Regulatory Compliance Specialist

Independently conducts on-site monitoring visits and desk audits of early care and education and/or child welfare programs, agencies, caregivers, operations, facilities and/or Child Residential Centers (CRC), and other certified agencies within child welfare settings to ensure that developmentally appropriate services are rendered to children in compliance with applicable safety and health standards and licensing and/or certification standards and regulations; provides recommendations for licensure/certification and/or enforcement; travel to home, community and school based settings and/or child welfare sites in order to verify compliance with Ohio Revised Code (ORC) and Ohio Administrative Code (OAC) requirements; conducts thorough review of agency records, policies, procedures, and documentation (i.e., handbooks, staff and children's files); conducts interviews with current and/or former staff/employees and/or youth and/or community members; completes inspections of indoor and outdoor physical settings, observes staff/child interactions; monitors quality standards; identifies issues of non-compliance and examples of best practices; recommends licensing, certification and/or enforcement actions; reviews major incident reports and complaints registered against caregivers, agencies and/or facilities suspected of possible violations; gathers evidence and supporting documentation in cases subject to enforcement pursuant to section 119 of the Ohio Revised Code and provides legal testimony as required; uses computer or other electronic devices, systems and applications to prepare data, reports of survey findings indicating areas of deficiencies and noncompliance and best practices; meets with caregivers and/or agency to discuss areas of non-compliance, interprets and clarifies policies in relationship to violations identified; advises licensed and/or certified stakeholders on methods to achieve compliance and conducts follow-up visits and/or audits to assess compliance; establishes time frames for compliance and provides technical assistance and guidance, monitors achievements of compliance; conducts follow-up investigations.

Maintains confidential records of licensed/certified and unlicensed/uncertified programs and operations facilities; consults with licensed/certified or prospective operators and/or caregivers and provides technical assistance as needed on regulations and standards; analyzes data gathered in order to provide input and participate in development and enforcement of departmental policies and procedures, rules, regulations and standards of early care and education and child welfare programs/operations; reviews proposed rules for impact on service provision and on health, safety of children and stability and quality of placement options.

Conducts, facilitates and/or participates in training sessions for owners, administrators, employees/staff, and/or caregivers working in conjunction with county, city and state agencies, coordinates and exchanges information and services with other public/private social services agencies and other regulatory agencies; attends meetings and workshops related to early care and education, family childcare, and child welfare licensing and/or certification policy and procedures.

Performs other related duties as assigned (e.g., maintains logs, records, and files, participates in staff meetings, travels to attend training and conferences, participates in workgroups).

For the purposes of this description, early care and education refers to child care centers, preschool programs, school-age programs, family child care, and similar settings. For the purposes of this description, child welfare programs refers to residential agencies, foster homes, adoptive homes, independent living arrangements, and similar settings.

At the State of Ohio, we take care of the team that cares for Ohioans. We provide a variety of quality, competitive benefits to eligible full-time and part-time employees. For a list of all the State of Ohio Benefits, visit our Total Rewards website ! Our benefits package includes:

• Medical Coverage
• Free Dental, Vision and Basic Life Insurance premiums after completion of eligibility period .
• Paid time off, including vacation, personal, sick leave and 11 paid holidays per year
• Childbirth, Adoption, and Foster Care leave
• Education and Development Opportunities (Employee Development Funds, Public Service Loan Forgiveness, and more)
• Retirement systems including Ohio Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS) & Optional Deferred Compensation ( Ohio Deferred Compensation )

Qualifications

24 mos. exp. working in school, community, &/or home-based early care & education settings or child welfare settings (experience commensurate with program area to be assigned per approved Position Description on file); 6 mos. trg. or 6 mos. exp. in agency, state &/or federal laws, rules, standards & regulations governing early care & education &/or child welfare programs (e.g., staffing, management, licensure, certification & operation of school, community, or home-based early care & education settings &/or child welfare settings); 6 mos. trg. or 6 mos. exp. in inspection & investigation techniques pertinent to evaluating compliance (i.e., early care & education &/or child welfare programs, public/private agencies, caregivers & operations); valid driver's license.

-Or completion of undergraduate core program in early childhood/human development, social & behavioral sciences or related field; 6 mos. trg. or 6 mos. exp. in agency, state &/or federal laws, rules, standards & regulations governing early care & education &/or child welfare programs (e.g., staffing, management, licensure, certification & operation of school, community, or home-based early care & education settings &/or public/private child welfare settings); 6 mos. trg. or 6 mos. exp. in inspection & investigation techniques pertinent to evaluating compliance (i.e., early care & education &/or child welfare programs, public/private agencies, caregivers, & operations); valid driver's license.

-Or equivalent of Minimum Class Qualifications for Employment noted above.

Note: Applicants for positions in the Department of Children & Youth (early care & education licensing) must also meet one of the trainer requirements cited in Administrative Rules 5101:2-12-10 or 5101:2-13-10.