| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to child care services; providing |
| 3 | legislative intent that a child under jurisdiction of the |
| 4 | circuit court receive priority consideration for placement |
| 5 | into a quality child care center; defining the term |
| 6 | "quality child care center"; requiring a quality child |
| 7 | care center to immediately notify the legal guardian of a |
| 8 | child if the child care center is unable to accept a child |
| 9 | into its program due to the center's limited capacity; |
| 10 | requiring district child care licensing agencies to |
| 11 | provide a report to community-based care lead agencies |
| 12 | regarding capacity of quality child care centers; |
| 13 | providing an effective date. |
| 14 |
|
| 15 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 16 |
|
| 17 | Section 1. (1) It is the intent of the Legislature that a |
| 18 | child under the jurisdiction of the circuit court receive |
| 19 | priority consideration for placement into a quality child care |
| 20 | center pursuant to s. 411.01, Florida Statutes, the School |
| 21 | Readiness Act. |
| 22 | (2) As used in this section, the term "quality child care |
| 23 | center" means a child care center that: |
| 24 | (a) Holds a current Gold Seal Quality Care designation |
| 25 | under s. 402.281, Florida Statutes; or |
| 26 | (b) Has been designated as a high-quality program with at |
| 27 | least a quality rating of 3 by a professional quality rating |
| 28 | system if such a system exists in the county in which the child |
| 29 | is being served. A quality child care center must maintain |
| 30 | accreditation or designation as a high-quality program |
| 31 | throughout the year in order to be an approved provider. |
| 32 | (3) If a quality child care center is unable to accept a |
| 33 | child into its program due to the child care center's limited |
| 34 | capacity, the center must immediately notify the legal guardian |
| 35 | of the child of this fact and the estimated enrollment date for |
| 36 | the child. |
| 37 | (4) The agency in each district that is responsible for |
| 38 | licensing child care centers shall provide the community-based |
| 39 | care lead agency for the district with a quarterly report of the |
| 40 | licensed capacity for each quality child care center in the |
| 41 | district. |
| 42 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2007. |