House Bill hb0175

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2002                 HB 175

        By Representative Lynn






  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 certain information provided by

  5         an applicant for a child care facility license;

  6         amending s. 402.301, F.S.; specifying which

  7         membership organizations are not considered

  8         child care facilities; amending s. 402.310,

  9         F.S.; requiring the Department of Children and

10         Family Services to establish and impose uniform

11         penalties relating to child care facility

12         violations; requiring implementation not

13         contingent upon an appropriation; creating s.

14         402.3105, F.S.; requiring the department to

15         establish a database of information relating to

16         violations, citations, and penalties imposed

17         against child care facilities regulated by the

18         state; providing duties of the State Technology

19         Office; specifying database capabilities and

20         uses of information contained therein;

21         requiring implementation not contingent upon an

22         appropriation; amending s. 409.146, F.S.,

23         relating to children and families client and

24         management information; deleting obsolete

25         language; amending ss. 402.26, 402.281,

26         402.302, and 402.3051, F.S.; deleting

27         references to certain exempt facilities;

28         repealing s. 402.316, F.S., relating to the

29         exemption from state regulation for child care

30         facilities operated by a church or parochial

31         school; providing an effective date.

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2002                 HB 175

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

  2

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

  4  402.3055, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:

  5         402.3055  Child care personnel requirements.--

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

  7         (a)  The department or local licensing agency shall

  8  require that the application for a child care license contain

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

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

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

12  subject of a disciplinary action or been fined while employed

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

14  shall sign an affidavit attesting attest to the accuracy of

15  the information requested under penalty of perjury.

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

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

18  local licensing agency shall review the nature of the

19  suspension, revocation, disciplinary action, or fine before

20  granting the applicant a license to operate a child care

21  facility.

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

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

24  department or local licensing agency shall validate the

25  information provided by reviewing statewide child care

26  licensing records to determine if the applicant has had a

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

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

29  child care facility prior to issuing a license.

30         3.  If the department or local licensing agency

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

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  1  best interest of the state or local jurisdiction for the

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

  3         Section 2.  Subsection (6) of section 402.301, Florida

  4  Statutes, is amended to read:

  5         402.301  Child care facilities; legislative intent and

  6  declaration of purpose and policy.--It is the legislative

  7  intent to protect the health, safety, and well-being of the

  8  children of the state and to promote their emotional and

  9  intellectual development and care.  Toward that end:

10         (6)  It is further the intent that membership

11  organizations that provide child care for school-age children

12  for not more than 4 hours per day and are affiliated with

13  national organizations which do not provide child care, whose

14  primary purpose is providing activities that contribute to the

15  development of good character or good sportsmanship or to the

16  education or cultural development of minors in this state,

17  which charge only a nominal annual membership fee, which are

18  not for profit, and which are certified by their national

19  associations as being in compliance with the association's

20  minimum standards and procedures shall not be considered child

21  care facilities and, therefore, their personnel shall not be

22  required to be screened. Care for children under kindergarten

23  age is considered child care and is subject to ss.

24  402.301-402.319.

25         Section 3.  Paragraph (c) is added to subsection (1) of

26  section 402.310, Florida Statutes, to read:

27         402.310  Disciplinary actions; hearings upon denial,

28  suspension, or revocation of license; administrative fines.--

29         (1)

30         (c)  The department shall establish and impose uniform

31  penalties for violations of ss. 402.301-402.319 and the rules

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  1  adopted thereunder. The department shall implement this

  2  paragraph beginning on the effective date of this act, and

  3  such implementation shall not be contingent upon a specific

  4  appropriation therefor.

  5         Section 4.  Section 402.3105, Florida Statutes, is

  6  created to read:

  7         402.3105  Central database on violations, citations,

  8  and penalties imposed against child care facilities.--

  9         (1)  The Department of Children and Family Services

10  shall establish and maintain a central database to record and

11  compile all district information relating to violations,

12  citations, and penalties imposed against child care facilities

13  regulated by the department. The database shall be designed by

14  the State Technology Office, in consultation with the

15  department pursuant to chapter 282, and the department shall

16  implement, operate, and maintain the system in accordance with

17  the policies and procedures established by the office.

18         (2)  The database shall be operated in a manner that

19  enables the department to identify and locate such information

20  for purposes of monitoring and evaluating the uniformity and

21  effectiveness of district investigations and enforcement, in

22  order to ensure compliance of child care facilities with state

23  regulatory requirements. The database shall further maintain

24  and produce aggregate statistical reports monitoring patterns

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

26  and types of violations and any actions taken to suspend or

27  revoke the license of a child care facility.

28         (3)  The information in the database shall serve as a

29  resource for the evaluation of child care facilities for

30  license renewal but may not be used for employment screening.

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  1  The information in the database shall be made available to the

  2  public upon request.

  3         (4)  The Department of Children and Family Services

  4  shall implement this section beginning on the effective date

  5  of this act, and such implementation shall not be contingent

  6  upon a specific appropriation therefor.

