SECTION 746.123. What do certain words and terms mean when used in this chapter?

The words and terms used in this chapter have the meanings assigned to them under §745.21 of this title (relating to What do the following words and terms mean when used in this chapter?), unless another meaning is assigned in this section or another subchapter or unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In addition, the following words and terms used in this chapter have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

(1) Activity plan--A written plan that outlines the daily routine and activities in which a group of children will engage while in your care. The plan is designed to meet the children's cognitive, language, social, emotional, and physical developmental strengths and needs.

(2) Activity space--An area or room used for children's activities, including areas separate from a group's classroom.

(3) Administrative and clerical duties--Duties that involve the operation of a child-care center, such as bookkeeping, enrolling children, answering the telephone, and collecting fees.

(4) Admission--The process of enrolling a child in a child-care center. The date of admission is the first day the child is physically present in the center.

(5) Adult--A person 18 years old and older.

(6) Age-appropriate--Activities, equipment, materials, curriculum, and environment, including the child's assigned classroom, that are developmentally consistent with the developmental or chronological age of the child being served.

(7) Alternate care program--A program in which no child is in care for more than five consecutive days, and no child is in care for more than 15 days in one calendar month, regardless of the duration of each stay.

(8) Attendance--When referring to a child's attendance, the physical presence of a child at the child-care center's program on any given day or at any given time, as distinct from the child's enrollment in the child-care center.

(9) Bouncer seat--A stationary seat designed to provide gentle rocking or bouncing motion by an infant's movement, or by battery-operated movement. This type of equipment is designed for an infant's use from birth until the child can sit up unassisted.

(10) Caregiver--A person who is counted in the child to caregiver ratio, whose duties include the supervision, guidance, and protection of a child. As used in this chapter, a caregiver must meet the minimum education, work experience, and training qualifications required under Subchapter D of this chapter (relating to Personnel). A caregiver is usually an employee, but may also be a substitute, volunteer, or contractor, as outlined in paragraph (19) of this section and Subchapter D, Division 5 of this chapter.

(11) Certified Child-Care Professional Credential--A credential given by the National Early Childhood Program Accreditation to a person working directly with children. The credential is based on assessed competency in several areas of child care and child development.

(12) Certified lifeguard--A person who has been trained in life saving and water safety by a qualified instructor, from a recognized organization that awards a certificate upon successful completion of the training. The certificate is not required to use the term "lifeguard," but the permit holder must be able to document that the certificate is current, relevant to the type of water activity in which children will engage, and represents the type of training described.

(13) CEUs--Continuing education units. A standard unit of measure for adult education and training activities. One CEU equals 10 clock hours of participation in an organized, continuing-education experience, under responsible, qualified direction and instruction. Although a person may obtain a CEU in many of the same settings as clock hours, the CEU provider must meet the criteria established by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training to be able to offer the CEU.

(14) Child--An infant, a toddler, a pre-kindergarten age child, or a school-age child.

(15) Child-care center--A child-care facility that is licensed to care for seven or more children for less than 24 hours per day, at a location other than the permit holder's home. If you were licensed before September 1, 2003, the location of the center could be in the permit holder's home.

(16) Child-care program--The services and activities provided by a child-care center.

(17) Child Development Associate Credential--A credential given by the Council for Professional Recognition to a person working directly with children. The credential is based on assessed competency in several areas of child care and child development.

(18) Clock hour--An actual hour of documented:

(A) Attendance at instructor-led training, such as seminars, workshops, conferences, early childhood classes, and other planned learning opportunities, provided by an individual or individuals as specified in §746.1317(a) of this chapter (relating to Must the training for my caregivers and the director meet certain criteria?); or

(B) Self-instructional training that was created by an individual or individuals, as specified in §746.1317(a) and (b) of this chapter, or self-study training.

(19) Contract service provider--A person or entity contracting with the operation to provide a service, whether paid or unpaid. Also referred to as "contract staff" and "contractor" in this chapter.

(20) Corporal punishment--The infliction of physical pain on a child as a means of controlling behavior. This includes spanking, hitting with a hand or instrument, slapping, pinching, shaking, biting, or thumping a child.

(21) Days--Calendar days, unless otherwise stated.

