Have you ever worked on one of those 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzles? I like to think of this project as a giant jigsaw puzzle. Although it can be tackled alone, if you need to accomplish it quickly and efficiently you need to engage the help of a few talented friends. Each of you can work on a specific portion and sooner than later all of the pieces are perfectly in place. As I shared with you in my last blog although the construction piece of the YCCAon2 is huge our project manager Kait Midgett (Star Contracting & Design) is systematically putting all of her puzzle pieces in place by hiring and managing subcontractors on our behalf. I’m included in every decision, given an opportunity to share my opinions, voice my concerns, and ask many questions, but in the end Kait manages the construction project and I am free to get the other huge piece of the YCCAon2 puzzle in place: the business of Young Children’s Center for the Arts, Inc.
You would think that it would be relatively easy to open a second location, but think again! In order to open a second location, it is mandatory to attend an orientation meeting run by the State. Sounds easy, right? Well, it would be if you could find an opening in one of their scheduled orientation. Orientations in Philadelphia are typically filled for a minimum of six months in advance. I suppose you could get lucky and call to register and get the space that was assigned to someone who withdrew, but that didn’t happen. I registered for a mid-November orientation in Philadelphia and then I got to work looking for another place in Pennsylvania to attend the orientation this summer. Pittsburgh was my only choice and so last Monday, my husband and I drove to Pittsburgh and I attended the mandatory orientation from 9:30-4:00. With certificate in hand, we drove home. (There was no way that I was going to be the reason why YCCAon2 couldn’t open on time!)
The next requirement for opening a second location is to have updated teacher / staff files with all new clearance forms. Now here’s the funny thing … until the very day that I attended the orientation in Pittsburgh the law stated that clearances had to be dated within three months of opening, so timing was crucial. Child Abuse and Criminal History clearances are easy to ascertain on line. The searches are done quickly and results are in hand almost immediately. But FBI fingerprinting is another story. You have to register online to be able to go to a licensed fingerprinting agency – not a big deal. Then you just need to do a “walk-in” at the agency, wait for your turn, and get fingerprinted. Sometimes the results come back in two weeks and sometimes they take months. Teachers may not work with children until their fingerprints results are back and in their files. If the fingerprints take longer than three months to get back, you have to go again. (Yes, this really does happen!) But there was great news at the orientation – when the new governor took office he repealed that law and changed it to requiring daycare (early childhood) staff to have all mandatory clearances under five years. Just to be safe – because you can never tell who might not have gotten the memo – Molly had every YCCA staff member get all new clearances, including fingerprints, along with new staff health appraisals including a current mantoux (TB test). As you well know, Molly has also been busy getting every child’s file compliant. Our goal is to have all files in perfect order asap.
Since I fully understand all of the licensing requirements, I know that we have to have our first-aid kits in order (one for every room in the school), daily schedules posted outside of each room, all sockets covered, files locked, proper trash cans, emergency plans posted, diapering instructions posted, and a host of state regulations posted, and I’m working on those details now. As soon as we get our Use & Occupancy, I will turn it into an early childhood center that is compliant and ready for inspection.
Kait is hoping to have the project finished in time to get our Use & Occupancy by the end (the very end) of August. We both feel like this can happen. The biggest challenge will be to get a daycare licensing Inspector out to the building to inspect and issue us a license. Because of that unknown factor, we are anticipating opening day for YCCAon2 to be Tuesday, September 8th (the day after Labor Day). Molly and I will keep you posted. With that said, I better get to work! My next blog will include staff and schedule information.
YCCA and YCCAon2 