Bill Text: TX HB168 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the regulation of child-care facilities and registered family homes providing services to children with disabilities or special needs.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-03-16 - Left pending in committee [HB168 Detail]

Download: Texas-2021-HB168-Introduced.html

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87R2992 MLH-D
By: González of El Paso H.B. No. 168

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the regulation of child-care facilities and registered
family homes providing services to children with disabilities or
special needs.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 42.042(e), Human Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(e) The executive commissioner shall promulgate minimum
standards that apply to licensed child-care facilities and to
registered family homes covered by this chapter and that will:
(1) promote the health, safety, and welfare of
children attending a facility or registered family home;
(2) promote safe, comfortable, and healthy physical
facilities and registered family homes for children;
(3) ensure adequate supervision of children by
capable, qualified, and healthy personnel that includes an
assessment of the wandering history of each child attending the
facility or home;
(4) ensure adequate and healthy food service where
food service is offered;
(5) prohibit [racial] discrimination on the basis of
race or disability status by child-care facilities and registered
family homes;
(6) require procedures for parental and guardian
consultation in the formulation of children's educational and
therapeutic programs;
(7) prevent the breakdown of foster care and adoptive
placement; [and]
(8) ensure that a child-care facility or registered
family home:
(A) follows the directions of a child's physician
or other health care provider in providing specialized medical
assistance required by the child; and
(B) maintains for a reasonable time a copy of any
directions from the physician or provider that the parent provides
to the facility or home; and
(9) ensure that:
(A) the facility or home promotes inclusive
practices and integrates children with special needs into the
general activities of the facility or home;
(B) the activities of the facility or home are
tailored to the strengths and needs of each child attending the
facility or home based on the child's developmental age and
competencies; and
(C) early childhood intervention service
providers have access to children with disabilities who are
attending the facility or home to provide services while the
children are at the facility or home.
SECTION 2. Section 42.0421, Human Resources Code, is
amended by amending Subsections (a) and (f) and adding Subsections
(a-1) and (a-2) to read as follows:
(a) The minimum training standards prescribed by the
executive commissioner under Section 42.042(p) for an employee,
director, or operator of a day-care center, group day-care home, or
registered family home must include:
(1) 24 hours of initial training that must be
completed not later than the 90th day after the employee's first day
of employment for an employee of a day-care center who has no
previous training or less than two years of employment experience
in a regulated child-care facility, eight hours of which must be
completed before the employee may provide care to [is given
responsibility for a group of] children but only under the
supervision of another individual who has completed the initial
training or has the required experience;
(2) 24 hours of annual training for each employee of a
day-care center or group day-care home, excluding the director,
which must include at least six hours of training in one or more of
the following areas:
(A) child growth and development, including
awareness of children with disabilities or developmental delays;
(B) guidance and discipline;
(C) age-appropriate curriculum; and
(D) teacher-child interaction; and
(3) 30 hours of annual training for each director of a
day-care center or group day-care home, or operator of a registered
family home, which must include at least six hours of training in
one or more of the following areas:
(A) child growth and development;
(B) guidance and discipline;
(C) age-appropriate curriculum; and
(D) teacher-child interaction.
(a-1) The minimum training standards prescribed in
accordance with Subsection (a)(1) for initial training must
include:
(1) child mental health training addressing social and
emotional learning, positive behavior interventions and supports,
and trauma-informed care; and
(2) training on providing care to children with
special needs.
(a-2) The minimum training standards prescribed in
accordance with Subsection (a)(2) or (a)(3) for an employee,
director, or operator of a day-care center, group day-care home, or
registered family home must include as a two-hour component of the
annual training special training on providing care to children with
special needs. The children with special needs training:
(1) may be completed through an in-person training or
a distance learning course; and
(2) must include identification of potential
developmental delays, methods for referring children with special
needs for specialized services, and information on early childhood
intervention and preschool programs for children with
disabilities.
(f) The training required by this section must be
appropriately targeted and relevant to the age of the children who
will receive care from the individual receiving training and must
be provided by a person who:
(1) is a training provider registered with the Texas
Early Childhood Professional Development System's Texas Trainer
Registry that is maintained by the Texas Head Start State
Collaboration Office;
(2) is an instructor at a public or private secondary
school, an institution of higher education, as defined by Section
61.003, Education Code, or a private college or university
accredited by a recognized accrediting agency who teaches early
childhood development or another relevant course, as determined by
rules adopted by the commissioner of education and the commissioner
of higher education;
(3) is an employee of a state agency with relevant
expertise;
(4) is a physician, psychologist, licensed
professional counselor, social worker, or registered nurse;
(5) holds a generally recognized credential or
possesses documented knowledge relevant to the training the person
will provide;
(6) is a registered family home care provider or
director of a day-care center or group day-care home in good
standing with the department, if applicable, and who:
(A) has demonstrated core knowledge in child
development and caregiving; and
(B) is only providing training at the home or
center in which the provider or director and the person receiving
training are employed; [or]
(7) has at least two years of experience working in
child development, a child development program, early childhood
education, a childhood education program, or a Head Start or Early
Head Start program and:
(A) has been awarded a Child Development
Associate (CDA) credential; or
(B) holds at least an associate's degree in child
development, early childhood education, or a related field;
(8) is an accredited early intervention specialist;
(9) is an accredited early childhood intervention
service provider; or
(10) is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst.
SECTION 3. Section 42.045(a), Human Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) A person who operates a licensed or certified facility
shall maintain individual child development records, individual
health records, records provided by parents for children with
special needs, statistical records, and complete financial
records.
SECTION 4. Subchapter C, Chapter 42, Human Resources Code,
is amended by adding Sections 42.068 and 42.069 to read as follows:
Sec. 42.068. REQUIRED PARENTAL DISCLOSURE FOR CHILDREN WITH
DISABILITIES. A child-care facility or registered family home
shall provide written disclosure to a parent or guardian of each
child with a disability attending the facility or home that
includes:
(1) an application in the form prescribed by the
commission to initiate a referral for early childhood intervention
and contact information for providers of those services;
(2) information on the preschool program for children
with disabilities; and
(3) the policies of the facility or home on providing
care to children with disabilities.
Sec. 42.069. REPORTING OF SUSPENSION OR EXPULSION OF
CHILDREN. A child-care facility or registered family home shall
report to the commission in the form and manner prescribed by
commission rule each suspension or expulsion of a child attending
the facility or home. The report must include:
(1) the name of the child;
(2) the date of the suspension or expulsion;
(3) the reason for the suspension or expulsion;
(4) the race of the child;
(5) the disability status of the child; and
(6) the child's wandering history.
SECTION 5. As soon as practicable after the effective date
of this Act, the executive commissioner of the Health and Human
Services Commission shall adopt the rules necessary to implement
the changes in law made by this Act.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.