CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. — As police continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding a child wandering away from a Chesterfield daycare last month, a number of viewers have reached out to CBS 6 asking about the difference between childcare centers that have religious exemptions in Virginia, and those that do not.
Fortress of God Childcare, where a child escaped and ran into the road in February, is a religiously exempt childcare facility.
The rules for daycares that are considered religiously exempt are less robust than the rules required for daycares that are fully licensed by the state.
If a religious institution, like a church for example, files certain paperwork with the state when opening a childcare center, the state exempts them from all of the rules and regulations required for other daycare facilities.
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So what are the rules? Religiously exempt daycares are required to follow the rules outlined in § 22.1-289.031 of The Code of Virginia and other statutory requirements.
Among those requirements, religiously exempt daycares do have to background-check all their staff, as well as:
- Conduct an asbestos inspection
- Have the fire marshal and state conduct fire and health inspections
- Allow parents or guardians to visit the facility
- Have carbon monoxide detectors
- Have one staff member in the entire school certified in CPR
- They must abide by staff-to-child ratios
A spokesperson for the Virginia Department of Education said the state’s “goal” is to conduct one health and safety inspection annually at each religiously exempt daycare, but they are not subject to a “mandatory annual inspection."
Comparatively, childcare facilities that are fully licensed by the state have to undergo two regular health and safety inspections each year.
Licensed daycares must abide by regulatory requirements in the Standards for Licensed Child Day Centers, Chapter 8VAC20-780 of the Virginia Administrative Code, and other statutory requirements.
They must follow the rules listed above for the religiously exempt daycares, but on top of those, they have a long list of rules they must follow, including:
- At least one staff member in each classroom must be CPR-certified
- Infants must be individually checked every 10-15 minutes while they are sleeping
- The facility has to report a missing child to the state within one business day
- It must establish and implement a long list of policies and procedures for things like injury prevention and emergency evacuations
- Staff at licensed facilities are required to have ongoing training
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In the case of Fortress of God Childcare, the facility is religiously exempt, but it does have children who receive government subsidy funding to help them pay for the care.
When a childcare facility takes kids that receive government subsidy funding, whether they’re religiously exempt or fully licensed, there is a 37-page list of requirements they have to follow. Click here for the list, which is
consistent with the rules mandated for licensed daycares and requires an annual inspection.
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