HB 0521 2003
1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to child care facilities; amending s.
3	402.3055, F.S.; requiring validation of certain
4	information provided by an applicant for a child care
5	facility license; amending s. 402.301, F.S.; specifying
6	which membership organizations are not considered child
7	care facilities; amending s. 402.310, F.S.; requiring the
8	Department of Children and Family Services to establish
9	and impose uniform penalties relating to child care
10	facility violations; requiring implementation not
11	contingent upon an appropriation; creating s. 402.3105,
12	F.S.; requiring the department to establish a database of
13	information relating to violations, citations, and
14	penalties imposed against child care facilities regulated
15	by the state; providing duties of the State Technology
16	Office; specifying database capabilities and uses of
17	information contained therein; requiring implementation
18	not contingent upon an appropriation; amending s. 409.146,
19	F.S., relating to Department of Children and Family
20	Services client and management information; deleting
21	obsolete language; amending ss. 402.26, 402.281, 402.302,
22	and 402.3051, F.S.; deleting references to certain exempt
23	facilities; repealing s. 402.316, F.S., relating to the
24	exemption from state regulation for child care facilities
25	operated by a church or parochial school; providing an
26	effective date.
27
28	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
29
30	Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section
31	402.3055, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
32	402.3055 Child care personnel requirements.--
33	(1) REQUIREMENTS FOR CHILD CARE PERSONNEL.--
34	(a) The department or local licensing agency shall require
35	that the application for a child care license contain a question
36	that specifically asks the applicant, owner, or operator if he
37	or she has ever had a license denied, revoked, or suspended in
38	any state or jurisdiction or has been the subject of a
39	disciplinary action or been fined while employed in a child care
40	facility. The applicant, owner, or operator shall sign an
41	affidavit attestingattestto the accuracy of the information
42	requested under penalty of perjury.
43	1.If the applicant, owner, or operator admits that he or
44	she has been a party in such action, the department or local
45	licensing agency shall review the nature of the suspension,
46	revocation, disciplinary action, or fine before granting the
47	applicant a license to operate a child care facility.
48	2. If the applicant, owner, or operator denies that he or
49	she has been a party in such action in Florida, the department
50	or local licensing agency shall validate the information
51	provided by reviewing statewide child care licensing records to
52	determine if the applicant has had a license denied, revoked, or
53	suspended or has been the subject of a disciplinary action or
54	been fined while employed in a child care facility prior to
55	issuing a license.
56	3.If the department or local licensing agency determines
57	as the result of such review that it is not in the best interest
58	of the state or local jurisdiction for the applicant to be
59	licensed, a license shall not be granted.
60	Section 2. Subsection (6) of section 402.301, Florida
61	Statutes, is amended to read:
62	402.301 Child care facilities; legislative intent and
63	declaration of purpose and policy.--It is the legislative intent
64	to protect the health, safety, and well-being of the children of
65	the state and to promote their emotional and intellectual
66	development and care. Toward that end:
67	(6) It is further the intent that membership organizations
68	that provide child care for school-age children for not more
69	than 4 hours per day and areaffiliated with national
70	organizations which do not provide child care,whose primary
71	purpose is providing activities that contribute to the
72	development of good character or good sportsmanship or to the
73	education or cultural development of minors in this state, and
74	thatwhich charge only a nominal annual membership fee, which
75	are not for profit, and whichare certified by their national
76	associations as being in compliance with the association's
77	minimum standards and procedures,shall not be considered child
78	care facilities and,therefore, their personnel shall not be
79	required to be screened. Care for children under kindergarten
80	age is considered child care and is subject to ss. 402.301-
81	402.319.
82	Section 3. Paragraph (c) is added to subsection (1) of
83	section 402.310, Florida Statutes, to read:
84	402.310 Disciplinary actions; hearings upon denial,
85	suspension, or revocation of license; administrative fines.--
86	(1)
87	(c) The department shall establish and impose uniform
88	penalties for violations of ss. 402.301-402.319 and the rules
89	adopted thereunder. The department shall implement this
90	paragraph beginning on the effective date of this act, and such
91	implementation shall not be contingent upon a specific
92	appropriation therefor.
93	Section 4. Section 402.3105, Florida Statutes, is created
94	to read:
95	402.3105 Central database on violations, citations, and
96	penalties imposed against child care facilities.--
97	(1) The Department of Children and Family Services shall
98	establish and maintain a central database to record and compile
99	all district information relating to violations, citations, and
100	penalties imposed against child care facilities regulated by the
101	department. The database shall be designed by the State
102	Technology Office, in consultation with the department pursuant
103	to chapter 282, and the department shall implement, operate, and
104	maintain the system in accordance with the policies and
105	procedures established by the office.
106	(2) The database shall be operated in a manner that
107	enables the department to identify and locate such information
108	for purposes of monitoring and evaluating the uniformity and
109	effectiveness of district investigations and enforcement, in
110	order to ensure compliance of child care facilities with state
111	regulatory requirements. The database shall further maintain and
112	produce aggregate statistical reports monitoring patterns of
113	violations, citations, and penalties, including the classes and
114	types of violations and any actions taken to suspend or revoke
115	the license of a child care facility.
