CS/CS/HB 139

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to child care facilities; amending s.
3	402.281, F.S.; revising the criteria for a child care
4	facility, large family child care home, or family day care
5	home to obtain and maintain a designation as a Gold Seal
6	Quality Care provider; amending s. 402.302, F.S.; revising
7	and providing definitions; providing for certain household
8	children to be included in calculations regarding the
9	capacity of licensed family day care homes and large
10	family child care homes; providing conditions for
11	supervision of household children of operators of family
12	day care homes and large family child care homes; amending
13	s. 402.318, F.S.; revising advertising requirements
14	applicable to child care facilities; providing penalties;
15	amending s. 411.01, F.S.; conforming a cross-reference;
16	providing an effective date.
17
18	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
19
20	Section 1.  Paragraph (c) of subsection (4) of section
21	402.281, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
22	402.281  Gold Seal Quality Care program.-
23	(4)  In order to obtain and maintain a designation as a
24	Gold Seal Quality Care provider, a child care facility, large
25	family child care home, or family day care home must meet the
26	following additional criteria:
27	(c)  The child care provider must not have been cited for
28	the same class III violation, as defined by rule, three or more
29	times and failed to correct the violation within 1 year after
30	the date of each citation, within the 2 years preceding its
31	application for designation as a Gold Seal Quality Care
32	provider. Commission of the same class III violation three or
33	more times and failure to correct within the required time
34	during a 2-year period may shall be grounds for termination of
35	the designation as a Gold Seal Quality Care provider until the
36	provider has no class III violations for a period of 1 year.
37	Section 2.  Section 402.302, Florida Statutes, is amended
38	to read:
39	402.302  Definitions.-As used in this chapter, the term:
40	(1)  "Child care" means the care, protection, and
41	supervision of a child, for a period of less than 24 hours a day
42	on a regular basis, which supplements parental care, enrichment,
43	and health supervision for the child, in accordance with his or
44	her individual needs, and for which a payment, fee, or grant is
45	made for care.
46	(2)  "Child care facility" includes any child care center
47	or child care arrangement which provides child care for more
48	than five children unrelated to the operator and which receives
49	a payment, fee, or grant for any of the children receiving care,
50	wherever operated, and whether or not operated for profit. The
51	following are not included:
52	(a)  Public schools and nonpublic schools and their
53	integral programs, except as provided in s. 402.3025;
54	(b)  Summer camps having children in full-time residence;
55	(c)  Summer day camps;
56	(d)  Bible schools normally conducted during vacation
57	periods; and
58	(e)  Operators of transient establishments, as defined in
59	chapter 509, which provide child care services solely for the
60	guests of their establishment or resort, provided that all child
61	care personnel of the establishment are screened according to
62	the level 2 screening requirements of chapter 435.
63	(3)  "Child care personnel" means all owners, operators,
64	employees, and volunteers working in a child care facility. The
65	term does not include persons who work in a child care facility
66	after hours when children are not present or parents of children
67	in a child care facility. For purposes of screening, the term
68	includes any member, over the age of 12 years, of a child care
69	facility operator's family, or person, over the age of 12 years,
70	residing with a child care facility operator if the child care
71	facility is located in or adjacent to the home of the operator
72	or if the family member of, or person residing with, the child
73	care facility operator has any direct contact with the children
74	in the facility during its hours of operation. Members of the
75	operator's family or persons residing with the operator who are
76	between the ages of 12 years and 18 years are not required to be
77	fingerprinted but must be screened for delinquency records. For
78	purposes of screening, the term also includes persons who work
79	in child care programs that provide care for children 15 hours
80	or more each week in public or nonpublic schools, family day
81	care homes, or programs otherwise exempted under s. 402.316. The
82	term does not include public or nonpublic school personnel who
83	are providing care during regular school hours, or after hours
84	for activities related to a school's program for grades
85	kindergarten through 12. A volunteer who assists on an
86	intermittent basis for less than 10 hours per month is not
87	included in the term "personnel" for the purposes of screening
88	and training if a person who meets the screening requirement of
89	s. 402.305(2) is always present and has the volunteer in his or
90	her line of sight. Students who observe and participate in a
91	child care facility as a part of their required coursework are
92	not considered child care personnel, provided such observation
93	and participation are on an intermittent basis and a person who
94	meets the screening requirement of s. 402.305(2) is always
95	present and has the student in his or her line of sight.
96	(4)  "Child welfare provider" means a licensed child-caring
97	or child-placing agency.