(22) Employee--A person a child-care center employs full-time or part-time to work for wages, salary, or other compensation. Employees are all of the child-care center staff, including caregivers, kitchen staff, office staff, maintenance staff, the assistant director, the director, and the owner, if the owner is ever on site at the center or transports a child.

(23) Enrollment--The list of names or number of children who have been admitted to attend a child-care center for any given period of time; the number of children enrolled in a child-care center may vary from the number of children in attendance on any given day.

(24) Entrap--A component or group of components on equipment that forms angles or openings that may trap a child's head by being too small to allow the child's body to pass through, or large enough for the child's body to pass through but too small to allow the child's head to pass through.

(25) Field trips--Activities conducted away from the child-care center.

(26) Food service--The preparation or serving of meals or snacks.

(27) Frequent--More than two times in a 30-day period. Note: For the definition of "regularly or frequently present at an operation" as it applies to background checks, see §745.601 of this title (relating to What words must I know to understand this subchapter?).

(28) Garbage--Waste food or items that when deteriorating cause offensive odors and attract rodents, insects, and other pests.

(29) Grounds--Includes any parcel of land where the child-care center is located and any building, other structure, body of water, play equipment, street, sidewalk, walkway, driveway, parking garage, or parking lot on the parcel. Also referred to as "premises" in this chapter.

(30) Group activities--Activities that allow children to interact with other children in large or small groups. Group activities include storytelling, finger plays, show and tell, organized games, and singing.

(31) Hazardous materials--Any substance or chemical that is a health hazard or physical hazard, as determined by the Environmental Protection Agency. Also referred to as "toxic materials" and "toxic chemicals" in this chapter.

(32) Health-care professional--A licensed physician, a licensed advanced practice registered nurse (APRN), a licensed vocational nurse (LVN), a licensed registered nurse (RN), or other licensed medical personnel providing health care to the child within the scope of the license. This does not include physicians, nurses, or other medical personnel who are not licensed in the United States or in the country in which the person practices.

(33) Health check--A visual or physical assessment of a child to identify potential concerns about a child's health, including signs or symptoms of illness and injury, in response to changes in the child's behavior since the last date of attendance.

(34) High school equivalent--

(A) Documentation of a program recognized by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) or other public educational entity in another state, which offers similar training on reading, writing, and math skills taught at the high school level, such as a General Educational Development (GED) certificate; or

(B) Confirmation that the person received home-schooling that adequately addressed basic competencies such as basic reading, writing, and math skills, which would otherwise have been documented by a high school diploma.

(35) Individual activities--Opportunities for the child to work independently or to be away from the group but supervised.

(36) Infant--A child from birth through 17 months.

(37) Inflatable--An amusement ride or device, consisting of air-filled structures designed for use by children, as specified by the manufacturer, which may include bouncing, climbing, sliding, or interactive play. They are made of flexible fabric, kept inflated by continuous air flow by one or more blowers, and rely upon air pressure to maintain their shape.

(38) Instructor-led training--Training characterized by the communication and interaction that takes place between the student and the instructor. The training must include an opportunity for the student to interact with the instructor to obtain clarifications and information beyond the scope of the training materials. For such an opportunity to exist, the instructor must communicate with the student in a timely fashion, including answering questions, providing feedback on skills practice, providing guidance or information on additional resources, and proactively interacting with students. Examples of this type of training include classroom training, web-based on-line facilitated learning, video-conferencing, or other group learning experiences.

(39) Janitorial duties--Those duties that involve the cleaning and maintenance of the child-care center building, rooms, furniture, etc. Cleaning and maintenance include such duties as cleansing carpets, washing cots, and sweeping, vacuuming, or mopping a restroom or a classroom. Sweeping up after an activity or mopping up a spill in a classroom that is immediately necessary for the children's safety is not considered a janitorial duty.

(40) Local sanitation official--A sanitation official designated by the city or county government.

(41) Natural environment--Settings that are natural or typical for all children of the same age without regard to ability or disability. For example, a natural environment for learning social skills is a play group of peers.

(42) Permit is no longer valid--For purposes of this chapter, a permit remains valid through the renewal process. A permit only becomes invalid when your center voluntarily closes or must close because of an enforcement action in Chapter 745, Subchapter L of this title (relating to Enforcement Actions).

