have insect screens on its windows and exterior doors. Homes on upper floors must have equipment — railings, gates and the like — guaranteeing the children’s safety. The sanitary service will be equipped with a shower, washbasin and toilet in good condition.

6. 6

   Step 6: Rest, play and the foot of separation

   There will be mats, playpens or cots according to the child’s age and needs, for rest, keeping one foot of separation between them, covered in fabric and kept clean and sanitised in a suitable area. Play equipment and development and learning materials will be safe and appropriate to the children’s ages, developmental stages and interests; play material will be varied and in sufficient quantity for the whole enrolment, and kept clean and sanitised in a safe place. Personal-use items are provided by the parent or guardian, properly labelled with the child’s name.

7. 7

   Step 7: Water, power and the emergency generator

   Here is a very Puerto Rican requirement. The home must have a potable running-water system and electricity in each of its service areas as applicable; hot and ambient-temperature water in the laundry area, showers, washbasins and kitchen; water reserve devices to supply the home’s needs; and an emergency generator in homes with frequent power-service interruption problems. That last line depends on where you live, and is worth budgeting for before applying.

8. 8

   Step 8: The food

   The enrolment will be given three meals daily — breakfast, lunch and dinner, as applicable — plus snacks between meals, and the operator will present a balanced menu using the nutritional guidelines of an authorised entity, public or private. The quantity, texture and quality of food will match age and nutritional needs, considering food type and size by age to prevent choking. Liquids will be provided daily, especially potable water, with measures so children have easy access to water at all times. If parents choose formula for infants, strict handling and sterilisation measures will be followed, preparing it per the manufacturer’s and health professional’s instructions. And cleaning materials and other chemicals will be kept separate from food and out of minors’ reach.

9. 9

   Step 9: The licence, renewal and the course

   The licence is displayed in a place visible to the public, lasts two years and is not transferable: it is granted only for the premises and the person named in the application. Renewal is requested sixty calendar days before expiry. And at renewal the operator must complete the Basic Competencies Training Course: care homes, foster homes, group homes and institutions take that route, not the CDA route that applies to centres. Both the course and the CDA must be given by entities duly authorised by the Department.

10. 10

    Step 10: If you will receive ACUDEN funds

    Section 15.12 is short and clear: all homes receiving Child Care Programme funds, attached to ACUDEN, must comply with all applicable regulation and legislation in force. Further, FBI fingerprint verification applies to establishments receiving federal funding; the regulation exempts from that requirement private care homes that do not benefit from federal funds.

At the Department of the Family’s Licensing Office for the area where you will offer the service. That is where the prior orientation on Act 173-2016 and the regulation is requested, and where the application is filed, at least sixty calendar days before you plan to start. The institutional-maltreatment orientation is given by ADFAN’s Institutional Child Maltreatment and Neglect Unit at the corresponding Regional Office.

• Counting six places without subtracting your own children aged twelve or under living in the house.
• Believing a family is required: the regulation says a care home may belong to a single person.
• Filing for a licence to care for two nephews: the exception covers up to five relatives to the third degree.
• Forgetting the written consent of all household members.
• Not budgeting for an emergency generator where power fails often in the area.
• Placing cots or mats together: the regulation requires one foot of separation.
• Leaving the criminal-record certificate to once a year: it must be presented at least every six months.
• Relying on Regulation 6474 of 2002, repealed by this regulation.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Administración para el Cuidado y Desarrollo Integral de la Niñez (ACUDEN)

  ACUDEN

  docs.pr.gov

• Administration for the Integral Care and Development of Childhood

  acuden

  www.acuden.pr.gov