98	(5)  "Department" means the Department of Children and
99	Family Services.
100	(6)  "Drop-in child care" means child care provided
101	occasionally in a child care facility in a shopping mall or
102	business establishment where a child is in care for no more than
103	a 4-hour period and the parent remains on the premises of the
104	shopping mall or business establishment at all times. Drop-in
105	child care arrangements shall meet all requirements for a child
106	care facility unless specifically exempted.
107	(7)  "Evening child care" means child care provided during
108	the evening hours and may encompass the hours of 6:00 p.m. to
109	7:00 a.m. to accommodate parents who work evenings and late-
110	night shifts.
111	(8)  "Family day care home" means an occupied residence in
112	which child care is regularly provided for children from at
113	least two unrelated families and which receives a payment, fee,
114	or grant for any of the children receiving care, whether or not
115	operated for profit. Household children under 13 years of age,
116	when on the premises of the family day care home or on a field
117	trip with children enrolled in child care, shall be included in
118	the overall capacity of the licensed home. A family day care
119	home shall be allowed to provide care for one of the following
120	groups of children, which shall include household those children
121	under 13 years of age who are related to the caregiver:
122	(a)  A maximum of four children from birth to 12 months of
123	age.
124	(b)  A maximum of three children from birth to 12 months of
125	age, and other children, for a maximum total of six children.
126	(c)  A maximum of six preschool children if all are older
127	than 12 months of age.
128	(d)  A maximum of 10 children if no more than 5 are
129	preschool age and, of those 5, no more than 2 are under 12
130	months of age.
131	(9)  "Household children" means children who are related by
132	blood, marriage, or legal adoption to, or who are the legal
133	wards of, the family day care home operator, the large family
134	child care home operator, or an adult household member who
135	permanently or temporarily resides in the home. Supervision of
136	the operator's household children shall be left to the
137	discretion of the operator unless those children receive
138	subsidized child care through the School Readiness Program
139	pursuant to s. 411.0101 to be in the home.
140	(10)  "Indoor recreational facility" means an indoor
141	commercial facility which is established for the primary purpose
142	of entertaining children in a planned fitness environment
143	through equipment, games, and activities in conjunction with
144	food service and which provides child care for a particular
145	child no more than 4 hours on any one day. An indoor
146	recreational facility must be licensed as a child care facility
147	under s. 402.305, but is exempt from the minimum outdoor-square-
148	footage-per-child requirement specified in that section, if the
149	indoor recreational facility has, at a minimum, 3,000 square
150	feet of usable indoor floor space.
151	(11)(9)  "Large family child care home" means an occupied
152	residence in which child care is regularly provided for children
153	from at least two unrelated families, which receives a payment,
154	fee, or grant for any of the children receiving care, whether or
155	not operated for profit, and which has at least two full-time
156	child care personnel on the premises during the hours of
157	operation. One of the two full-time child care personnel must be
158	the owner or occupant of the residence. A large family child
159	care home must first have operated as a licensed family day care
160	home for 2 years, with an operator who has had a child
161	development associate credential or its equivalent for 1 year,
162	before seeking licensure as a large family child care home.
163	Household children under 13 years of age, when on the premises
164	of the large family child care home or on a field trip with
165	children enrolled in child care, shall be included in the
166	overall capacity of the licensed home. A large family child care
167	home shall be allowed to provide care for one of the following
168	groups of children, which shall include household those children
169	under 13 years of age who are related to the caregiver:
170	(a)  A maximum of 8 children from birth to 24 months of
171	age.
172	(b)  A maximum of 12 children, with no more than 4 children
173	under 24 months of age.
174	(12)(11)  "Local licensing agency" means any agency or
175	individual designated by the county to license child care
176	facilities.
177	(13)(12)  "Operator" means any onsite person ultimately
178	responsible for the overall operation of a child care facility,
179	whether or not he or she is the owner or administrator of such
180	facility.
181	(14)(13)  "Owner" means the person who is licensed to
182	operate the child care facility.
183	(15)(14)  "Screening" means the act of assessing the
184	background of child care personnel and volunteers and includes,
185	but is not limited to, employment history checks, local criminal
186	records checks through local law enforcement agencies,
187	fingerprinting for all purposes and checks in this subsection,
188	statewide criminal records checks through the Department of Law
189	Enforcement, and federal criminal records checks through the
190	Federal Bureau of Investigation.
191	(16)(15)  "Secretary" means the Secretary of Children and
192	Family Services.
193	(17)(16)  "Substantial compliance" means that level of
194	adherence which is sufficient to safeguard the health, safety,
195	and well-being of all children under care. Substantial
196	compliance is greater than minimal adherence but not to the
197	level of absolute adherence. Where a violation or variation is
198	identified as the type which impacts, or can be reasonably
199	expected within 90 days to impact, the health, safety, or well-
200	being of a child, there is no substantial compliance.
