Bill Text: FL S0364 | 2011 | Regular Session | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Child Care Facilities
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (? 2-1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-05-03 - Read 2nd time -SJ 744 [S0364 Detail]
Download: Florida-2011-S0364-Comm_Sub.html
Florida Senate - 2011 CS for CS for SB 364 By the Committees on Commerce and Tourism; and Children, Families, and Elder Affairs; and Senator Latvala 577-03314A-11 2011364c2 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to child care facilities; amending s. 3 402.281, F.S.; revising the criteria for a childcare 4 facility, large family child care home, or family day 5 care home to obtain and maintain a designation as a 6 Gold Seal Quality Care provider; amending s. 402.302, 7 F.S.; revising and providing definitions; providing 8 for certain household children to be included in 9 calculations regarding the capacity of licensed family 10 day care homes and large family child care homes; 11 providing conditions for supervision of household 12 children of operators of family day care homes and 13 large family child care homes; amending s. 402.316, 14 F.S.; requiring that the health, safety, and 15 sanitation standards of an accrediting agency 16 applicable to child care facilities that are exempt 17 from licensure meet or exceed the minimum health, 18 safety, and sanitation standards set forth by the 19 Department of Children and Family Services; requiring 20 a child care facility to prominently display a 21 certificate indicating that the facility qualifies for 22 a religious exemption from licensure; prohibiting an 23 accrediting agency for religious exemption from 24 owning, operating, or administering a child care 25 program that it accredits, including a program owned 26 by relatives; providing that application of the 27 accrediting standards does not authorize the 28 department to regulate or control the governance, 29 curriculum, testing or assessments, evaluation 30 procedures, academic requirements of the staff or the 31 disciplinary or hiring practices of any child care 32 program; amending s. 402.318, F.S.; revising 33 advertising requirements applicable to child care 34 facilities; providing penalties; amending s. 411.01, 35 F.S., relating to school readiness programs; 36 conforming a cross-reference; providing an effective 37 date. 38 39 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 40 41 Section 1. Paragraph (c) of subsection (4) of section 42 402.281, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 43 402.281 Gold Seal Quality Care program.— 44 (4) In order to obtain and maintain a designation as a Gold 45 Seal Quality Care provider, a child care facility, large family 46 child care home, or family day care home must meet the following 47 additional criteria: 48 (c) The child care provider must not have been cited for 49 the same class III violation, as defined by rule, three or more 50 times and failed to correct the violation within 1 year after 51 the date of each citation, within the 2 years preceding its 52 application for designation as a Gold Seal Quality Care 53 provider. Commission of the same class III violation three or 54 more times and failure to correct within the required time 55 during a 2-year period mayshallbe grounds for termination of 56 the designation as a Gold Seal Quality Care provider until the 57 provider has no class III violations for a period of 1 year. 58 Section 2. Section 402.302, Florida Statutes, is amended to 59 read: 60 402.302 Definitions.—As used in this chapter, the term: 61 (1) “Child care” means the care, protection, and 62 supervision of a child, for a period of less than 24 hours a day 63 on a regular basis, which supplements parental care, enrichment, 64 and health supervision for the child, in accordance with his or 65 her individual needs, and for which a payment, fee, or grant is 66 made for care. 67 (2) “Child care facility” includes any child care center or 68 child care arrangement which provides child care for more than 69 five children unrelated to the operator and which receives a 70 payment, fee, or grant for any of the children receiving care, 71 wherever operated, and whether or not operated for profit. The 72 following are not included: 73 (a) Public schools and nonpublic schools and their integral 74 programs, except as provided in s. 402.3025; 75 (b) Summer camps having children in full-time residence; 76 (c) Summer day camps; 77 (d) Bible schools normally conducted during vacation 78 periods; and 79 (e) Operators of transient establishments, as defined in 80 chapter 509, which provide child care services solely for the 81 guests of their establishment or resort, provided that all child 82 care personnel of the establishment are screened according to 83 the level 2 screening requirements of chapter 435. 