District Of Columbia § 4-401 - Definitions.

The term “child” means an individual between the ages of birth and 15 years.

The term “Child Development Associate credential” means a credential recognized by the Council for Professional Recognition and accepted by the Office of the State Superintendent of Education to demonstrate competency as a caregiver for young children.

The term “child development center” means a child development facility for more than 5 children which provides a full day (more than 4 but less than 24 hours per day), part day (up to 4 hours per day) or before and after school child development program, including such programs provided during school vacations.

The term “child development home” means a private residence which provides a child development program for up to a total of 6 children with a ratio of one adult caregiver to 2 children if there are 2 or more children younger than 2 years of age in the group; provided, that each adult caregiver possesses a post-secondary degree in early childhood education or a related field as determined by the Office of the State Superintendent of Education, hold a current Child Development Associate (“CDA”) credential, is enrolled in a CDA training program, or can provide evidence of enrollment in a CDA training program that will begin within 6 months of the first day of the adult caregiver’s work with children at the child development home. The total of 6 children shall not include those of the caregiver who are 6 years or older; provided, that the total number of children of the caregiver between the ages of 6 and 15 years shall not exceed 3, and of those 3 children, no more than 2 shall be age 10 years or younger. A child development home shall also include care given to a child by a caregiver related to the child. For the purpose of this paragraph, the term “related” means any of the following relationships by marriage, blood, or adoption: Grandparent, parent, brother, sister, step-sister, step-brother, uncle, or aunt.

The term “children of families who are at-risk” means children living in low-income working families with limited community and family resources or services available to them, such that they are at-risk of becoming dependent upon assistance from the TANF program.

The term “Department” means the Executive Office of the Mayor or the Mayor’s designee.

The term “in-home care” means a child care program provided in a child’s home by an in-home caregiver pursuant to .

The term “TANF” means the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families as defined in .

The term “termination of employment” means loss of employment by a parent resulting from a reduction in force, or in the case of private employment, a layoff or reduction in personnel due to budgetary constraints of the employer.