| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to Pinellas County; amending chapter 61- |
| 3 | 2681, Laws of Florida, as amended; redefining the term |
| 4 | "family day care home" and defining the terms "large |
| 5 | family child care home" and "household children"; revising |
| 6 | and providing requirements for licensing and regulating |
| 7 | such homes; providing an effective date. |
| 8 |
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| 9 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 10 |
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| 11 | Section 1. Subsection (5) of section 2 of chapter 61-2681, |
| 12 | Laws of Florida, as amended by chapters 70-893 and 2007-277, |
| 13 | Laws of Florida, is amended to read: |
| 14 | Section 2. Definitions; capacity and time limitations.- |
| 15 | (5)(a) A "family child care home" or "family day care |
| 16 | home" means an occupied a facility for child care in a place of |
| 17 | residence in which child care and training are regularly |
| 18 | provided for children from at least two unrelated households, |
| 19 | with or without compensation. A family child care home shall be |
| 20 | allowed to provide care for one of the following groups of |
| 21 | children, which shall include in their overall capacity the |
| 22 | preschool household children, whether present or not, and |
| 23 | school-aged household children under 13 years of age, when |
| 24 | present: |
| 25 | 1. When three children from birth to 12 months of age are |
| 26 | in care, no more than two additional children 2 years of age or |
| 27 | older may be in care, except when a provider has proof of |
| 28 | completion of an approved training course, in which case the two |
| 29 | additional children must be 18 months of age or older, which |
| 30 | includes preschool household children, whether present or not, |
| 31 | for a total of five children in care, plus additional school- |
| 32 | aged household children, when present, for a total capacity of |
| 33 | up to six children. |
| 34 | 2. When two children from birth to 12 months of age are in |
| 35 | care, no more than three additional children may be in care and |
| 36 | no more than one of those children may be between 12 and 24 |
| 37 | months of age. The remaining children must be 2 years of age or |
| 38 | older, except when a provider has proof of completion of an |
| 39 | approved training course, in which case the two additional |
| 40 | children must be 18 months of age or older, which includes |
| 41 | preschool household children, whether present or not, for a |
| 42 | total of five children in care, plus additional school-aged |
| 43 | household children, when present, for a total capacity of up to |
| 44 | ten children of a family, person, or persons who receive no more |
| 45 | than four (4) children under seventeen (17) years of age away |
| 46 | from their own homes who are not related to such person or |
| 47 | persons by blood, marriage, or adoption, for the purpose of |
| 48 | providing family care and training for such children. No more |
| 49 | than three (3) of the four (4) children may be under two (2) |
| 50 | years of age. This term shall not be construed to include |
| 51 | children above first grade level except in homes where children |
| 52 | below first grade level are also received for care. |
| 53 | (b) A "large family child care home" means an occupied |
| 54 | place of residence of a family, person, or persons who regularly |
| 55 | provide child care for children from at least two unrelated |
| 56 | households, with or without compensation, which has at least two |
| 57 | full-time child care employees on the premises during the hours |
| 58 | of operation. One of the two full-time child care employees must |
| 59 | be the provider or the provider's substitute. In order to |
| 60 | qualify for licensure as a large family child care home, the |
| 61 | home must first have operated as a licensed family day care home |
| 62 | for 2 consecutive years in Pinellas County, with a provider who |
| 63 | has had a child development associate credential or its |
| 64 | equivalent for 1 year. A large family child care home may |
| 65 | provide care for one of the following groups of children, which |
| 66 | include household children under 13 years of age: |
| 67 | 1. A maximum of eight children from birth to 24 months of |
| 68 | age; or |
| 69 | 2. A maximum of twelve children, with no more than four |
| 70 | children under 24 months of age. |
| 71 | |
| 72 | A large family child care home must meet and comply with all |
| 73 | standards of this paragraph unless there is an insufficient |
| 74 | number of children in care to meet the definition of a large |
| 75 | family child care home, in which case an additional employee is |
| 76 | not required. |
| 77 | (c) "Household children" means children who are related by |
| 78 | blood, marriage, or legal adoption to, or who are the legal |
| 79 | wards of, an adult household member who meets the level 2 |
| 80 | screening requirements as provided in s. 435.04, Florida |
| 81 | Statutes. Supervision of the provider's household children shall |
| 82 | be left to the discretion of the provider unless those children |
| 83 | receive subsidized child care to be in the home. |
| 84 | (d)(b) Child care may be provided for 24 hours or longer |
| 85 | for a child whose parent or legal guardian works a shift of 24 |
| 86 | hours or more. The requirement that a parent or legal guardian |
| 87 | work a shift of 24 hours or more must be certified in writing by |
| 88 | the employer, and the written certification must be maintained |
| 89 | in the facility by the child care provider and made available to |
| 90 | the license board and the state child care licensing agency. The |
| 91 | time that a child remains in child care, however, may not exceed |
| 92 | 72 consecutive hours in any 7-day period. During a declared |
| 93 | state of emergency, the license board or the state child care |
| 94 | licensing agency may temporarily waive the time limitations |
| 95 | provided in this paragraph. |
| 96 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2010. |