The Bureau of Child Development is responsible for protecting the health and safety of young children. This is done through four programs: Baby Watch Early Intervention Program, Child Care Licensing Program, Office of Home Visiting, and the State Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems Grant.
During the 2015 General Session, the Legislature appropriated for Fiscal Year 2016, $27,649,100 from all sources for Child Development. This is a 0.3 percent increase from Fiscal Year 2015 revised estimated amounts from all sources. The total includes $13,535,800 from the General/Education Funds, an increase of 0.9 percent from revised Fiscal Year 2015 estimates.
In addition to statewide compensation and internal service fund cost increases, the following appropriation adjustments were made during the 2015 General Session:
Baby Watch Early Intervention Program
- Target Population: Children from birth to age three with at least a moderate developmental delay or a diagnosed condition that has a high probability of resulting in a developmental delay.
- Services Provided: Multi-disciplinary evaluation, service coordination, specialty and therapy services such as nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, special instruction, and family support services.
- Delivery System: Contracted regional providers provide services statewide. As conditions for accepting Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Part C federal funds, the State and contracted providers must serve all children who meet the State-established eligibility criteria for the program. Parents pay a sliding scale fee for their children to receive services. The program bills Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program for eligible children.
Child Care Licensing Program
The Child Care Licensing Program regulates child care programs by: establishing and enforcing health and safety rules for child care programs, assisting providers in meeting the health and safety rules, and providing the public with accurate information about regulated child care. The Child Care Licensing Program inspects child care facilities to ensure compliance with licensing rules, investigates complaints against regulated providers, and provides training on the licensing rules. Child care licensing rules include requirements for the physical facility, personnel, emergency preparedness, supervision of children, child health and nutrition, injury prevention, and infection control.
The Program issues citations to a provider/facility for violations of licensing rules. For repeat violations of the same rule, the Program assesses a civil money penalty. The State uses these funds for training for child care providers.
The categories of providers regulated by the Bureau include Child Care Centers, Hourly Child Care Centers, Out of School Time Programs, Licensed Family Child Care (in-home), and Residential Certificate Care (in-home). In general anyone caring for five or more unrelated children must comply with licensing requirements. UCA 26-39 exempts from licensing requirements child care programs operating under the supervision of the following groups:
- Federal government
- Higher education
- Public education or programs located on the property of public education institutions
- Local governments
Office of Home Visiting
The Office of Home Visiting administers a federal grant that provides and supports voluntary home visits to at-risk expectant or new parents. Home visiting is an evidence-based prevention strategy intended to improve the health and well-being of at-risk women, children and families. Trained home visitors, nurses or social workers, provide regular home visits to provide information about prenatal care, infant care, child development and parenting skills, and connect parents to important resources in their community.
State Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems Grant
The Bureau administers the State Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems grant, which is funded with federal Title V funds, to improve the system of services for children from birth to age eight by coordinating efforts of statewide agencies and organizations to ensure children enter school healthy and ready to learn.
The monthly caseload is the number of child care facilities inspected.
COBI contains unaudited data as presented to the Legislature by state agencies at the time of publication. For audited financial data see the State of Utah's Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports.