Bill Text: FL H0411 | 2010 | Regular Session | Comm Sub

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Bill Title: Child Care Facilities

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-04-30 - Died on Calendar [H0411 Detail]

Download: Florida-2010-H0411-Comm_Sub.html

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CS/HB 411

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to child care facilities; amending s.
3	402.302, F.S.; revising and providing definitions;
4	providing for certain household children to be included in
5	calculations regarding the capacity of licensed family day
6	care homes and large family child care homes; providing
7	conditions for supervision of household children of
8	operators of family day care homes and large family child
9	care homes; amending s. 402.318, F.S.; revising
10	advertising requirements applicable to child care
11	facilities; providing penalties; providing an effective
12	date.
13
14	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
15
16	Section 1. Section 402.302, Florida Statutes, is amended
17	to read:
18	402.302 Definitions.-As used in this chapter, the term:
19	(1) "Child care" means the care, protection, and
20	supervision of a child, for a period of less than 24 hours a day
21	on a regular basis, which supplements parental care, enrichment,
22	and health supervision for the child, in accordance with his or
23	her individual needs, and for which a payment, fee, or grant is
24	made for care.
25	(2) "Child care facility" includes any child care center
26	or child care arrangement which provides child care for more
27	than five children unrelated to the operator and which receives
28	a payment, fee, or grant for any of the children receiving care,
29	wherever operated, and whether or not operated for profit. The
30	following are not included:
31	(a) Public schools and nonpublic schools and their
32	integral programs, except as provided in s. 402.3025;
33	(b) Summer camps having children in full-time residence;
34	(c) Summer day camps;
35	(d) Bible schools normally conducted during vacation
36	periods; and
37	(e) Operators of transient establishments, as defined in
38	chapter 509, which provide child care services solely for the
39	guests of their establishment or resort, provided that all child
40	care personnel of the establishment are screened according to
41	the level 2 screening requirements of chapter 435.
42	(3) "Child care personnel" means all owners, operators,
43	employees, and volunteers working in a child care facility. The
44	term does not include persons who work in a child care facility
45	after hours when children are not present or parents of children
46	in Head Start. For purposes of screening, the term includes any
47	member, over the age of 12 years, of a child care facility
48	operator's family, or person, over the age of 12 years, residing
49	with a child care facility operator if the child care facility
50	is located in or adjacent to the home of the operator or if the
51	family member of, or person residing with, the child care
52	facility operator has any direct contact with the children in
53	the facility during its hours of operation. Members of the
54	operator's family or persons residing with the operator who are
55	between the ages of 12 years and 18 years shall not be required
56	to be fingerprinted but shall be screened for delinquency
57	records. For purposes of screening, the term shall also include
58	persons who work in child care programs which provide care for
59	children 15 hours or more each week in public or nonpublic
60	schools, summer day camps, family day care homes, or those
61	programs otherwise exempted under s. 402.316. The term does not
62	include public or nonpublic school personnel who are providing
63	care during regular school hours, or after hours for activities
64	related to a school's program for grades kindergarten through
65	12. A volunteer who assists on an intermittent basis for less
66	than 40 hours per month is not included in the term "personnel"
67	for the purposes of screening and training, provided that the
68	volunteer is under direct and constant supervision by persons
69	who meet the personnel requirements of s. 402.305(2). Students
70	who observe and participate in a child care facility as a part
71	of their required coursework shall not be considered child care
72	personnel, provided such observation and participation are on an
73	intermittent basis and the students are under direct and
74	constant supervision of child care personnel.
75	(4) "Department" means the Department of Children and
76	Family Services.
77	(5) "Drop-in child care" means child care provided
78	occasionally in a child care facility in a shopping mall or
79	business establishment where a child is in care for no more than
80	a 4-hour period and the parent remains on the premises of the
81	shopping mall or business establishment at all times. Drop-in
82	child care arrangements shall meet all requirements for a child
83	care facility unless specifically exempted.
84	(6) "Evening child care" means child care provided during
85	the evening hours and may encompass the hours of 6:00 p.m. to
86	7:00 a.m. to accommodate parents who work evenings and late-
87	night shifts.
88	(7) "Family day care home" means an occupied residence in
89	which child care is regularly provided for children from at
90	least two unrelated families and which receives a payment, fee,
91	or grant for any of the children receiving care, whether or not
92	operated for profit. Household children under 13 years of age,
93	when on the premises of the family day care home or on a field
