Update on DECAL Exemption Visits

EXEMPTION TO LICENSING UPDATE

As you are probably aware, one of the issues impacting our industry is the proliferation on unlicensed/exempt programs.
Many of these programs “pop-up” to provide camps and care after school. We believe that any program, licensed or exempt that works with young children should have a minimum set of health and safety standards . This is not the case for unlicensed/ exempt care.

Since the programs do not have the cost of compliancy and regulations, they often undercut the market and centers in direct competition, find themselves losing critical enrollments.

It doesn’t take an award-winning economist to determine that full enrollments are vital to keeping a center viable and enable higher quality care!

For these reasons, GCCA has continuously requested that DECAL revise and limit exemptions to licensing.

Working with us, DECAL has been conducting unannounced visits to 600+ exempt programs and has contracted with an outside company to analyze the data. This report should be available shortly and we will share the results with our members.

From this report, we hope to illicit change to existing exemption rules! DECAL will be speaking to this at our conference in their session.

In the meantime, if you believe a program is operating illegally or outside of their exemption,
please report it to Nikiesha.Neil@decal.ga.gov

Please include the program name, type of program, address and phone number!