A: 

• Programs which are currently at a STAR 1 have a 6 month transition period from date of hire for new staff to fulfill STAR 1 criteria in order to keep their current STAR level.
• Programs which are currently at a STAR 2 have the 6 months from date of hire for new staff to fulfill STAR 1 criteria and 9 months from date of hire to fulfill STAR 2 criteria (an additional 3 months beyond the 6 month requirement-not 9 additional months).
• Programs which are currently at a STAR 3 and above have: 6 months from date of hire to fulfill STAR 1 criteria, 9 months from date of hire to fulfill STAR 2 criteria, and 12 months from date of hire to fulfill STAR 3, 4, and 5 criteria (an additional 3 months beyond the 9 month requirement). Additionally for STAR 3, new staff must have completed or be enrolled in the required Infant/Toddler or Preschool Teacher Certification Course within 12 months of hire. 
• All programs are required to submit a Training Plan for any new staff person within 30 days of hire. This training plan must be completed on the approved Training Plan form and include a list of completion dates for all the required trainings for each STAR level the program has achieved. 

ECSB recognizes that changes in staff for age groups being worked with happens frequently, especially in Center care.  If a staff person begins working with a new age group, we will treat that change as a new employee and will need a training plan for that individual.  For example: If a facility is at STAR 3 and one of their Preschool teachers moves out of Preschool to work with Infants/Toddlers, the following would need to happen as far as trainings for the facility to maintain their STAR level (trainings specific to I/T – it is assumed all other trainings are complete):  within 6 months of moving to work with infants/toddlers, the Safe Sleep training for STAR 1 would need to be completed; within 9 months Infant/Toddler CSEFEL Module 1 would need to be completed for STAR 2; within 1 year Infant Toddler CSEFEL Module 2 be completed, and the individual needs to be either enrolled in or have completed the Infant Toddler Caregiver Education course (for Primary teachers) for STAR 3.  Not following through on this training plan could result in the facility being placed on hold or potentially losing their STAR rating until the plan is fulfilled.

A:  No.  Any staff person that is ever alone with the children for an extended period of time are required to be CPR/1^st Aid Certified, and take the Mandatory Reporting course.

A:  All staff members, including the Director, need to have a Professional Development Plan, which is individualized for a specific person and their Professional Development needs and goals.  These plans should be a “work in progress” and need to be updated at least annually.

A:  UPDATE: Staff is exempt from STARS required training if they work less than 160 hours annually or less than 10 hours per week not to exceed 160 hours/year total.

Programs will be required to provide documentation of staff hours and/or schedules for applicable staff.  For staff who work over 160 hours and are required to meet Child Care Licensing’s 8 hours of required training, STARS programs could choose STARS required trainings to meet that requirement.

A:  The staff list required by programs to send in with their STAR application is the Staff List that they turn in to Child Care Licensing.

• Center Staff list
• Family Group List

A:  If an individual thinks the requirement should be waived for them, they need to write a rationale and provide documentation for why they think the requirements should be waived, and should consider using the MT Early Care & Education Knowledge Base to assist in their documentation/justification.  This can be routed through the coach to the Early Childhood Services Bureau to approve/deny the waiver request.

A:   Yes, the person responsible for the education staff should take the classes related to the care of the children and the person responsible for administration of the program should attend the Program Administration Scales/Business Administration Scales training.

A:  Primary caregivers are tracked through child care licensing and also addressed in the matrix related to children being assigned a primary caregiver, specific to infants and toddlers.  Programs should ensure that primary caregivers are listed correctly with child care licensing as this information will be used in data tracking.

A:  For Mandatory Reporting, the following staff roles as identified for QAD Child Care Licensing, must take the training: aide, primary caregivers, caregivers, directors, owner, contact, non-provider staff (cooks, bus drivers, etc.), substitute providers.  For CSEFEL training, the following staff roles as identified for QAD Child Care Licensing, must take the training: aides, primary caregivers, caregivers, education staff, directors, and owners.