Illness Guidelines
Illness Guidelines •
Exclusion of Ill Children •
Administration of Medication
Our responsibilities for providing group child care include taking special care to limit the spread of illness. While we cannot prevent all illness, we can reduce its incidence and severity. You can help us by encouraging your child's good hygiene habits and keeping your child at home if he or she shows signs of possible illness. These guidelines establish a framework for both staff and families to determine if a child is well enough to be in group care.
USC Child Care Programs Illness Guidelines are based on the American Academy of Pediatrics Exclusion of Ill Children Criteria and were reviewed by the Child Care Programs consultant, Dr. Pamela Schaff, Director, Introduction to Clinical Medicine, Department of Family Medicine at USC.
Handwashing
Frequent and proper hand washing prevents the spread of many germs. Both staff and children are instructed in proper hand washing procedures. Parents, teachers and children must always wash their hands before and after eating, after using the toilet or diapering and after coming in contact with bodily fluids such as mucus, blood or vomit. Parents and staff are to wash hands before and after joining children's activities.
Daily Admission
Before you sign your child in each morning, you must talk with one of the staff from your child's program. Let the staff know about any changes in behavior, eating or sleeping patterns. Teachers are to check for obvious signs of illness such as drainage from eyes, vomiting, diarrhea or severe coughing. In accordance with California licensing requirements, we cannot accept children into the program who exhibit any obvious signs or symptoms of illness.
How to Decide If You Need to Keep Your Child at Home
We do not have facilities or staff to provide care for sick children. If your child is ill or becomes ill, he or she will not be allowed to check in or you will be contacted and must immediately make arrangements to pick up your child (within 30 minutes). We know that you will usually be the first one to observe any signs of illness in your child and urge you to help us look out for the welfare of all children attending the program by keeping your child home if you believe he or she shows signs of possible illness. We use the guidelines below to determine if your child is ill and should be excluded from attendance. You are welcome to call us with any questions about whether or not your child should attend. Please keep in mind that if a child is too ill to participate in basic activities, including outside play, the child is too ill to be at the center.
Please call the program as soon as you know your child will be absent due to illness.
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