IMPROVING TRANSPORTATION
SERVICES IN EARLY EDUCATION
AND CARE SETTINGS
EEC Board Meeting – November 8, 2011
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Recommendations from the Special Committee
on Transportation
Final Board Vote of October 11, 2011:
The Board of Early Education and Care hereby approves
the Special Committee’s recommendations by:
 Enacting the transportation policy recommended by the
Special Committee that details the procedures for the
drop-off and pick-up of children by Transportation
Providers and for Parent/Program Notification in the
event a child does not arrive at a program;
 Reviewing the proposed Transportation Provider
Performance Standards for contract implementation in
an expedited manner; and
 Reviewing regulation amendments relative to the safe
transport of children to be presented to the Board in
December, 2011.
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Parent/Program Notification:
The Early Education and Care Licensed Provider
shall notify a parent immediately if/when a child
does not arrive at child care within 30 minutes of
his/her scheduled arrival time, unless the parent
has previously notified the program of the child’s
absence or alternative arrival time.
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Details of Transportation Policy - Notification
Parent/Program Notification:
 Parents and guardians are urged to notify the child care
program that their child will be absent or will arrive later than
scheduled that day.
 The child care program shall note on the attendance sheet
the absence or late arrival of the child on the appropriate day
as well as the name of the person who notified the program
of the absence or the late arrival.
 When a child enrolled in a child care program does not arrive
within 30 minutes of his or her scheduled arrival time and the
parent or guardian has not provided notification, the provider
shall immediately notify the parent or guardian that the child
has not arrived.
 If the parent or guardian cannot be reached directly by
telephone, the provider shall then contact the child’s
emergency contact person. The provider must speak
personally with the parent or emergency contact person;
leaving a message or sending a text is not sufficient.
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Details of Notification Policy – (cont’d)
Parent/Program Notification:
 If a child who receives transportation services does not arrive
within 30 minutes of his or her scheduled arrival time, the
provider shall also contact the Transportation Provider and
the System, after notifying the parent or guardian of the
child’s failure to arrive at the child care program.
 Once the provider reaches a person who can confirm the
location of the child, the provider shall log the location of the
child, the name of the individual spoken to and the time on
the attendance sheet.
 If the child care provider cannot reach any of the individuals
identified above and the location of the child cannot be
determined definitively, the local police department shall be
notified as soon as possible.
 Recurrent failure of a parent to notify the child care program
of a child’s absence may be the grounds for termination of a
child care subsidy or may be grounds for dismissal from the
program.
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Pick-Up, Drop-Off, and Post-Inspection of Vehicle:
All Transportation Providers* shall ensure that their drivers
carry and complete a passenger log for each route, identifying
the name of each child transported, the time picked up, the
time dropped off and initialed by the educator or
parent/guardian. The driver shall sign the passenger log at
the conclusion of the route, certifying completion of the
inspection of each seat, under all seats, and in all
compartments or recesses in the vehicle’s interior. If there is
no electronic vehicle monitoring device installed on the
vehicle, the monitor, if assigned to the vehicle or the reviewer
designated by the Transportation Provider must also certify
completion of the post-trip inspection.
*
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Transportation Provider is defined as an individual or entity that is
employed by or has subcontracted with a Family Child Care System or
Early Education and Care Licensed Provider to provide transportation
services and who drives a child in a motor vehicle, car, bus, or school bus
from a child’s home to a child care program and/or from a child care
program to the child’s school as defined in M.G.L. c. 90 §7B or §7D.
Details of Pick-Up, Drop-Off, and PostInspection of Vehicle Policy
Responsibility for Pick-Up, Drop-Off and Tracking of Each Child:
 Passenger Log:
 A passenger log provided by, or in a format approved by the
Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) shall be used
to track each and every child during transportation.
 The first and last name of each and every child received for
transport shall be recorded on the passenger log. A sibling
group shall not be listed as a single entry.
 The driver of the vehicle shall be responsible for completing
the log.

