The Child Care Council has received information from the New York State Office of Children and Family Services officially notifying us that the implementation date for the medication regulations has been extended until January 31, 2005. This change will grant providers additional time to come into compliance with the regulations. According to the Office of Children and Family Services, “This legislation was signed into law with the clear expectation that child care providers would continue to work diligently to implement these new provisions and that OCFS will continue to work aggressively to assist providers in meeting these new standards.”

The Cortland County Health Department has offered numerous opportunities for providers to attend MAT (Medication Administration Training). Many child care providers took advantage of these opportunities and are currently working with Health Care Consultants to complete their health care plans. However, many MAT sessions had to be cancelled due to lack of participation.

This extension will not help individuals who decide to wait until November or December to attend training. A few things to remember are, following the training you must develop your health care plan and have it reviewed and signed by a consultant, and your regional office must also approve your plan. As we all know this takes time, so we strongly urge providers to attend MAT as soon as possible.

The Child Care Council is currently working with trainers on scheduling additional MAT sessions We hope to start training again in May. Remember, in addition to MAT, First Aid & CPR are requirements for administering medications in your programs. The American Red Cross of Cortland County still has grants available for child care providers; however, the grant must be used by September, and each class requires a minimum number of participants. You can call the Red Cross at (607) 753-1182 for more information.