House Bill hb0179c2

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2001           CS/CS/HB 179

        By the Committees on Information Technology, Child &
    Family Security and Representatives Lynn, Rich and Bucher





  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to child care facilities;

  3         amending s. 402.3055, F.S.; requiring

  4         validation of information provided by an

  5         applicant for a child care facility license;

  6         creating s. 402.3105, F.S.; requiring the

  7         Department of Children and Family Services to

  8         establish a database of information relating to

  9         violations, citations, and penalties imposed

10         against child care facilities regulated by the

11         state; providing duties of the State Technology

12         Office; specifying database capabilities and

13         uses of information contained therein;

14         requiring the department to establish and

15         impose uniform penalties; amending s. 409.146,

16         F.S., relating to children and families client

17         and management information; deleting obsolete

18         language; providing an effective date.

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20  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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22         Section 1.  Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section

23  402.3055, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:

24         402.3055  Child care personnel requirements.--

25         (1)  REQUIREMENTS FOR CHILD CARE PERSONNEL.--

26         (a)  The department or local licensing agency shall

27  require that the application for a child care license contain

28  a question that specifically asks the applicant, owner, or

29  operator if he or she has ever had a license denied, revoked,

30  or suspended in any state or jurisdiction or has been the

31  subject of a disciplinary action or been fined while employed

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  1  in a child care facility. The applicant, owner, or operator

  2  shall sign an affidavit attesting attest to the accuracy of

  3  the information requested under penalty of perjury.

  4         1.  If the applicant, owner, or operator admits that he

  5  or she has been a party in such action, the department or

  6  local licensing agency shall review the nature of the

  7  suspension, revocation, disciplinary action, or fine before

  8  granting the applicant a license to operate a child care

  9  facility.

10         2.  If the applicant, owner, or operator denies that he

11  or she has been a party in such action in Florida, the

12  department or local licensing agency shall validate the

13  information provided by reviewing statewide child care

14  licensing records to determine if the applicant has had a

15  license denied, revoked, or suspended or has been the subject

16  of a disciplinary action or been fined while employed in a

17  child care facility prior to issuing a license.

18         3.  If the department or local licensing agency

19  determines as the result of such review that it is not in the

20  best interest of the state or local jurisdiction for the

21  applicant to be licensed, a license shall not be granted.

22         Section 2.  Section 402.3105, Florida Statutes, is

23  created to read:

24         402.3105  Central database on violations, citations,

25  and penalties imposed against child care facilities.--The

26  Department of Children and Family Services shall establish and

27  maintain a central database to record and compile all district

28  information relating to violations, citations, and penalties

29  imposed against child care facilities regulated by the

30  department. The database shall be designed by the State

31  Technology Office, in consultation with the department

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  1  pursuant to chapter 282, and the department shall implement,

  2  operate, and maintain the system in accordance with the

  3  policies and procedures established by the office. The

  4  database shall be operated in a manner that enables the

  5  department to identify and locate such information for

  6  purposes of monitoring and evaluating the uniformity and

  7  effectiveness of district investigations and enforcement, in

  8  order to ensure compliance of child care facilities with state

  9  regulatory requirements. The database shall further maintain

10  and produce aggregate statistical reports monitoring patterns

11  of violations, citations, and penalties, including the classes

12  and types of violations, and any actions taken to suspend or

13  revoke the license of a child care facility. The information

14  in the database shall serve as a resource for the evaluation

15  of child care facilities for license renewal but may not be

16  used for employment screening. The information in the database

17  shall be made available to the public upon request.

18         Section 3.  The Department of Children and Family

19  Services shall establish and impose uniform penalties for

20  violations of ss. 402.301-402.319, Florida Statutes, and rules

21  adopted thereunder.

22         Section 4.  Subsection (9) of section 409.146, Florida

23  Statutes, is amended to read:

24         409.146  Children and families client and management

25  information system.--

26         (9)  The Department of Children and Family Services

27  shall provide an annual report to the Joint Information

28  Technology Resources Committee. The committee shall review the

29  report and shall forward the report, along with its comments,

30  to the appropriate substantive and appropriations committees

31  of the House of Representatives and the Senate delineating the

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  1  development status of the system and other information

  2  necessary for funding and policy formulation. In developing

  3  the system, the Department of Children and Family Services

  4  shall consider and report on the availability of, and the

  5  costs associated with using, existing software and systems,

  6  including, but not limited to, those that are operational in

  7  other states, to meet the requirements of this section. The

  8  department shall also consider and report on the compatibility

  9  of such existing software and systems with an integrated

10  management information system. The report shall be submitted

11  no later than December 1 of each year.

12         Section 5.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a

13  law.

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