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Pick-Up Procedures:
 As each child is picked up and is seated on the vehicle the
time the child was placed in the vehicle shall be recorded on
the passenger log by the driver.
 If the child is picked up at home, from a designated stop, or
from a child care program, the parent/caregiver or other
authorized person, such as a child care educator, must initial
the passenger log indicating that the child was placed on the
vehicle.
Pick-Up, Drop-Off and Post-Inspection of
Vehicle Policy (cont’d):

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Drop-Off Procedures:
 The driver shall update the passenger log immediately
upon the child being released from the vehicle and
dropped off. The driver shall update the passenger log
by:
• Recording the time the child was dropped off; and
• Initialing next to the time of drop off.
 When the child is dropped off at a child care program, a
designated stop, or at home, the authorized person, such
as a child care educator, or parent/caregiver must initial
the passenger log indicating the child was released to
him/her.
Pick-Up, Drop-Off and Post-Inspection of
Vehicle Policy (cont’d):

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Inspection to Confirm that No Child is on the Vehicle:
 Driver Responsibilities. Immediately upon dropping off
the last child and to ensure that all children have been
dropped off the driver shall:
• Physically walk through the vehicle;
• Inspect all seat surfaces, under all seats and in all
compartments or recesses in the vehicle’s interior;
• Sign the passenger log, with the driver’s full name
and time, indicating that each and every child is
unloaded; and
• Give the passenger log to the monitor (e.g. an adult
assigned to the vehicle to assist a specific child or
supervise a group of children), or to the additional
reviewer (e.g. an employee of the Transportation
Provider), when there is no electronic vehicle
monitoring device on the vehicle.
Pick-Up, Drop-Off and Post-Inspection of
Vehicle Policy (cont’d):


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Monitor or Additional Reviewer Responsibilities. A monitor who
was also on the vehicle or another person designated by the
Transportation Provider (“reviewer”) shall:
• Physically walk through the vehicle, in addition to the walk
through required of the driver;
• Inspect all seat surfaces, under all seats and in all
compartments or recesses in the vehicle’s interior, in
addition to the inspection required of the driver;
• Reconcile the passenger log with the Transportation
Provider’s list of children assigned to that transit route to
verify that each and every child is no longer on the vehicle.
The monitor or reviewer shall then sign the passenger log
with the monitor’s or reviewer’s full name and time; and
Immediately notify the Transportation Provider and the child care
program of any discrepancies between the passenger log and the
Transportation Provider’s list (e.g. child’s name appears on one list
and not on the other, the number of children does not match, etc.).
Actions and Next Steps
 Incorporated into Transportation Policy enacted on
October 11, 2011; further clarifies existing
attendance policy for drivers found at 606 CMR 7.13
and incorporates best practice
 All EEC Licensed Providers notified on November 2,
2011 that Transportation Policy to go into effect
December 1, 2011
 Based upon several questions from programs and
providers, EEC to further review and clarify Parent
Notification process for the field prior to 12/1/11
 Requires regulation amendment to clarify EEC
Licensed Provider’s responsibility for child during
transport – to be drafted for Board’s December 13,
2011 meeting
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Provider Responsibility
The Early Education and Care Licensed Provider
shall be responsible for full compliance with
transportation laws/policies, regardless of how
transportation is provided.
Next Step:

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Requires regulation amendment to clarify EEC
Licensed Provider’s responsibility for child during
transport – to be drafted for Board’s December
13, 2011 meeting
Vehicle Monitoring
All Transportation Providers shall ensure that vehicles
designed to transport 6+ children shall be equipped with
approved electronic vehicle monitoring devices that prompt
staff to inspect. Vehicle monitoring devices are not
required for vehicles that carry an assigned monitor, that
only transport school aged children, unless the children are
developmentally or physically disabled or on vehicles that
are only used for occasional field trips or other similar trips.
Next Steps:
 Review of vehicle monitoring options, effectiveness, and
affiliated costs has been undertaken by Policy and Fiscal
Committees.
 Regulation amendment to enforce post-trip inspection–
to be drafted for Board’s December 13, 2011 meeting
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Transportation Performance Standards:
The Department shall develop customized transportation
performance standards, based upon those created by the
Human Service Transportation (HST) Office of EOHHS, to
be incorporated into all contracts for transportation
services. Standards must be adhered to by all
Transportation Providers and are applicable to all Family
Child Care Systems/Providers
Next Steps:
 Review of Transportation Performance Standards has
been undertaken by Policy and Fiscal Committees.
 Requires amendments to existing Income Eligible and
Priority Population Contracts prior to December 30,
2011
 May require amendments to existing regulations - to be
drafted for Board’s December 13, 2011 meeting
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Proposed Contract Amendment
and Regulation Promulgation Timetable
Drafting of proposed regulations and revisions
to Transportation Performance Standards
12/02/11
Presentation of Performance Standards for
Board Approval and Discussion of Proposed
Regulation Amendments
12/13/11
Issuance of Contract Amendments to
Income Eligible Contract Providers and
Priority Population Contract Providers
Board vote on Proposed Regulation
Amendments and to issue for Public
Comment
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by 12/31/11
1/10/12