(43) Physical activity (moderate)--Levels of activity for a child that are at intensities faster than a slow walk, but still allow the child to talk easily. Moderate physical activity increases the child's heart rate and breathing rate.

(44) Physical activity (vigorous)--Rhythmic, repetitive physical movement for a child that uses large muscle groups, causing the child to breathe rapidly and only enabling the child to speak in short phrases. Typically, the child's heart rate is substantially increased, and the child is likely to be sweating while engaging in vigorous physical activity.

(45) Pre-kindergarten age child--A child who is three or four years of age before the beginning of the current school year.

(46) Premises--See the term "grounds" and its definition in this section.

(47) Regular--On a recurring, scheduled basis. Note: For the definition of "regularly or frequently present at an operation" as it applies to background checks, see §745.601 of this title.

(48) Restrictive device--Equipment that places the body of a child in a position that may restrict airflow or cause strangulation; usually, the child is placed in a semi-seated position. Examples of restrictive devices are car seats, swings, bouncy seats, and high chairs.

(49) Safety belt--A lap belt and any shoulder straps included as original equipment on or added to a vehicle.

(50) Sanitize--The use of a disinfecting product that provides instructions specific for sanitizing and is registered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to substantially reduce germs on inanimate objects to levels considered safe by public health requirements. Many bleach and hydrogen peroxide products are EPA-registered. You must follow the product's labeling instructions for sanitizing or disinfecting, depending on the surface (paying particular attention to any instructions regarding contact time and toxicity on surfaces likely to be mouthed by children, such as toys and crib rails). If you use bleach instead of an approved disinfecting product, you must follow these steps in order:

(A) Washing with water and soap;

(B) Rinsing with clear water;

(C) Soaking in or spraying on a bleach solution for at least two minutes;

(D) Rinsing with cool water only those items that children are likely to place in their mouths; and

(E) Allowing the surface or item to air-dry.

(51) School-age child--A child who is five years of age and older and is enrolled in or has completed kindergarten.

(52) Screen time activity--An activity during which a child views media content on a cell or mobile phone, tablet, computer, television, video, film, or DVD. Screen time activities do not include video chatting with a child's family or assistive and adaptive computer technology used by a child with special care needs on a consistent basis.

(53) Self-instructional training--Training designed to be used by one individual working alone and at the individual's own pace to complete lessons or modules. Lessons or modules commonly include questions with clear right and wrong answers. An example of this type of training is web-based training. Self-study training is also a type of self-instructional training.

(54) Self-study training--Non-standardized training where an individual reads written materials, watches a training video, or listens to a recording to obtain certain knowledge that is required for annual training. Self-study training is limited to three hours of annual training per year.

(55) Special care needs--A child with special care needs is a child who has:

(A) A chronic physical, developmental, behavioral, or emotional condition or a disability and who also requires assistance beyond that required by a child generally to perform tasks that are within the typical chronological range of development, including the movement of large or small muscles, learning, talking, communicating, comprehension, emotional regulation, self-help, social skills, emotional well-being, seeing, hearing, and breathing; or

(B) A limitation due to an injury, illness, or allergy.

(56) State or local fire authority--A fire official who is authorized to conduct fire safety inspections on behalf of the city, county, or state government, including certified fire inspectors. Also referred to as "fire marshal" in this chapter.

(57) Toddler--A child from 18 months through 35 months.

(58) Universal precautions--An approach to infection control where all human blood and certain human bodily fluids are treated as if known to be infectious for HIV, HBV, and other blood-borne pathogens.

(59) Water activities--Related to the use of swimming pools, splashing pools, wading pools, sprinkler play, or other bodies of water.

(60) Weather permitting--Weather conditions that do not pose any concerns for health and safety, such as a significant risk of frostbite or heat-related illness. This includes adverse weather conditions in which children may still play safely outdoors for shorter periods with appropriate adjustments to clothing and any necessary access to water, shade, or shelter.

Source Note: The provisions of this §746.123 adopted to be effective April 15, 2017, 42 TexReg 1575; transferred effective March 9, 2018, as published in the Texas Register February 16, 2018, 43 TexReg 909; amended to be effective March 10, 2021, 46 TexReg 1479; amended to be effective December 21, 2022, 47 TexReg 8114; amended to be effective March 1, 2023, 48 TexReg 933