HB 139

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

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