  7         Section 5.  Subsection (9) of section 409.146, Florida

  8  Statutes, is amended to read:

  9         409.146  Children and families client and management

10  information system.--

11         (9)  The Department of Children and Family Services

12  shall provide an annual report to the Joint Information

13  Technology Resources Committee. The committee shall review the

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

15  to the appropriate substantive and appropriations committees

16  of the House of Representatives and the Senate delineating the

17  development status of the system and other information

18  necessary for funding and policy formulation. In developing

19  the system, the Department of Children and Family Services

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

21  costs associated with using, existing software and systems,

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

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

24  department shall also consider and report on the compatibility

25  of such existing software and systems with an integrated

26  management information system. The report shall be submitted

27  no later than December 1 of each year.

28         Section 6.  Subsection (6) of section 402.26, Florida

29  Statutes, is amended to read:

30         402.26  Child care; legislative intent.--

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  1         (6)  It is the intent of the Legislature that a child

  2  care facility licensed pursuant to s. 402.305 or a child care

  3  facility exempt from licensing pursuant to s. 402.316, that

  4  achieves Gold Seal Quality status pursuant to s. 402.281, be

  5  considered an educational institution for the purpose of

  6  qualifying for exemption from ad valorem tax pursuant to s.

  7  196.198.

  8         Section 7.  Subsection (2) of section 402.281, Florida

  9  Statutes, is amended to read:

10         402.281  Gold Seal Quality Care program.--

11         (2)  In developing the Gold Seal Quality Care program

12  standards, the department shall consult with the Department of

13  Education, the Florida Head Start Directors Association, the

14  Florida Association of Child Care Management, the Florida

15  Family Day Care Association, the Florida Children's Forum, the

16  State Coordinating Council for School Readiness Programs, the

17  Early Childhood Association of Florida, the National

18  Association for Child Development Education, providers

19  receiving exemptions under s. 402.316, and parents, for the

20  purpose of approving the accrediting associations.

21         Section 8.  Subsection (3) of section 402.302, Florida

22  Statutes, is amended to read:

23         402.302  Definitions.--

24         (3)  "Child care personnel" means all owners,

25  operators, employees, and volunteers working in a child care

26  facility. The term does not include persons who work in a

27  child care facility after hours when children are not present

28  or parents of children in Head Start.  For purposes of

29  screening, the term includes any member, over the age of 12

30  years, of a child care facility operator's family, or person,

31  over the age of 12 years, residing with a child care facility

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2002                 HB 175

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  1  operator if the child care facility is located in or adjacent

  2  to the home of the operator or if the family member of, or

  3  person residing with, the child care facility operator has any

  4  direct contact with the children in the facility during its

  5  hours of operation. Members of the operator's family or

  6  persons residing with the operator who are between the ages of

  7  12 years and 18 years shall not be required to be

  8  fingerprinted but shall be screened for delinquency records.

  9  For purposes of screening, the term shall also include persons

10  who work in child care programs which provide care for

11  children 15 hours or more each week in public or nonpublic

12  schools, summer day camps, or family day care homes, or those

13  programs otherwise exempted under s. 402.316.  The term does

14  not include public or nonpublic school personnel who are

15  providing care during regular school hours, or after hours for

16  activities related to a school's program for grades

17  kindergarten through 12 as required under chapter 232.  A

18  volunteer who assists on an intermittent basis for less than

19  40 hours per month is not included in the term "personnel" for

20  the purposes of screening and training, provided that the

21  volunteer is under direct and constant supervision by persons

22  who meet the personnel requirements of s. 402.305(2).

23  Students who observe and participate in a child care facility

24  as a part of their required coursework shall not be considered

25  child care personnel, provided such observation and

26  participation are on an intermittent basis and the students

27  are under direct and constant supervision of child care

28  personnel.

29         Section 9.  Subsection (2) of section 402.3051, Florida

30  Statutes, is amended to read:

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  1         402.3051  Child care market rate reimbursement; child

  2  care grants.--

  3         (2)  The department shall establish procedures to

  4  reimburse licensed, exempt, or registered child care providers

  5  who hold a Gold Seal Quality Care designation at the market

  6  rate for child care services for children who are eligible to

  7  receive subsidized child care; and licensed, exempt, or

  8  registered child care providers at the prevailing market rate

  9  for child care services for children who are eligible to

10  receive subsidized child care, unless prohibited by federal

11  law under s. 402.3015. The department shall establish

12  procedures to reimburse providers of unregulated child care at

13  not more than 50 percent of the market rate. The payment

14  system may not interfere with the parents' decision as to the

15  appropriate child care arrangement, regardless of the level of

16  available funding for child care. The child care program

17  assessment tool may not be used to determine reimbursement

18  rates.

19         Section 10.  Section 402.316, Florida Statutes, is

20  repealed. The repeal of said section is not intended to affect

21  the curriculum of any child care facility affected by the

22  repeal.

23         Section 11.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2002.

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2002                 HB 175

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  2                          HOUSE SUMMARY

  3
      Requires validation of certain information provided by an
  4    applicant for a child care facility license. Specifies
      which membership organizations are not considered child
  5    care facilities. Requires the Department of Children and
      Family Services to establish and impose uniform penalties
  6    for violation of provisions regulating child care
      facilities. Requires the department to establish and
  7    maintain a database to monitor violations, citations, and
      penalties imposed against such facilities. Specifies
  8    certain capabilities of the database and uses of the
      information contained therein. Repeals an exemption from
  9    state regulation for child care facilities operated by a
      church or parochial school.
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