| 1 | The Committee on Future of Florida's Families recommends the |
| 2 | following: |
| 3 |
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| 4 | Committee Substitute |
| 5 | Remove the entire bill and insert: |
| 6 | A bill to be entitled |
| 7 | An act relating to child care personnel training; amending |
| 8 | s. 402.305, F.S.; requiring child care personnel to be |
| 9 | trained in recognizing and preventing shaken baby |
| 10 | syndrome, preventing sudden infant death syndrome, and |
| 11 | understanding early childhood brain development; providing |
| 12 | an effective date. |
| 13 |
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| 14 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 15 |
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| 16 | Section 1. Paragraph (d) of subsection (2) of section |
| 17 | 402.305, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 18 | 402.305 Licensing standards; child care facilities.-- |
| 19 | (2) PERSONNEL.--Minimum standards for child care personnel |
| 20 | shall include minimum requirements as to: |
| 21 | (d) Minimum training requirements for child care |
| 22 | personnel. |
| 23 | 1. Such minimum standards for training shall ensure that |
| 24 | all child care personnel take an approved 40-clock-hour |
| 25 | introductory course in child care, which course covers at least |
| 26 | the following topic areas: |
| 27 | a. State and local rules and regulations which govern |
| 28 | child care. |
| 29 | b. Health, safety, and nutrition. |
| 30 | c. Identifying and reporting child abuse and neglect. |
| 31 | d. Child development, including typical and atypical |
| 32 | language, cognitive, motor, social, and self-help skills |
| 33 | development. |
| 34 | e. Observation of developmental behaviors, including using |
| 35 | a checklist or other similar observation tools and techniques to |
| 36 | determine the child's developmental age level. |
| 37 | f. Specialized areas, including computer technology for |
| 38 | professional and classroom use and early literacy and language |
| 39 | development of children from birth to 5 years of age, as |
| 40 | determined by the department, for owner-operators and child care |
| 41 | personnel of a child care facility. |
| 42 |
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| 43 | Within 90 days after employment, child care personnel shall |
| 44 | begin training to meet the training requirements. Child care |
| 45 | personnel shall successfully complete such training within 1 |
| 46 | year after the date on which the training began, as evidenced by |
| 47 | passage of a competency examination. Successful completion of |
| 48 | the 40-clock-hour introductory course shall articulate into |
| 49 | community college credit in early childhood education, pursuant |
| 50 | to ss. 1007.24 and 1007.25. Exemption from all or a portion of |
| 51 | the required training shall be granted to child care personnel |
| 52 | based upon educational credentials or passage of competency |
| 53 | examinations. Child care personnel possessing a 2-year degree or |
| 54 | higher that includes 6 college credit hours in early childhood |
| 55 | development or child growth and development, or a child |
| 56 | development associate credential or an equivalent state-approved |
| 57 | child development associate credential, or a child development |
| 58 | associate waiver certificate shall be automatically exempted |
| 59 | from the training requirements in sub-subparagraphs b., d., and |
| 60 | e. |
| 61 | 2. The introductory course in child care shall stress, to |
| 62 | the extent possible, an interdisciplinary approach to the study |
| 63 | of children. |
| 64 | 3. The introductory course shall cover the recognition and |
| 65 | prevention of shaken baby syndrome, prevention of sudden infant |
| 66 | death syndrome, and early childhood brain development within the |
| 67 | topic areas identified in this paragraph. |
| 68 | 4.3. On an annual basis in order to further their child |
| 69 | care skills and, if appropriate, administrative skills, child |
| 70 | care personnel who have fulfilled the requirements for the child |
| 71 | care training shall be required to take an additional 1 |
| 72 | continuing education unit of approved inservice training, or 10 |
| 73 | clock hours of equivalent training, as determined by the |
| 74 | department. |
| 75 | 5.4. Child care personnel shall be required to complete |
| 76 | 0.5 continuing education unit of approved training or 5 clock |
| 77 | hours of equivalent training, as determined by the department, |
| 78 | in early literacy and language development of children from |
| 79 | birth to 5 years of age one time. The year that this training is |
| 80 | completed, it shall fulfill the 0.5 continuing education unit or |
| 81 | 5 clock hours of the annual training required in subparagraph 4. |
| 82 | 3. |
| 83 | 6.5. Procedures for ensuring the training of qualified |
| 84 | child care professionals to provide training of child care |
| 85 | personnel, including onsite training, shall be included in the |
| 86 | minimum standards. It is recommended that the state community |
| 87 | child care coordination agencies (central agencies) be |
| 88 | contracted by the department to coordinate such training when |
| 89 | possible. Other district educational resources, such as |
| 90 | community colleges and vocational-technical programs, can be |
| 91 | designated in such areas where central agencies may not exist or |
| 92 | are determined not to have the capability to meet the |
| 93 | coordination requirements set forth by the department. |
| 94 | 7.6. Training requirements shall not apply to certain |
| 95 | occasional or part-time support staff, including, but not |
| 96 | limited to, swimming instructors, piano teachers, dance |
| 97 | instructors, and gymnastics instructors. |
| 98 | 8.7. The department shall evaluate or contract for an |
| 99 | evaluation for the general purpose of determining the status of |
| 100 | and means to improve staff training requirements and testing |
| 101 | procedures. The evaluation shall be conducted every 2 years. The |
| 102 | evaluation shall include, but not be limited to, determining the |
| 103 | availability, quality, scope, and sources of current staff |
| 104 | training; determining the need for specialty training; and |
| 105 | determining ways to increase inservice training and ways to |
| 106 | increase the accessibility, quality, and cost-effectiveness of |
| 107 | current and proposed staff training. The evaluation methodology |
| 108 | shall include a reliable and valid survey of child care |
| 109 | personnel. |
| 110 | 9.8. The child care operator shall be required to take |
| 111 | basic training in serving children with disabilities within 5 |
| 112 | years after employment, either as a part of the introductory |
| 113 | training or the annual 8 hours of inservice training. |
| 114 | Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law. |