Bill Text: FL S1382 | 2010 | Regular Session | Comm Sub

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Child Care Facilities [SPSC]

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2010-04-30 - Died in Messages, companion bill(s) passed, see CS/CS/CS/SB 2014 (Ch. 2010-210) [S1382 Detail]

Download: Florida-2010-S1382-Comm_Sub.html

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Florida Senate - 2010                             CS for SB 1382 
 
By the Committee on Children, Families, and Elder Affairs; and 
Senator Rich 
586-03769-10                                          20101382c1 
1                        A bill to be entitled 
2         An act relating to child care facilities; amending s. 
3         402.281, F.S.; providing that certain child care 
4         facilities, large family child care homes, and family 
5         day care homes that are accredited by a nationally 
6         recognized accrediting association may apply to the 
7         Department of Children and Family Services to receive 
8         a “Gold Seal Quality Care” designation; requiring the 
9         department to use certain standards and to consult 
10         with specified organizations when developing the Gold 
11         Seal Quality Care program standards; requiring the 
12         department to notify accrediting associations if the 
13         department proposes to revise the Gold Seal Quality 
14         Care program standards; requiring each accrediting 
15         association to notify the department within a stated 
16         time of its intent to revise its accreditation 
17         standards or discontinue participation in the Gold 
18         Seal Quality Care program; requiring an accrediting 
19         association that intends to revise its accreditation 
20         standards to do so within 90 days after notification 
21         from the department; amending s. 402.305, F.S.; 
22         prohibiting a person under the age of 18 from being 
23         the operator of a child care facility; requiring the 
24         department to address minimum age requirements for 
25         before-school and after-school care; providing 
26         exceptions; stating the minimum educational standards 
27         for child care facility employees; providing 
28         exceptions; requiring employees who do not meet the 
29         minimum educational standards by a specified date to 
30         do so within 1 year; requiring child care staff to 
31         possess specified credentials; reenacting s. 
32         1007.23(5), F.S., relating to child development 
33         associate credentials, to incorporate the amendment 
34         made to s. 402.305, F.S., in a reference thereto; 
35         providing an effective date. 
36 
37  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 
38 
39         Section 1. Section 402.281, Florida Statutes, is amended to 
40  read: 
41         402.281 Gold Seal Quality Care program.— 
42         (1) Child care facilities, large family child care homes, 
43  or family day care homes that are accredited by a nationally 
44  recognized accrediting association whose standards substantially 
45  meet or exceed the National Association for the Education of 
46  Young Children (NAEYC), the National Association of Family Child 
47  Care, or and the National Early Childhood Program Accreditation 
48  Commission, as applicable, may apply to the department to shall 
49  receive a separate “Gold Seal Quality Care” designation to 
50  operate as a gold seal child care facility, large family child 
51  care home, or family day care home. 
52         (2) In developing the Gold Seal Quality Care program 
53  standards, the department shall use the current standards of 
54  each accrediting association, as applicable, specified in 
55  subsection (1) and consult with the Department of Education, the 
56  Agency for Workforce Innovation, the Florida Head Start 
57  Directors Association, the Florida Association of Child Care 
58  Management, the Florida Family Day Care Association, the Florida 
59  Children’s Forum, the State Coordinating Council for School 
60  Readiness Programs, the Early Childhood Association of Florida, 
61  the National Association for Child Development Education, 
62  providers receiving exemptions under s. 402.316, and parents, 
63  for the purpose of approving the accrediting associations. 
64         (a) Upon the adoption of additional or revised standards by 
65  any accrediting association specified in subsection (1), the 
66  department shall notify each accrediting association that has 
67  been approved to participate in the Gold Seal Quality Care 
68  program of the applicable changes and of the department’s intent 
69  to revise the Gold Seal Quality Care program standards 
70  accordingly. 
71         (b) Upon such notification, each accrediting association 
72  must, within 30 days, notify the department of its intent to 
73  revise its accreditation standards or discontinue participation 
74  in the Gold Seal Quality Care program. 
75         1. Upon notification by an accrediting association that it 
76  intends to discontinue participation in the Gold Seal Quality 
77  Care program, the department shall notify any participating 
78  child care provider accredited by that association that the 
79  provider must obtain accreditation from another Gold Seal 
80  accrediting association by the time the provider’s current 
81  accreditation expires in order to maintain designation as a Gold 
82  Seal Quality Care provider. 
83         2. An accrediting association that intends to revise its 
84  accreditation standards must do so within 90 days after the 
85  notification provided pursuant to paragraph (a) and must ensure 
86  that each provider accredited by that association is in 
87  compliance with the revised accreditation standards upon the 
88  provider’s renewal of accreditation. 
89         (3) In order to obtain and maintain a designation as a Gold 
90  Seal Quality Care provider, a child care facility, large family 
91  child care home, or family day care home must meet the following 
92  additional criteria: 
93         (a) The child care provider must not have had any class I 
94  violations, as defined by rule, within the 2 years preceding its 
95  application for designation as a Gold Seal Quality Care 
96  provider. Commission of a class I violation shall be grounds for 
