Action Needed: PA Department of Health Annual Child Care Survey

Greetings,

The yearly reporting of immunizations by all licensed child care providers is a state requirement as outlined in 28 Pa. Code § 27.77. Immunization requirements for children in child care group settings. (pacodeandbulletin.gov).

The PA Department of Health (DOH) has met this requirement in different ways throughout the years. In the last few years, this requirement was met by having DOH and County Municipal Health Department (CMHD) staff visit a random sample of child care providers throughout the state to review and document the status of immunization records. However, this practice did not give the DOH a complete picture of the immunization status of child care providers statewide or identify areas of our state that may benefit from additional education or vaccination services.

Therefore, the process to meet our state reporting requirements outlined above has changed for this year and involves two processes that have or will take place:

1.  The DOH and CMHD staff visited a random sample of child care providers this summer but only to educate, provide resource materials, and to help child care providers read and understand vaccination records.
2. A new Child Care Reporting survey is now required and can be accessed here. This survey needs completed by all licensed child care providers even if they received a visit by a DOH or CMHD staff this summer.

About the Survey

This survey is being sent to all licensed child care providers and must be completed to meet the state requirements outlined in 28 Pa. Code § 27.77 by no later than October 31, 2024.

This survey will be used to assist the DOH in identifying areas of the state that may require additional education and outreach services regarding immunizations and vaccine availability. Once you submit the survey, if you included an email address in the ‘Contact Information’ section, a copy of your survey responses will be emailed automatically to the email address listed on the survey. More information can be found within the survey.

The DOH thanks you for your cooperation and timely responses to this survey.