The Florida Senate

402.27  Child care and early childhood resource and referral.--The Department of Children and Family Services shall establish a statewide child care resource and referral network. Preference shall be given to using the already established central agencies for subsidized child care as the child care resource and referral agency. If the agency cannot comply with the requirements to offer the resource information component or does not want to offer that service, the Department of Children and Family Services shall select the resource information agency based upon a request for proposal. At least one child care resource and referral agency must be established in each district of the department, but no more than one may be established in any county. Child care resource and referral agencies shall provide the following services:

(1)  Identification of existing public and private child care and early childhood education services, including child care services by public and private employers, and the development of a resource file of those services. These services may include family day care, public and private child care programs, head start, prekindergarten early intervention programs, special education programs for prekindergarten handicapped children, services for children with developmental disabilities, full-time and part-time programs, before-school and after-school programs, vacation care programs, parent education, the WAGES Program, and related family support services. The resource file shall include, but not be limited to:

(a)  Type of program.

(b)  Hours of service.

(c)  Ages of children served.

(d)  Number of children served.

(e)  Significant program information.

(f)  Fees and eligibility for services.

(g)  Availability of transportation.

(2)  The establishment of a referral process which responds to parental need for information and which is provided with full recognition of the confidentiality rights of parents. Resource and referral programs shall make referrals to licensed child care facilities. Referrals shall be made to an unlicensed child care facility or arrangement only if there is no requirement that the facility or arrangement be licensed.

(3)  Maintenance of ongoing documentation of requests for service tabulated through the internal referral process. The following documentation of requests for service shall be maintained by all child care resource and referral agencies:

(a)  Number of calls and contacts to the child care information and referral agency component by type of service requested.

(b)  Ages of children for whom service was requested.

(c)  Time category of child care requests for each child.

(d)  Special time category, such as nights, weekends, and swing shift.

(e)  Reason that the child care is needed.

(f)  Name of the employer and primary focus of the business.

(4)  Provision of technical assistance to existing and potential providers of child care services. This assistance may include:

(a)  Information on initiating new child care services, zoning, and program and budget development and assistance in finding such information from other sources.

(b)  Information and resources which help existing child care services providers to maximize their ability to serve children and parents in their community.

(c)  Information and incentives which could help existing or planned child care services offered by public or private employers seeking to maximize their ability to serve the children of their working parent employees in their community, through contractual or other funding arrangements with businesses.

(5)  Assistance to families and employers in applying for various sources of subsidy including, but not limited to, subsidized child care, head start, prekindergarten early intervention programs, Project Independence, private scholarships, and the federal dependent care tax credit.

(6)  Assistance to state agencies in determining the market rate for child care.

(7)  Assistance in negotiating discounts or other special arrangements with child care providers.

(8)  Information and assistance to local interagency councils coordinating services for prekindergarten handicapped children.

(9)  Assistance to families in identifying summer recreation camp and summer day camp programs and in evaluating the health and safety qualities of summer recreation camp and summer day camp programs and in evaluating the health and safety qualities of summer camp programs. Contingent upon specific appropriation, a checklist of important health and safety qualities that parents can use to choose their summer camp programs shall be developed and distributed in a manner that will reach parents interested in such programs for their children.

(10)  A child care facility licensed under s. 402.305 and licensed and registered family day care homes must provide the statewide child care and resource and referral agencies with the following information annually:

(a)  Type of program.

(b)  Hours of service.

(c)  Ages of children served.

(d)  Fees and eligibility for services.

History.--s. 5, ch. 89-379; s. 6, ch. 91-300; s. 71, ch. 96-175; s. 143, ch. 99-8; s. 13, ch. 2000-253.