84 (3) “Child care personnel” means all owners, operators, 85 employees, and volunteers working in a child care facility. The 86 term does not include persons who work in a child care facility 87 after hours when children are not present or parents of children 88 in a child care facility. For purposes of screening, the term 89 includes any member, over the age of 12 years, of a child care 90 facility operator’s family, or person, over the age of 12 years, 91 residing with a child care facility operator if the child care 92 facility is located in or adjacent to the home of the operator 93 or if the family member of, or person residing with, the child 94 care facility operator has any direct contact with the children 95 in the facility during its hours of operation. Members of the 96 operator’s family or persons residing with the operator who are 97 between the ages of 12 years and 18 years are not required to be 98 fingerprinted but must be screened for delinquency records. For 99 purposes of screening, the term also includes persons who work 100 in child care programs that provide care for children 15 hours 101 or more each week in public or nonpublic schools, family day 102 care homes, or programs otherwise exempted under s. 402.316. The 103 term does not include public or nonpublic school personnel who 104 are providing care during regular school hours, or after hours 105 for activities related to a school’s program for grades 106 kindergarten through 12. A volunteer who assists on an 107 intermittent basis for less than 10 hours per month is not 108 included in the term “personnel” for the purposes of screening 109 and training if a person who meets the screening requirement of 110 s. 402.305(2) is always present and has the volunteer in his or 111 her line of sight. Students who observe and participate in a 112 child care facility as a part of their required coursework are 113 not considered child care personnel, provided such observation 114 and participation are on an intermittent basis and a person who 115 meets the screening requirement of s. 402.305(2) is always 116 present and has the student in his or her line of sight. 117 (4) “Child welfare provider” means a licensed child-caring 118 or child-placing agency. 119 (5) “Department” means the Department of Children and 120 Family Services. 121 (6) “Drop-in child care” means child care provided 122 occasionally in a child care facility in a shopping mall or 123 business establishment where a child is in care for no more than 124 a 4-hour period and the parent remains on the premises of the 125 shopping mall or business establishment at all times. Drop-in 126 child care arrangements shall meet all requirements for a child 127 care facility unless specifically exempted. 128 (7) “Evening child care” means child care provided during 129 the evening hours and may encompass the hours of 6:00 p.m. to 130 7:00 a.m. to accommodate parents who work evenings and late 131 night shifts. 132 (8) “Family day care home” means an occupied residence in 133 which child care is regularly provided for children from at 134 least two unrelated families and which receives a payment, fee, 135 or grant for any of the children receiving care, whether or not 136 operated for profit. Household children under 13 years of age, 137 when on the premises of the family day care home or on a field 138 trip with children enrolled in child care, shall be included in 139 the overall capacity of the licensed home. A family day care 140 home shall be allowed to provide care for one of the following 141 groups of children, which shall include householdthosechildren 142 under 13 years of agewho are related to the caregiver: 143 (a) A maximum of four children from birth to 12 months of 144 age. 145 (b) A maximum of three children from birth to 12 months of 146 age, and other children, for a maximum total of six children. 147 (c) A maximum of six preschool children if all are older 148 than 12 months of age. 149 (d) A maximum of 10 children if no more than 5 are 150 preschool age and, of those 5, no more than 2 are under 12 151 months of age. 152 (9) “Household children” means children who are related by 153 blood, marriage, or legal adoption to, or who are the legal 154 wards of, the family day care home operator, the large family 155 child care home operator, or an adult household member who 156 permanently or temporarily resides in the home. Supervision of 157 the operator’s household children shall be left to the 158 discretion of the operator unless those children receive 159 subsidized child care to be in the home. 160 (10)(9)“Large family child care home” means an occupied 161 residence in which child care is regularly provided for children 162 from at least two unrelated families, which receives a payment, 163 fee, or grant for any of the children receiving care, whether or 164 not operated for profit, and which has at least two full-time 165 child care personnel on the premises during the hours of 166 operation. One of the two full-time child care personnel must be 167 the owner or occupant of the residence. A large family child 168 care home must first have operated as a licensed family day care 169 home for 2 years, with an operator who has had a child 170 development associate credential or its equivalent for 1 year, 171 before seeking licensure as a large family child care home. 172 Household children under 13 years of age, when on the premises 173 of the large family child care home or on a field trip with 174 children enrolled in child care, shall be included in the 175 overall capacity of the licensed home. A large family child care 176 home shall be allowed to provide care for one of the following 177 groups of children, which shall include householdthosechildren 178 under 13 years of agewho are related to the caregiver: 179 (a) A maximum of 8 children from birth to 24 months of age. 180 (b) A maximum of 12 children, with no more than 4 children 181 under 24 months of age. 182 (11)(10)“Indoor recreational facility” means an indoor 183 commercial facility which is established for the primary purpose 184 of entertaining children in a planned fitness environment 185 through equipment, games, and activities in conjunction with 186 food service and which provides child care for a particular 187 child no more than 4 hours on any one day. An indoor 188 recreational facility must be licensed as a child care facility 189 under s. 402.305, but is exempt from the minimum outdoor-square 190 footage-per-child requirement specified in that section, if the 191 indoor recreational facility has, at a minimum, 3,000 square 192 feet of usable indoor floor space. 