Senate Bill sb1572er
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2004 Legislature CS for SB 1572
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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.
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10 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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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.
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2004 Legislature CS for SB 1572
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.
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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.
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2004 Legislature CS for SB 1572
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.
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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.
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