FAQs • PRCS Licensing Exemption

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PRCS Licensing Exemption

1. Why is the county asking for a licensing exemption for school-aged after-school and camp programs?

Like many licensed school-aged programs across the country, Loudoun County Parks, Recreation and Community Services (PRCS) has struggled to fill staff vacancies and build an adequate substitute pool in its after-school and camp programs.

With staff vacancies and callouts across 49 County After School Activities (CASA) sites, administrative staff, including CASA specialists and leadership, are substituting nearly daily, creating an unsustainable workload.

Under Virginia Code §22.1-289.030 recreational activities offered by local governments, staffed by local government employees, and attended by school-age children are eligible to accept a license exemption to operate after-school and camp programs.

To continue to maintain the affordability and availability of our licensed school-aged programs throughout Loudoun County, PRCS is asking for the licensing exemption to help alleviate staffing issues. We want to assure our families that PRCS will continue to maintain the quality of these programs that you have come to expect. In fact, current PRCS licensed programs already meet or exceed licensing standards through existing internal quality control monitors.

Accepting the licensing exemption would help in filling licensed school-aged childcare positions and would:

Reduce program waitlists and increase program capacity and locations.
Improve efficiency with staffing and improved quality control.
Reduce training costs and expedite the hiring process.

2. Will this impact the quality of Loudoun PRCS after-school and camp programs?

No. PRCS will continue to maintain the quality of these programs that you have come to expect. In fact, current PRCS licensed programs already meet or exceed licensing standards through existing internal quality control monitors, including:

The PRCS Licensed Program Manager is already completing two annual internal audits for each program with full comprehensive visits that include mentoring, coaching, and feedback that licensing cannot provide.
Specialists are completing Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) visits and sharing feedback with staff. The CQI visits are more comprehensive than a Department of Education licensing visit. Specialists use this information to coach and create action plans. The CQI visits are analyzed to identify any trends and training needs.
All staff abide by a Licensed Program Staff Handbook, which is consistent with licensing standards. All families abide by a master family handbook, which is also consistent with licensing standards.
Incident/accident reports are continuously monitored by a manager on duty and responded to in real-time, creating a quicker turnaround time for addressing safety and behavior issues.

3. Does the licensing exemption include pre-school and childcare?: No- the exemption is for school-aged programs only and excludes PRCS pre-school and childcare programs at our recreation and community centers.

4. How will the licensing exemption help with finding more applicants?

Since CASA is not a full-time position, many applicants with the licensing qualifications would prefer to seek alternative employment to have full-time, fully benefited positions in other positions in the county or private sector.

By accepting the licensing exemption, Loudoun PRCS would be able to place staff that have years of experience but lack the licensing-required education into supervisor positions.

This would also enable PRCS to attract more qualified applicants who have quality experience over education credentials.

Many college students would be interested in CASA supervisor positions while finishing their degree, as the scheduling outside of 4 hours per day is flexible to align with class schedules.

The move to a licensing exemption would expedite the hiring process, alleviate staffing issues by increasing the number of qualified applicants, and ultimately reduce program waitlists and increase licensed school-aged program capacity and locations.

5. What PRCS after-school and camps are currently licensed?: CASA, Camp Daze and Fest, CASA Academy, and several Community Center and Recreation Center camps. The exemption is for school-aged programs only. PRCS pre-school and childcare programs in our recreation and community centers will remain licensed.

6. Have other neighboring jurisdictions asked for a licensing exemption?: Yes- 571 other facilities and jurisdictions have accepted the licensing exemption in Virginia, including but not limited to Arlington County, Town of Leesburg, Fairfax County Public Schools, Camp Fairfax, Falls Church Public Schools, Fairfax County Park Authority, Alexandria Parks and Recreation Department, Fauquier County Parks and Recreation Department, and Prince William County Parks and Recreation Department.

7. What is causing the staffing issue?

PRCS has struggled to fill staff vacancies and build an adequate substitute pool in its after-school and camp programs. With staff vacancies and callouts across 49 County After School Activities (CASA) sites), administrative staff, including CASA specialists and leadership, are substituting nearly daily, creating an unsustainable workload.

To date, for the 2023-2024 school year, specialists and office staff have covered over 900 CASA shifts (averaging 18.1 call-offs pers day that require substitutes). When specialists and leadership substitute at the sites, they are unable to directly address program quality.

8. How will this impact the staff-to-child ratio in licensed school-aged programs?: The staff-to-child ratio will not be impacted. The licensed exemption will ultimately increase the number of hired staff and reduce waitlists for licensed after-school and camp programs by increasing CASA capacity and opening additional summer campsite locations.

9. Will the license exemption affect PRCS Cares (fee reduction program)?: No. Eligible families will continue to receive discounted fees through PRCS Cares for specific after-school and camp programs. (You can refer patrons to loudoun.gov/prcs-cares if they have additional questions about the discounted fees program.)