94	trip with children enrolled in child care, shall be included in
95	the overall capacity of the licensed home. A family day care
96	home shall be allowed to provide care for one of the following
97	groups of children, which shall include household those children
98	under 13 years of age who are related to the caregiver:
99	(a) A maximum of four children from birth to 12 months of
100	age.
101	(b) A maximum of three children from birth to 12 months of
102	age, and other children, for a maximum total of six children.
103	(c) A maximum of six preschool children if all are older
104	than 12 months of age.
105	(d) A maximum of 10 children if no more than 5 are
106	preschool age and, of those 5, no more than 2 are under 12
107	months of age.
108	(8) "Household children" means children who are related by
109	blood, marriage, or legal adoption to, or who are the legal
110	wards of, the family day care home operator, the large family
111	child care home operator, or an adult household member who
112	permanently or temporarily resides in the home. Supervision of
113	the operator's household children shall be left to the
114	discretion of the operator unless those children receive
115	subsidized child care to be in the home.
116	(9)(8) "Large family child care home" means an occupied
117	residence in which child care is regularly provided for children
118	from at least two unrelated families, which receives a payment,
119	fee, or grant for any of the children receiving care, whether or
120	not operated for profit, and which has at least two full-time
121	child care personnel on the premises during the hours of
122	operation. One of the two full-time child care personnel must be
123	the owner or occupant of the residence. A large family child
124	care home must first have operated as a licensed family day care
125	home for 2 years, with an operator who has had a child
126	development associate credential or its equivalent for 1 year,
127	before seeking licensure as a large family child care home.
128	Household children under 13 years of age, when on the premises
129	of the large family child care home or on a field trip with
130	children enrolled in child care, shall be included in the
131	overall capacity of the licensed home. A large family child care
132	home shall be allowed to provide care for one of the following
133	groups of children, which shall include household those children
134	under 13 years of age who are related to the caregiver:
135	(a) A maximum of 8 children from birth to 24 months of
136	age.
137	(b) A maximum of 12 children, with no more than 4 children
138	under 24 months of age.
139	(10)(9) "Indoor recreational facility" means an indoor
140	commercial facility which is established for the primary purpose
141	of entertaining children in a planned fitness environment
142	through equipment, games, and activities in conjunction with
143	food service and which provides child care for a particular
144	child no more than 4 hours on any one day. An indoor
145	recreational facility must be licensed as a child care facility
146	under s. 402.305, but is exempt from the minimum outdoor-square-
147	footage-per-child requirement specified in that section, if the
148	indoor recreational facility has, at a minimum, 3,000 square
149	feet of usable indoor floor space.
150	(11)(10) "Local licensing agency" means any agency or
151	individual designated by the county to license child care
152	facilities.
153	(12)(11) "Operator" means any onsite person ultimately
154	responsible for the overall operation of a child care facility,
155	whether or not he or she is the owner or administrator of such
156	facility.
157	(13)(12) "Owner" means the person who is licensed to
158	operate the child care facility.
159	(14)(13) "Screening" means the act of assessing the
160	background of child care personnel and volunteers and includes,
161	but is not limited to, employment history checks, local criminal
162	records checks through local law enforcement agencies,
163	fingerprinting for all purposes and checks in this subsection,
164	statewide criminal records checks through the Department of Law
165	Enforcement, and federal criminal records checks through the
166	Federal Bureau of Investigation.
167	(15)(14) "Secretary" means the Secretary of Children and
168	Family Services.
169	(16)(15) "Substantial compliance" means that level of
170	adherence which is sufficient to safeguard the health, safety,
171	and well-being of all children under care. Substantial
172	compliance is greater than minimal adherence but not to the
173	level of absolute adherence. Where a violation or variation is
174	identified as the type which impacts, or can be reasonably
175	expected within 90 days to impact, the health, safety, or well-
176	being of a child, there is no substantial compliance.
177	(17)(16) "Weekend child care" means child care provided
178	between the hours of 6 p.m. on Friday and 6 a.m. on Monday.
179	Section 2. Section 402.318, Florida Statutes, is amended
180	to read:
181	402.318 Advertisement.-No person, as defined in s.
182	1.01(3), shall advertise or publish an advertisement for a child
183	care facility, family day care home, or large family child care
184	home without including within such advertisement the state or
185	local agency license number or registration number of such
186	facility or home. Violation of this section is a misdemeanor of
187	the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s.
188	775.083.
189	Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2010.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.