116	(3) The information in the database shall serve as a
117	resource for the evaluation of child care facilities for license
118	renewal but may not be used for employment screening. The
119	information in the database shall be made available to the
120	public upon request.
121	(4) The Department of Children and Family Services shall
122	implement this section beginning on the effective date of this
123	act, and such implementation shall not be contingent upon a
124	specific appropriation therefor.
125	Section 5. Subsection (9) of section 409.146, Florida
126	Statutes, is amended to read:
127	409.146 Children and families client and management
128	information system.--
129	(9) The Department of Children and Family Services shall
130	provide an annual report to the Joint Information Technology
131	Resources Committee. The committee shall review the report and
132	shall forward the report, along with its comments, to the
133	appropriate substantive and appropriations committees of the
134	House of Representatives and the Senate delineating the
135	development status of the system and other information necessary
136	for funding and policy formulation. In developing the system,
137	the Department of Children and Family Services shall consider
138	and report on the availability of, and the costs associated with
139	using, existing software and systems, including, but not limited
140	to, those that are operational in other states, to meet the
141	requirements of this section. The department shall also consider
142	and report on the compatibility of such existing software and
143	systems with an integrated management information system. The
144	report shall be submitted no later than December 1 of each year.
145	Section 6. Subsection (6) of section 402.26, Florida
146	Statutes, is amended to read:
147	402.26 Child care; legislative intent.--
148	(6) It is the intent of the Legislature that a child care
149	facility licensed pursuant to s. 402.305 whichor a child care
150	facility exempt from licensing pursuant to s. 402.316, that
151	achieves Gold Seal Quality status pursuant to s. 402.281,be
152	considered an educational institution for the purpose of
153	qualifying for exemption from ad valorem tax pursuant to s.
154	196.198.
155	Section 7. Subsection (2) of section 402.281, Florida
156	Statutes, is amended to read:
157	402.281 Gold Seal Quality Care program.--
158	(2) In developing the Gold Seal Quality Care program
159	standards, the department shall consult with the Department of
160	Education, the Florida Head Start Directors Association, the
161	Florida Association of Child Care Management, the Florida Family
162	Day Care Association, the Florida Children's Forum, the State
163	Coordinating Council for School Readiness Programs, the Early
164	Childhood Association of Florida, the National Association for
165	Child Development Education, providers receiving exemptions
166	under s. 402.316, and parents,for the purpose of approving the
167	accrediting associations.
168	Section 8. Subsection (3) of section 402.302, Florida
169	Statutes, is amended to read:
170	402.302 Definitions.--
171	(3) "Child care personnel" means all owners, operators,
172	employees, and volunteers working in a child care facility. The
173	term does not include persons who work in a child care facility
174	after hours when children are not present or parents of children
175	in Head Start. For purposes of screening, the term includes any
176	member, over the age of 12 years, of a child care facility
177	operator's family, or person, over the age of 12 years, residing
178	with a child care facility operator if the child care facility
179	is located in or adjacent to the home of the operator or if the
180	family member of, or person residing with, the child care
181	facility operator has any direct contact with the children in
182	the facility during its hours of operation. Members of the
183	operator's family or persons residing with the operator who are
184	between the ages of 12 years and 18 years shall not be required
185	to be fingerprinted but shall be screened for delinquency
186	records. For purposes of screening, the term shall also include
187	persons who work in child care programs which provide care for
188	children 15 hours or more each week in public or nonpublic
189	schools, summer day camps, or family day care homes, or those
190	programs otherwise exempted under s. 402.316. The term does not
191	include public or nonpublic school personnel who are providing
192	care during regular school hours, or after hours for activities
193	related to a school's program for grades kindergarten through
194	12. A volunteer who assists on an intermittent basis for less
195	than 40 hours per month is not included in the term "personnel"
196	for the purposes of screening and training, provided that the
197	volunteer is under direct and constant supervision by persons
198	who meet the personnel requirements of s. 402.305(2). Students
199	who observe and participate in a child care facility as a part
200	of their required coursework shall not be considered child care
201	personnel, provided such observation and participation are on an
202	intermittent basis and the students are under direct and
203	constant supervision of child care personnel.
204	Section 9. Subsection (2) of section 402.3051, Florida
205	Statutes, is amended to read:
206	402.3051 Child care market rate reimbursement; child care
207	grants.--
208	(2) The department shall establish procedures to reimburse
209	licensed, exempt,or registered child care providers who hold a
210	Gold Seal Quality Care designation at the market rate for child
211	care services for children who are eligible to receive
212	subsidized child care; and licensed, exempt,or registered child
213	care providers at the prevailing market rate for child care
214	services for children who are eligible to receive subsidized
215	child care, unless prohibited by federal law under s. 402.3015.
216	The department shall establish procedures to reimburse providers
217	of unregulated child care at not more than 50 percent of the
218	market rate. The payment system may not interfere with the
219	parents' decision as to the appropriate child care arrangement,
220	regardless of the level of available funding for child care. The
221	child care program assessment tool may not be used to determine
222	reimbursement rates.
223	Section 10. Section 402.316, Florida Statutes, is
224	repealed. The repeal of such section is not intended to affect
225	the curriculum of any child care facility affected by the
226	repeal.
227	Section 11. This act shall take effect July 1, 2003.