Florida Senate - 2016                              CS for SB 156
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Community Affairs; and Senators Smith,
       Stargel, and Thompson
       
       
       
       
       578-01768-16                                           2016156c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to after-school programs; amending s.
    3         402.301, F.S.; deleting a legislative intent provision
    4         regarding certain not-for-profit organizations and
    5         background screening for such organizations; amending
    6         s. 435.02, F.S.; revising the term “specified agency”
    7         to include certain divisions within the Department of
    8         Education; creating s. 1006.05, F.S.; providing
    9         legislative findings; defining the term “not-for
   10         profit organization or municipal government”;
   11         providing applicability; authorizing such not-for
   12         profit organizations or municipal governments to
   13         continue certain licensures; requiring child care
   14         personnel of the not-for-profit organizations or
   15         municipal governments to meet certain background
   16         screening requirements; creating an advisory council;
   17         providing for membership of the advisory council;
   18         requiring that the advisory council submit a report to
   19         the Governor and the Legislature by a specified date;
   20         providing a directive to the Division of Law Revision
   21         and Information; providing an effective date.
   22          
   23  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   24  
   25         Section 1. Subsection (6) of section 402.301, Florida
   26  Statutes, is amended to read:
   27         402.301 Child care facilities; legislative intent and
   28  declaration of purpose and policy.—It is the legislative intent
   29  to protect the health, safety, and well-being of the children of
   30  the state and to promote their emotional and intellectual
   31  development and care. Toward that end:
   32         (6) It is further the intent that membership organizations
   33  affiliated with national organizations which do not provide
   34  child care, whose primary purpose is providing activities that
   35  contribute to the development of good character or good
   36  sportsmanship or to the education or cultural development of
   37  minors in this state, which charge only a nominal annual
   38  membership fee, which are not for profit, and which are
   39  certified by their national associations as being in compliance
   40  with the association’s minimum standards and procedures shall
   41  not be considered child care facilities. However, all personnel
   42  as defined in s. 402.302 of such membership organizations shall
   43  meet background screening requirements through the department
   44  pursuant to ss. 402.305 and 402.3055.
   45         Section 2. Subsection (5) of section 435.02, Florida
   46  Statutes, is amended to read:
   47         435.02 Definitions.—For the purposes of this chapter, the
   48  term:
   49         (5) “Specified agency” means the Department of Health, the
   50  Department of Children and Families, the Division of Vocational
   51  Rehabilitation within the Department of Education and any
   52  division within the Department of Education which conducts
   53  background screenings for after-school programs operated by not
   54  for-profit organizations or municipal governments, the Agency
   55  for Health Care Administration, the Department of Elderly
   56  Affairs, the Department of Juvenile Justice, the Agency for
   57  Persons with Disabilities, and local licensing agencies approved
   58  pursuant to s. 402.307, when these agencies are conducting state
   59  and national criminal history background screening on persons
   60  who work with children or persons who are elderly or disabled.
   61         Section 3. Section 1006.05, Florida Statutes, is created to
   62  read:
   63         1006.05After-school programs of not-for-profit
   64  organizations and municipal governments.—
   65         (1) The Legislature finds that not-for-profit organizations
   66  and municipal governments that conduct after-school programs
   67  contribute to improved learning and the academic success of the
   68  children and youth who attend the organizations’ or municipal
   69  governments’ programs.
   70         (2) As used in this section, the term “not-for-profit
   71  organization or municipal government means a not-for-profit
   72  organization or municipal government after school program that
   73  meets all of the following criteria:
   74         (a) Conducts school-based or facility-based after-school
   75  programs only for children and youth ages 6 to 18.
   76         (b) Provides assistance through such programs with
   77  homework, delinquency prevention, life skills, and the
   78  development of good character.
   79         (c) Operates 5 days a week or more during the school year
   80  and operates during school holidays and the summer months.
   81         (d) Charges only a nominal fee or no fee.
   82         (e) Meets the standards for quality set by the Not-for
   83  Profit After School Program Standards Advisory Council if such
   84  standards are adopted by the Legislature.
   85         (3) Sections 402.305-402.319 do not apply to not-for-profit
   86  organizations or municipal governments as defined in this
   87  section.
   88         (4) A not-for-profit organization or municipal government
   89  providing an after-school program that is licensed pursuant to
   90  s. 402.305 before the effective date of this act may continue to
   91  be licensed under s. 402.305 by submitting a notification of its
   92  election to the Department of Children and Families.
   93         (5) All child care personnel, as defined in s. 402.302, of
   94  a not-for-profit organization or municipal government must meet
   95  the background screening requirements of ss. 435.04 and 435.12
   96  through the Department of Education.
   97         Section 4. Not-for-Profit After-School Program Standards
   98  Advisory Council.—
   99         (1) The Not-for-Profit After-School Program Standards
  100  Advisory Council is created within the Department of Education
  101  to recommend reasonable and affordable minimum health,
  102  sanitation, and safety standards for after-school programs
  103  provided by not-for-profit organizations or municipal
  104  governments as defined in s. 1006.05, Florida Statutes.
  105         (2) The advisory council must consist of the following:
  106         (a) A member of the Senate appointed by the President of
  107  the Senate.
  108         (b) A member of the House of Representatives appointed by
  109  the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
  110         (c) The Commissioner of Education or his or her designee.
  111         (d) Three members appointed by the Governor representing
  112  the Florida AfterSchool Network, the Florida Alliance of the
  113  Boys and Girls Clubs, and a provider of a not-for-profit after
  114  school program.
  115         (e) One member appointed by the Governor as a consumer
  116  representative whose child is attending or has attended an
  117  after-school program provided by a not-for-profit organization.
  118         (3) The advisory council shall submit a report to the
  119  Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the
  120  House of Representatives by January 1, 2017.
  121         Section 5. The Division of Law Revision and Information is
  122  directed to replace the phrase “the effective date of this act”
  123  wherever it occurs in this act with such date.
  124         Section 6. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.