193 (12)(11)“Local licensing agency” means any agency or 194 individual designated by the county to license child care 195 facilities. 196 (13)(12)“Operator” means any onsite person ultimately 197 responsible for the overall operation of a child care facility, 198 whether or not he or she is the owner or administrator of such 199 facility. 200 (14)(13)“Owner” means the person who is licensed to 201 operate the child care facility. 202 (15)(14)“Screening” means the act of assessing the 203 background of child care personnel and volunteers and includes, 204 but is not limited to, employment history checks, local criminal 205 records checks through local law enforcement agencies, 206 fingerprinting for all purposes and checks in this subsection, 207 statewide criminal records checks through the Department of Law 208 Enforcement, and federal criminal records checks through the 209 Federal Bureau of Investigation. 210 (16)(15)“Secretary” means the Secretary of Children and 211 Family Services. 212 (17)(16)“Substantial compliance” means that level of 213 adherence which is sufficient to safeguard the health, safety, 214 and well-being of all children under care. Substantial 215 compliance is greater than minimal adherence but not to the 216 level of absolute adherence. Where a violation or variation is 217 identified as the type which impacts, or can be reasonably 218 expected within 90 days to impact, the health, safety, or well 219 being of a child, there is no substantial compliance. 220 (18)(17)“Weekend child care” means child care provided 221 between the hours of 6 p.m. on Friday and 6 a.m. on Monday. 222 Section 3. Section 402.316, Florida Statutes, is amended to 223 read: 224 402.316 Exemptions.— 225 (1) The provisions of ss. 402.301-402.319, except for the 226 requirements regarding screening of child care personnel, do 227shallnot apply to a child care facility thatwhichis an 228 integral part of church or parochial schools conducting 229 regularly scheduled classes, courses of study, or educational 230 programs accredited by, or by a member of, an organization that 231whichpublishes and requires compliance with its standards for 232 health, safety, and sanitation. Such standards must meet or 233 exceed the minimum health, safety, and sanitation standards as 234 prescribed under chapter 65C-22, Florida Administrative Code. 235However,Such facilities shall meet minimum requirements of the 236 applicable local governing body as to health, sanitation, and 237 safety and shall meet the screening requirements pursuant to ss. 238 402.305 and 402.3055. Failure by a facility to comply with the 239suchscreening requirements shall result in the loss of the 240 facility’s exemption from licensure. 241 (2) A child care facility covered by the religious 242 exemption set forth in subsection (1) must display in a 243 conspicuous location at the facility its certificate of 244 compliance issued by the agency accrediting the child care 245 facility for a religious exemption. The certificate must state 246 that it is issued specifically for the purpose of providing the 247 child care facility with a religious exemption from licensure. 248 (3)(2)Any county or city with state or local child care 249 licensing programs in existence on July 1, 1974, will continue 250 to license the child care facilities as covered by such 251 programs, notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1), 252 until and unless the licensing agency makes a determination to 253 exempt them. 254 (4)(3)Any child care facility covered by the exemption 255 provisions of subsection (1), but desiring to be included in 256 this act, is authorized to do so by submitting notification to 257 the department. Once licensed, such facility cannot withdraw 258 from the act and continue to operate. 259 (5) A recognized accrediting agency for religious exemption 260 may not own, operate, or administer a child care program that 261 the agency accredits. This limitation applies to programs owned, 262 operated, or administered by relatives of the accrediting agency 263 who are within the fifth degree by blood or marriage. 264 (6) This section does not authorize the department to 265 regulate or control the governance, curriculum, academic 266 curriculum, testing or assessments, evaluation procedures, 267 academic requirements of the staff, disciplinary practices, or 268 hiring practices of any child care program under this section. 269 Section 4. Section 402.318, Florida Statutes, is amended to 270 read: 271 402.318 Advertisement.