Bill Text: FL S0834 | 2010 | Regular Session | Comm Sub

Florida Senate Bill 834 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Child Care Facilities [SPSC]

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2010-04-30 - Died in Messages [S0834 Detail]

Download: Florida-2010-S0834-Comm_Sub.html
 
Florida Senate - 2010                              CS for SB 834 
 
By the Committee on Children, Families, and Elder Affairs; and 
Senator Justice 
586-02739-10                                           2010834c1 
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 
5         included in calculations regarding the capacity of 
6         licensed family day care homes and large family child 
7         care homes; providing conditions for supervision of 
8         household children of operators of family day care 
9         homes and large family child care homes; amending s. 
10         402.318, F.S.; revising advertising requirements 
11         applicable to child care facilities; providing 
12         penalties; providing an effective 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 to 
17  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 or 
26  child care arrangement which provides child care for more than 
27  five children unrelated to the operator and which receives a 
28  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 integral 
32  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 age. 
136         (b) A maximum of 12 children, with no more than 4 children 
137  under 24 months of age. 
138         (10)(9) “Indoor recreational facility” means an indoor 
139  commercial facility which is established for the primary purpose 
140  of entertaining children in a planned fitness environment 
141  through equipment, games, and activities in conjunction with 
142  food service and which provides child care for a particular 
143  child no more than 4 hours on any one day. An indoor 
144  recreational facility must be licensed as a child care facility 
145  under s. 402.305, but is exempt from the minimum outdoor-square 
146  footage-per-child requirement specified in that section, if the 
147  indoor recreational facility has, at a minimum, 3,000 square 
148  feet of usable indoor floor space. 
149         (11)(10) “Local licensing agency” means any agency or 
150  individual designated by the county to license child care 
151  facilities. 
152         (12)(11) “Operator” means any onsite person ultimately 
153  responsible for the overall operation of a child care facility, 
154  whether or not he or she is the owner or administrator of such 
155  facility. 
156         (13)(12) “Owner” means the person who is licensed to 
157  operate the child care facility. 
158         (14)(13) “Screening” means the act of assessing the 
159  background of child care personnel and volunteers and includes, 
160  but is not limited to, employment history checks, local criminal 
161  records checks through local law enforcement agencies, 
162  fingerprinting for all purposes and checks in this subsection, 
163  statewide criminal records checks through the Department of Law 
164  Enforcement, and federal criminal records checks through the 
165  Federal Bureau of Investigation. 
166         (15)(14) “Secretary” means the Secretary of Children and 
167  Family Services. 
168         (16)(15) “Substantial compliance” means that level of 
169  adherence which is sufficient to safeguard the health, safety, 
170  and well-being of all children under care. Substantial 
171  compliance is greater than minimal adherence but not to the 
172  level of absolute adherence. Where a violation or variation is 
173  identified as the type which impacts, or can be reasonably 
174  expected within 90 days to impact, the health, safety, or well 
175  being of a child, there is no substantial compliance. 
176         (17)(16) “Weekend child care” means child care provided 
177  between the hours of 6 p.m. on Friday and 6 a.m. on Monday. 
178         Section 2. Section 402.318, Florida Statutes, is amended to 
179  read: 
180         402.318 Advertisement.—No person, as defined in s. 1.01(3), 
181  shall advertise or publish an advertisement for a child care 
182  facility, family day care home, or large family child care home 
183  without including within such advertisement the state or local 
184  agency license number or registration number of such facility or 
185  home. Violation of this section is a misdemeanor of the first 
186  degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083. 
187         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2010.