Senate Bill sb1572c1

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
    Florida Senate - 2004                           CS for SB 1572

    By the Committee on Children and Families; and Senator Fasano





    300-2070-04

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to child care personnel

  3         training; amending s. 402.305, F.S.; requiring

  4         child care personnel to be trained in

  5         recognizing and preventing shaken baby

  6         syndrome, preventing sudden infant death

  7         syndrome, and understanding early childhood

  8         brain development; providing an effective date.

  9  

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

11  

12         Section 1.  Paragraph (d) of subsection (2) of section

13  402.305, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:

14         402.305  Licensing standards; child care facilities.--

15         (2)  PERSONNEL.--Minimum standards for child care

16  personnel shall include minimum requirements as to:

17         (d)  Minimum training requirements for child care

18  personnel.

19         1.  Such minimum standards for training shall ensure

20  that all child care personnel take an approved 40-clock-hour

21  introductory course in child care, which course covers at

22  least the following topic areas:

23         a.  State and local rules and regulations which govern

24  child care.

25         b.  Health, safety, and nutrition.

26         c.  Identifying and reporting child abuse and neglect.

27         d.  Child development, including typical and atypical

28  language, cognitive, motor, social, and self-help skills

29  development.

30  

31  

                                  1

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






    Florida Senate - 2004                           CS for SB 1572
    300-2070-04




 1         e.  Observation of developmental behaviors, including

 2  using a checklist or other similar observation tools and

 3  techniques to determine the child's developmental age level.

 4         f.  Specialized areas, including computer technology

 5  for professional and classroom use and early literacy and

 6  language development of children from birth to 5 years of age,

 7  as determined by the department, for owner-operators and child

 8  care personnel of a child care facility.

 9  

10  Within 90 days after employment, child care personnel shall

11  begin training to meet the training requirements. Child care

12  personnel shall successfully complete such training within 1

13  year after the date on which the training began, as evidenced

14  by passage of a competency examination. Successful completion

15  of the 40-clock-hour introductory course shall articulate into

16  community college credit in early childhood education,

17  pursuant to ss. 1007.24 and 1007.25. Exemption from all or a

18  portion of the required training shall be granted to child

19  care personnel based upon educational credentials or passage

20  of competency examinations. Child care personnel possessing a

21  2-year degree or higher that includes 6 college credit hours

22  in early childhood development or child growth and

23  development, or a child development associate credential or an

24  equivalent state-approved child development associate

25  credential, or a child development associate waiver

26  certificate shall be automatically exempted from the training

27  requirements in sub-subparagraphs b., d., and e.

28         2.  The introductory course in child care shall stress,

29  to the extent possible, an interdisciplinary approach to the

30  study of children.

31  

                                  2

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






    Florida Senate - 2004                           CS for SB 1572
    300-2070-04




 1         3.  The introductory course shall cover recognition and

 2  prevention of shaken baby syndrome, prevention of sudden

 3  infant death syndrome, and early childhood brain development

 4  within the topic areas identified in this paragraph.

 5         4.3.  On an annual basis in order to further their

 6  child care skills and, if appropriate, administrative skills,

 7  child care personnel who have fulfilled the requirements for

 8  the child care training shall be required to take an

 9  additional 1 continuing education unit of approved inservice

10  training, or 10 clock hours of equivalent training, as

11  determined by the department.

12         5.4.  Child care personnel shall be required to

13  complete 0.5 continuing education unit of approved training or

14  5 clock hours of equivalent training, as determined by the

15  department, in early literacy and language development of

16  children from birth to 5 years of age one time. The year that

17  this training is completed, it shall fulfill the 0.5

18  continuing education unit or 5 clock hours of the annual

19  training required in subparagraph 4 3.

20         6.5.  Procedures for ensuring the training of qualified

21  child care professionals to provide training of child care

22  personnel, including onsite training, shall be included in the

23  minimum standards. It is recommended that the state community

24  child care coordination agencies (central agencies) be

25  contracted by the department to coordinate such training when

26  possible. Other district educational resources, such as

27  community colleges and vocational-technical programs, can be

28  designated in such areas where central agencies may not exist

29  or are determined not to have the capability to meet the

30  coordination requirements set forth by the department.

31  

                                  3

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






    Florida Senate - 2004                           CS for SB 1572
    300-2070-04




 1         7.6.  Training requirements shall not apply to certain

 2  occasional or part-time support staff, including, but not

 3  limited to, swimming instructors, piano teachers, dance

 4  instructors, and gymnastics instructors.

 5         8.7.  The department shall evaluate or contract for an

 6  evaluation for the general purpose of determining the status

 7  of and means to improve staff training requirements and

 8  testing procedures. The evaluation shall be conducted every 2

 9  years. The evaluation shall include, but not be limited to,

10  determining the availability, quality, scope, and sources of

11  current staff training; determining the need for specialty

12  training; and determining ways to increase inservice training

13  and ways to increase the accessibility, quality, and

14  cost-effectiveness of current and proposed staff training. The

15  evaluation methodology shall include a reliable and valid

16  survey of child care personnel.

17         9.8.  The child care operator shall be required to take

18  basic training in serving children with disabilities within 5

19  years after employment, either as a part of the introductory

20  training or the annual 8 hours of inservice training.

21         Section 2.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a

22  law.

23  

24          STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
                       COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
25                         Senate Bill 1572

26                                 

27  Modifies the placement of the training requirement being added
    by the bill to clarify that additional training modules are
28  not required.

29  

30  

31  

                                  4

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