Cabinet Secretary
Laurie R. Gill

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Child Care Provider and Consumer Information

Federal Regulation Information

To learn more about federal requirements that impact child care, please visit the Administration for Children and Families website.

Child Care Provider Information

Orientation Training Opportunities

  • Orientation Training Option Information
    • South Dakota Child Care Provider Orientation Training - free online/on-demand training specific to South Dakota child care providers and meets the new federal requirements. The training is 5 hours long.
    • Better Kid Care Health and Safety Basics - to access this six-hour training to meet the new federal requirements for orientation training, call the Division of Child Care at 605.773.4766 or 1.800.227.3020 for access instructions and payment code.
    • Recognizing & Reporting Child Abuse and Neglect -Training required for recognizing and reporting child abuse and neglect is now available on the Department of Social Services, Division of Child Protection Services website.  This online/on-demand training is one hour in length and is a federally required topic for orientation training.

      To access the Reporting Child Abuse and Neglect Training:

      1. Visit http://dss.sd.gov/childprotection/
      2. Under “Other Links” on the right hand side of the page, find and click on “Training for Mandatory Reporters.”
      3. Click on the “Begin Video” button at the bottom of the page.
      4. Complete the registration information using “Licensed or Registered Child Welfare Provider” for the Reporter Type.
      5. The training is about one hour in length and the time it takes for you to complete may vary.
      6. The session contains six modules; you can pause, rewind and resume throughout the session.
      7. If you cannot complete the session in full, you will have to start again from the beginning. 
      8. At the end of the training you will be able to print a certificate of completion. 

      This training has been made available through federal Children’s Justice Act Grant funding, the Department of Social Services, in collaboration with the Justice for Children’s Committee. The overall goal of the training is to help assure effective responses to children who are unsafe due to child abuse and neglect.

    • Orientation Training Verification Form

If you experience any technical issues with accessing the training or obtaining the training certificate, you may contact the Family Resource Network at 1.800.354.8238.

Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan

The CCDBG Act of 2014 added a requirement that child care providers have a emergency preparedness and response plan that includes the following: 

  1. Procedures for evacuation of the facility or family home;
  2. Procedures for relocation of the children should the current location be unsafe for the children;
  3. Procedures for shelter-in-place should the outside area of the day care become unsafe; and
  4. Lock-down procedures for keep persons out of the day care;
  5. Procedures for communicating the plan with families; and
  6. Accommodations for infants and toddlers; children with disabilities; and children with chronic medication conditions. 
  7. All helpers are required to be notified of this plan; and
  8. Conduct practice drills to ensure providers and staff, including helpers, are prepared for an emergency.

Providers have the option of researching best practice and developing a plan to fit their program needs that includes the required areas listed above.  Or, they can use the following emergency preparedness plan template.  If a program already has a written emergency plan, please identify within that plan all of the required areas and the licensing specialist will verify compliance at the next licensing visit.

Child Care Provider Resources

Provider Meeting Materials

Topical Webinars

Consumer Resources