97  termination of the designation as a Gold Seal Quality Care 
98  provider until the provider has no class I violations for a 
99  period of 2 years. 
100         (b) The child care provider must not have had three or more 
101  class II violations, as defined by rule, within the 2 years 
102  preceding its application for designation as a Gold Seal Quality 
103  Care provider. Commission of three or more class II violations 
104  within a 2-year period shall be grounds for termination of the 
105  designation as a Gold Seal Quality Care provider until the 
106  provider has no class II violations for a period of 1 year. 
107         (c) The child care provider must not have been cited for 
108  the same class III violation, as defined by rule, three or more 
109  times within the 2 years preceding its application for 
110  designation as a Gold Seal Quality Care provider. Commission of 
111  the same class III violation three or more times during a 2-year 
112  period shall be grounds for termination of the designation as a 
113  Gold Seal Quality Care provider until the provider has no class 
114  III violations for a period of 1 year. 
115         (4) The Department of Children and Family Services shall 
116  adopt rules pursuant to under ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 which 
117  provide criteria and procedures for reviewing and approving 
118  accrediting associations for participation in the Gold Seal 
119  Quality Care program, conferring and revoking designations of 
120  Gold Seal Quality Care providers, and classifying violations. 
121         Section 2. Paragraphs (c) and (f) of subsection (2) and 
122  subsection (3) of section 402.305, Florida Statutes, are 
123  amended, and paragraph (g) is added to subsection (2) of that 
124  section, to read: 
125         402.305 Licensing standards; child care facilities.— 
126         (2) PERSONNEL.—Minimum standards for child care personnel 
127  shall include minimum requirements as to: 
128         (c) Minimum age requirements. The Such minimum standards 
129  must shall prohibit a person under the age of 18 21 from being 
130  the operator of a child care facility and a person under the age 
131  of 16 from being employed at such facility unless he or she such 
132  person is under direct and constant supervision of screened and 
133  trained staff who are 18 years of age or older and he or she is 
134  not counted for the purposes of calculating computing the staff 
135  to-child personnel-to-child ratio. The standards established for 
136  before-school and after-school care pursuant to paragraph (1)(c) 
137  must address minimum age requirements. 
138         (f) By January 1, 2000, A credential for child care 
139  facility directors. By January 1, 2004, The credential is the 
140  shall be a required minimum standard for licensing child care 
141  facility directors. 
142         (g) Minimum education standards for child care personnel. 
143  Minimum education standards shall prohibit persons who have not 
144  obtained a high school diploma or high school equivalency 
145  diploma under s. 1003.435 from being employed as child care 
146  personnel unless such a person is: 
147         1. Under the direct and constant supervision of screened 
148  and trained staff and is not counted for purposes of calculating 
149  the staff-to-child ratio; 
150         2. Not serving in an instructional position and is not 
151  counted for purposes of calculating the staff-to-child ratio; or 
152         3. Employed in an instructional position on July 1, 2010, 
153  and has 10 or more continuous years of documented experience 
154  working with children in a child care setting or in a public 
155  school. 
156 
157  Those child care personnel who are employed by a child care 
158  facility on July 1, 2010, who do not possess the minimum 
159  educational requirements set forth in this paragraph and who are 
160  not exempt from the requirements of this paragraph must complete 
161  the educational requirements by July 1, 2011. Persons who do not 
162  complete the appropriate educational requirements are prohibited 
163  from employment as child care personnel until such time as they 
164  are in compliance with this paragraph. 
165         (3) MINIMUM STAFF CREDENTIALS.—If a facility operates for 8 
166  or more hours per week By July 1, 1996, for every 20 children in 
167  the a licensed child care facility, beginning with the first 
168  child if the facility operates 8 hours or more per week, one of 
169  the child care personnel in the facility must have: 
170         (a) A current child development associate credential; 
171         (b) A current child care professional credential, unless 
172  the department determines that such child care professional 
173  credential is not equivalent to or greater than a child 
174  development associate credential; or 
175         (c) A current credential that is equivalent to or greater 
176  than the credential required in paragraph (a) or paragraph (b). 
177 
178  The department shall establish by rule those hours of operation, 
179  such as during rest periods and transitional periods, when this 
180  subsection does not apply. 
181         Section 3. For the purpose of incorporating the amendment 
182  made by this act to section 402.305, Florida Statutes, in a 
183  reference thereto, subsection (5) of section 1007.23, Florida 
184  Statutes, is reenacted to read: 
185         1007.23 Statewide articulation agreement.— 
186         (5) The articulation agreement must guarantee the 
187  articulation of 9 credit hours toward a postsecondary degree in 
188  early childhood education for programs approved by the State 
189  Board of Education and the Board of Governors which: 
190         (a) Award a child development associate credential issued 
191  by the National Credentialing Program of the Council for 
192  Professional Recognition or award a credential approved under s. 
193  1002.55(3)(c)1.b. or s. 402.305(3)(c) as being equivalent to the 
194  child development associate credential; and 
195         (b) Include training in emergent literacy which meets or 
196  exceeds the minimum standards for training courses for 
197  prekindergarten instructors of the Voluntary Prekindergarten 
198  Education Program in s. 1002.59. 
199         Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2010.