OCFP Office of Child and Family Policy	Department of Children and Family Services
	Index No: 99-09	Issuance Date: April 2, 1999
	Origin of Request: Head Start Program
	Distribution: Licensing Staff, Administrative Staff, Office of Child and Family Policy (A,L,P)
	Key Words: 89 Ill. Adm. Code 407, Licensing Standards for Day Care Centers, Bus Transportation, Signing On and Off the Bus
	Approved by:

Interpretation

Applicable To: Licensed Day Care Centers

Policy Citation: 407.260(e) - The daily departure of children from the center shall be conducted in a way that protects each child’s physical and emotional well-being.

1) The staff shall refuse to release a child to any person, whether related or unrelated to the child, who has not been authorized by the parent(s) to receive the child. Persons not known to the staff shall be required to provide a driver=s license (with photo), a photo identification card issued by the Illinois Secretary of State or other photo identification to establish their identity before the child is released to them.

2) When a child is released to a person authorized on the contingency list, the center shall maintain a record of the person=s name and the date and time.

3) The time of each child’s departure from the center shall be noted on a daily departure log and initialed, signed or otherwise documented by the person to whom the child is released.

407.270(i) - The driver shall see that a responsible person, as designated by the child’s parents or guardian, is present to take charge of a child when delivered to his or her destination.

Question: Are parents and child care providers required to sign children on and off the bus that transports children to and from a licensed day care center?

Discussion: The intent of subsection 407.260(e) is to safeguard children and insure that they are released only to authorized individuals when they leave the facility. When transportation is provided by the licensee, it is sufficient to note on the departure log the time that the child(ren) were released to the care of the bus driver and/or bus driver aide.

When children are transported by the licensee, the provisions of Section 407.270 must be followed. Subsection 407.270(i) requires that the driver shall see that a responsible person, as designated by the child=s parents or guardian, is present to take charge of a child when delivered to his or her destination. The licensee is responsible for developing a policy to insure compliance with this requirement. The rule does not require that the responsible person sign the child on or off the bus.

Response: Parents, child care providers, and other responsible persons designated by the parent or guardian to whom children are to be released, are not required to sign children on and off the bus that transports children to and from the licensed day care center.