Bill Text: TX SB353 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature | Enrolled

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Bill Title: Relating to the ability of an emergency shelter facility to provide shelter or care for an unaccompanied minor without a license.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2)

Status: (Passed) 2013-05-25 - Effective immediately [SB353 Detail]

Download: Texas-2013-SB353-Enrolled.html

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S.B. No. 353

AN ACT
relating to the ability of an emergency shelter facility to provide
shelter or care for an unaccompanied minor without a license.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subsection (b), Section 42.041, Human Resources
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(b) This section does not apply to:
(1) a state-operated facility;
(2) an agency foster home or agency foster group home;
(3) a facility that is operated in connection with a
shopping center, business, religious organization, or
establishment where children are cared for during short periods
while parents or persons responsible for the children are attending
religious services, shopping, or engaging in other activities,
including retreats or classes for religious instruction, on or near
the premises, that does not advertise as a child-care facility or
day-care center, and that informs parents that it is not licensed by
the state;
(4) a school or class for religious instruction that
does not last longer than two weeks and is conducted by a religious
organization during the summer months;
(5) a youth camp licensed by the Department of State
Health Services;
(6) a facility licensed, operated, certified, or
registered by another state agency;
(7) an educational facility that is accredited by the
Texas Education Agency, the Southern Association of Colleges and
Schools, or an accreditation body that is a member of the Texas
Private School Accreditation Commission and that operates
primarily for educational purposes for prekindergarten and above, a
before-school or after-school program operated directly by an
accredited educational facility, or a before-school or
after-school program operated by another entity under contract with
the educational facility, if the Texas Education Agency, the
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, or the other
accreditation body, as applicable, has approved the curriculum
content of the before-school or after-school program operated under
the contract;
(8) an educational facility that operates solely for
educational purposes for prekindergarten through at least grade
two, that does not provide custodial care for more than one hour
during the hours before or after the customary school day, and that
is a member of an organization that promulgates, publishes, and
requires compliance with health, safety, fire, and sanitation
standards equal to standards required by state, municipal, and
county codes;
(9) a kindergarten or preschool educational program
that is operated as part of a public school or a private school
accredited by the Texas Education Agency, that offers educational
programs through grade six, and that does not provide custodial
care during the hours before or after the customary school day;
(10) a family home, whether registered or listed;
(11) an educational facility that is integral to and
inseparable from its sponsoring religious organization or an
educational facility both of which do not provide custodial care
for more than two hours maximum per day, and that offers an
educational program in one or more of the following:
prekindergarten through at least grade three, elementary grades, or
secondary grades;
(12) an emergency shelter facility, other than a
facility that would otherwise require a license as a child-care
facility under this section, that provides [providing] shelter or
care to a minor and the minor's child or [mothers who are the sole
support of their natural] children, if any, under Section 32.201,
Family Code, if the facility:
(A) is currently under a contract with a state or
federal agency; or
(B) meets the requirements listed under Section
51.005(b)(3) [unless the facility would otherwise require a license
as a child-care facility under this section];
(13) a juvenile detention facility certified under
Section 51.12, Family Code, a juvenile correctional facility
certified under Section 51.125, Family Code, a juvenile facility
providing services solely for the Texas Juvenile Justice Department
[Youth Commission], or any other correctional facility for children
operated or regulated by another state agency or by a political
subdivision of the state;
(14) an elementary-age (ages 5-13) recreation program
operated by a municipality provided the governing body of the
municipality annually adopts standards of care by ordinance after a
public hearing for such programs, that such standards are provided
to the parents of each program participant, and that the ordinances
shall include, at a minimum, staffing ratios, minimum staff
qualifications, minimum facility, health, and safety standards,
and mechanisms for monitoring and enforcing the adopted local
standards; and further provided that parents be informed that the
program is not licensed by the state and the program may not be
advertised as a child-care facility;
(15) an annual youth camp held in a municipality with a
population of more than 1.5 million that operates for not more than
three months and that has been operated for at least 10 years by a
nonprofit organization that provides care for the homeless;
(16) a food distribution program that:
(A) serves an evening meal to children two years
of age or older; and
(B) is operated by a nonprofit food bank in a
nonprofit, religious, or educational facility for not more than two
hours a day on regular business days;
(17) a child-care facility that operates for less than
three consecutive weeks and less than 40 days in a period of 12
months;
(18) a program:
(A) in which a child receives direct instruction
in a single skill, talent, ability, expertise, or proficiency;
(B) that does not provide services or offerings
that are not directly related to the single talent, ability,
expertise, or proficiency;
(C) that does not advertise or otherwise
represent that the program is a child-care facility, day-care
center, or licensed before-school or after-school program or that
the program offers child-care services;
(D) that informs the parent or guardian:
(i) that the program is not licensed by the
state; and
(ii) about the physical risks a child may
face while participating in the program; and
(E) that conducts background checks for all
program employees and volunteers who work with children in the
program using information that is obtained from the Department of
Public Safety;
(19) an elementary-age (ages 5-13) recreation program
that:
(A) adopts standards of care, including
standards relating to staff ratios, staff training, health, and
safety;
(B) provides a mechanism for monitoring and
enforcing the standards and receiving complaints from parents of
enrolled children;
(C) does not advertise as or otherwise represent
the program as a child-care facility, day-care center, or licensed
before-school or after-school program or that the program offers
child-care services;
(D) informs parents that the program is not
licensed by the state;
(E) is organized as a nonprofit organization or
is located on the premises of a participant's residence;
(F) does not accept any remuneration other than a
nominal annual membership fee;
(G) does not solicit donations as compensation or
payment for any good or service provided as part of the program; and
(H) conducts background checks for all program
employees and volunteers who work with children in the program
using information that is obtained from the Department of Public
Safety;
(20) a living arrangement in a caretaker's home
involving one or more children or a sibling group, excluding
children who are related to the caretaker, in which the caretaker:
(A) had a prior relationship with the child or
sibling group or other family members of the child or sibling group;
(B) does not care for more than one unrelated
child or sibling group;
(C) does not receive compensation or solicit
donations for the care of the child or sibling group; and
(D) has a written agreement with the parent to
care for the child or sibling group;
(21) a living arrangement in a caretaker's home
involving one or more children or a sibling group, excluding
children who are related to the caretaker, in which:
(A) the department is the managing conservator of
the child or sibling group;
(B) the department placed the child or sibling
group in the caretaker's home; and
(C) the caretaker had a long-standing and
significant relationship with the child or sibling group before the
child or sibling group was placed with the caretaker; or
(22) a living arrangement in a caretaker's home
involving one or more children or a sibling group, excluding
children who are related to the caretaker, in which the child is in
the United States on a time-limited visa under the sponsorship of
the caretaker or of a sponsoring organization.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2013.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 353 passed the Senate on
March 13, 2013, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 353 passed the House on
May 10, 2013, by the following vote: Yeas 143, Nays 0, two
present not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
______________________________
Date
______________________________
Governor