—ANoperson, as defined in s. 272 1.01(3), may notshalladvertise or publish an advertisement for 273 a child care facility, family day care home, or large family 274 child care home without including within such advertisement the 275 state or local agency license number or registration number of 276 such facility or home. Violation of this section is a 277 misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 278 775.082 or s. 775.083. 279 Section 5. Paragraph (c) of subsection (5) of section 280 411.01, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 281 411.01 School readiness programs; early learning 282 coalitions.— 283 (5) CREATION OF EARLY LEARNING COALITIONS.— 284 (c) Program expectations.— 285 1. The school readiness program must meet the following 286 expectations: 287 a. The program must, at a minimum, enhance the age 288 appropriate progress of each child in attaining the performance 289 standards and outcome measures adopted by the Agency for 290 Workforce Innovation. 291 b. The program must provide extended-day and extended-year 292 services to the maximum extent possible without compromising the 293 quality of the program to meet the needs of parents who work. 294 c. The program must provide a coordinated professional 295 development system that supports the achievement and maintenance 296 of core competencies by school readiness instructors in helping 297 children attain the performance standards and outcome measures 298 adopted by the Agency for Workforce Innovation. 299 d. There must be expanded access to community services and 300 resources for families to help achieve economic self 301 sufficiency. 302 e. There must be a single point of entry and unified 303 waiting list. As used in this sub-subparagraph, the term “single 304 point of entry” means an integrated information system that 305 allows a parent to enroll his or her child in the school 306 readiness program at various locations throughout a county, that 307 may allow a parent to enroll his or her child by telephone or 308 through an Internet website, and that uses a unified waiting 309 list to track eligible children waiting for enrollment in the 310 school readiness program. The Agency for Workforce Innovation 311 shall establish through technology a single statewide 312 information system that each coalition must use for the purposes 313 of managing the single point of entry, tracking children’s 314 progress, coordinating services among stakeholders, determining 315 eligibility, tracking child attendance, and streamlining 316 administrative processes for providers and early learning 317 coalitions. 318 f. The Agency for Workforce Innovation must consider the 319 access of eligible children to the school readiness program, as 320 demonstrated in part by waiting lists, before approving a 321 proposed increase in payment rates submitted by an early 322 learning coalition. In addition, early learning coalitions shall 323 use school readiness funds made available due to enrollment 324 shifts from school readiness programs to the Voluntary 325 Prekindergarten Education Program for increasing the number of 326 children served in school readiness programs before increasing 327 payment rates. 328 g. The program must meet all state licensing guidelines, 329 where applicable. 330 h. The program must ensure that minimum standards for child 331 discipline practices are age-appropriate. Such standards must 332 provide that children not be subjected to discipline that is 333 severe, humiliating, or frightening or discipline that is 334 associated with food, rest, or toileting. Spanking or any other 335 form of physical punishment is prohibited. 336 2. Each early learning coalition must implement a 337 comprehensive program of school readiness services in accordance 338 with the rules adopted by the agency which enhance the 339 cognitive, social, and physical development of children to 340 achieve the performance standards and outcome measures. At a 341 minimum, these programs must contain the following system 342 support service elements: 343 a. Developmentally appropriate curriculum designed to 344 enhance the age-appropriate progress of children in attaining 345 the performance standards adopted by the Agency for Workforce 346 Innovation under subparagraph (4)(d)8. 347 b. A character development program to develop basic values. 348 c. An age-appropriate screening of each child’s 349 development. 350 d. An age-appropriate assessment administered to children 351 when they enter a program and an age-appropriate assessment 352 administered to children when they leave the program. 353 e. An appropriate staff-to-children ratio, pursuant to s. 354 402.305(4) or s. 402.302(8) or (10)s.402.302(7) or (8), as 355 applicable, and as verified pursuant to s. 402.311. 356 f. A healthy and safe environment pursuant to s. 357 401.305(5), (6), and (7), as applicable, and as verified 358 pursuant to s. 402.311. 359 g. A resource and referral network established under s. 360 411.0101 to assist parents in making an informed choice and a 361 regional Warm-Line under s. 411.01015. 362 363 The Agency for Workforce Innovation, the Department of 364 Education, and early learning coalitions shall coordinate with 365 the Child Care Services Program Office of the Department of 366 Children and Family Services to minimize duplicating interagency 367 activities pertaining to acquiring and composing data for child 368 care training and credentialing. 369 Section 6. This act shall take effect July 1, 2011.