201	(18)(17)  "Weekend child care" means child care provided
202	between the hours of 6 p.m. on Friday and 6 a.m. on Monday.
203	Section 3.  Section 402.318, Florida Statutes, is amended
204	to read:
205	402.318  Advertisement.-A No person, as defined in s.
206	1.01(3), may not shall advertise a child care facility, family
207	day care home, or large family child care home without including
208	within such advertisement the state or local agency license
209	number or registration number of such facility or home.
210	Violation of this section is a misdemeanor of the first degree,
211	punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.
212	Section 4.  Paragraph (c) of subsection (5) of section
213	411.01, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
214	411.01  School readiness programs; early learning
215	coalitions.-
216	(5)  CREATION OF EARLY LEARNING COALITIONS.-
217	(c)  Program expectations.-
218	1.  The school readiness program must meet the following
219	expectations:
220	a.  The program must, at a minimum, enhance the age-
221	appropriate progress of each child in attaining the performance
222	standards and outcome measures adopted by the Agency for
223	Workforce Innovation.
224	b.  The program must provide extended-day and extended-year
225	services to the maximum extent possible without compromising the
226	quality of the program to meet the needs of parents who work.
227	c.  The program must provide a coordinated professional
228	development system that supports the achievement and maintenance
229	of core competencies by school readiness instructors in helping
230	children attain the performance standards and outcome measures
231	adopted by the Agency for Workforce Innovation.
232	d.  There must be expanded access to community services and
233	resources for families to help achieve economic self-
234	sufficiency.
235	e.  There must be a single point of entry and unified
236	waiting list. As used in this sub-subparagraph, the term "single
237	point of entry" means an integrated information system that
238	allows a parent to enroll his or her child in the school
239	readiness program at various locations throughout a county, that
240	may allow a parent to enroll his or her child by telephone or
241	through an Internet website, and that uses a unified waiting
242	list to track eligible children waiting for enrollment in the
243	school readiness program. The Agency for Workforce Innovation
244	shall establish through technology a single statewide
245	information system that each coalition must use for the purposes
246	of managing the single point of entry, tracking children's
247	progress, coordinating services among stakeholders, determining
248	eligibility, tracking child attendance, and streamlining
249	administrative processes for providers and early learning
250	coalitions.
251	f.  The Agency for Workforce Innovation must consider the
252	access of eligible children to the school readiness program, as
253	demonstrated in part by waiting lists, before approving a
254	proposed increase in payment rates submitted by an early
255	learning coalition. In addition, early learning coalitions shall
256	use school readiness funds made available due to enrollment
257	shifts from school readiness programs to the Voluntary
258	Prekindergarten Education Program for increasing the number of
259	children served in school readiness programs before increasing
260	payment rates.
261	g.  The program must meet all state licensing guidelines,
262	where applicable.
263	h.  The program must ensure that minimum standards for
264	child discipline practices are age-appropriate. Such standards
265	must provide that children not be subjected to discipline that
266	is severe, humiliating, or frightening or discipline that is
267	associated with food, rest, or toileting. Spanking or any other
268	form of physical punishment is prohibited.
269	2.  Each early learning coalition must implement a
270	comprehensive program of school readiness services in accordance
271	with the rules adopted by the agency which enhance the
272	cognitive, social, and physical development of children to
273	achieve the performance standards and outcome measures. At a
274	minimum, these programs must contain the following system
275	support service elements:
276	a.  Developmentally appropriate curriculum designed to
277	enhance the age-appropriate progress of children in attaining
278	the performance standards adopted by the Agency for Workforce
279	Innovation under subparagraph (4)(d)8.
280	b.  A character development program to develop basic
281	values.
282	c.  An age-appropriate screening of each child's
283	development.
284	d.  An age-appropriate assessment administered to children
285	when they enter a program and an age-appropriate assessment
286	administered to children when they leave the program.
287	e.  An appropriate staff-to-children ratio, pursuant to s.
288	402.305(4) or s. 402.302(8) or (11)(7) or (8), as applicable,
289	and as verified pursuant to s. 402.311.
290	f.  A healthy and safe environment pursuant to s.
291	401.305(5), (6), and (7), as applicable, and as verified
292	pursuant to s. 402.311.
293	g.  A resource and referral network established under s.
294	411.0101 to assist parents in making an informed choice and a
295	regional Warm-Line under s. 411.01015.
296
297	The Agency for Workforce Innovation, the Department of
298	Education, and early learning coalitions shall coordinate with
299	the Child Care Services Program Office of the Department of
300	Children and Family Services to minimize duplicating interagency
301	activities pertaining to acquiring and composing data for child
302	care training and credentialing.
303	Section 5.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2011.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.