HB 0839 2004
1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to child care facilities; amending s.
3	402.281, F.S.; revising the development of Gold Seal
4	Quality Care program standards; allowing the Department of
5	Children and Family Services to adopt standards and
6	procedures by rule; amending s. 402.305, F.S.; excluding
7	certain child care personnel from certain training
8	requirements; adding minimum education requirements for
9	child care personnel; amending s. 402.313, F.S.; revising
10	information provided by family day care homes for
11	registration; requiring operator substitutes to complete a
12	specified course in child care prior to caring for
13	children; providing an effective date.
14
15	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
16
17	Section 1. Section 402.281, Florida Statutes, is amended
18	to read:
19	402.281 Gold Seal Quality Care program.--
20	(1) Child care facilities, large family child care homes,
21	or family day care homes that are accredited by a national
22	nationally recognized accrediting association whose standards
23	and renewal requirements substantially meet or exceed those of
24	the National Association for the Education of Young Children
25	(NAEYC), the National Association of Family Child Care, and the
26	National Early Childhood Program Accreditation Commission shall
27	receive a separate "Gold Seal Quality Care" designation to
28	operate as a gold seal child care facility, large family child
29	care home, or family day care home.
30	(2) In developing the Gold Seal Quality Care program
31	standards and approving the accrediting associations, the
32	department shall:
33	(a) Provide for a selection of high-quality accrediting
34	associations that adequately reflect the diversity of the full
35	range of child care providers while maintaining the integrity
36	and manageability of the program.
37	(b) Consult with the Florida Partnership for School
38	Readiness,the Department of Education, the Florida Head Start
39	Directors Association, the Florida Association of Child Care
40	Management, the Florida Family Day Care Association, the Florida
41	Children's Forum, the State Coordinating Council for School
42	Readiness Programs, the Early Childhood Association of Florida,
43	the National Association for Child Development Education,
44	providers receiving exemptions under s. 402.316, and parents,
45	for the purpose of approving the accrediting associations.
46	(3) The department may, by rule, adopt standards and
47	procedures necessary for the implementation of the program.
48	Section 2. Paragraph (d) of subsection (2) and subsection
49	(3) of section 402.305, Florida Statutes, are amended, and
50	paragraph (g) is added to subsection (2) of said section, to
51	read:
52	402.305 Licensing standards; child care facilities.--
53	(2) PERSONNEL.--Minimum standards for child care personnel
54	shall include minimum requirements as to:
55	(d) Minimum training requirements for child care
56	personnel.
57	1. Such minimum standards for training shall ensure that
58	all child care personnel take an approved 40-clock-hour
59	introductory course in child care, which course covers at least
60	the following topic areas:
61	a. State and local rules and regulations which govern
62	child care.
63	b. Health, safety, and nutrition.
64	c. Identifying and reporting child abuse and neglect.
65	d. Child development, including typical and atypical
66	language, cognitive, motor, social, and self-help skills
67	development.
68	e. Observation of developmental behaviors, including using
69	a checklist or other similar observation tools and techniques to
70	determine the child's developmental age level.
71	f. Specialized areas, including computer technology for
72	professional and classroom use and early literacy and language
73	development of children from birth to 5 years of age, as
74	determined by the department, for owner-operators and child care
75	personnel of a child care facility.
76
77	Within 90 days after employment, child care personnel shall
78	begin training to meet the training requirements. Child care
79	personnel shall successfully complete such training within 1
80	year after the date on which the training began, as evidenced by
81	passage of a competency examination. Successful completion of
82	the 40-clock-hour introductory course shall articulate into
83	community college credit in early childhood education, pursuant
84	to ss. 1007.24 and 1007.25. Exemption from all or a portion of
85	the required training shall be granted to child care personnel
86	based upon educational credentials or passage of competency
87	examinations. Child care personnel possessing a 2-year degree or
88	higher that includes 6 college credit hours in early childhood
89	development or child growth and development, or a child
90	development associate credential or an equivalent state-approved
91	child development associate credential, or a child development
92	associate waiver certificate shall be automatically exempted
93	from the training requirements in sub-subparagraphs b., d., and
94	e.
95	2. The introductory course in child care shall stress, to
96	the extent possible, an interdisciplinary approach to the study
97	of children.
98	3. On an annual basis in order to further their child care
99	skills and, if appropriate, administrative skills, child care
100	personnel who have fulfilled the requirements for the child care
101	training shall be required to take an additional 1 continuing
102	education unit of approved inservice training, or 10 clock hours
103	of equivalent training, as determined by the department.
104	4. Child care personnel, except those employed in
105	facilities that serve only children in kindergarten and above,
106	shall be required to complete 0.5 continuing education unit of
107	approved training or 5 clock hours of equivalent training, as
108	determined by the department, in early literacy and language
109	development of children from birth to 5 years of age one time.
110	The year that this training is completed, it shall fulfill the
111	0.5 continuing education unit or 5 clock hours of the annual
112	training required in subparagraph 3.
113	5. Procedures for ensuring the training of qualified child
114	care professionals to provide training of child care personnel,
115	including onsite training, shall be included in the minimum
116	standards. It is recommended that the state community child care
117	coordination agencies (central agencies) be contracted by the
118	department to coordinate such training when possible. Other
119	district educational resources, such as community colleges and
120	vocational-technical programs, can be designated in such areas
121	where central agencies may not exist or are determined not to
122	have the capability to meet the coordination requirements set
123	forth by the department.
124	6. Training requirements shall not apply to certain
125	occasional or part-time support staff, including, but not
126	limited to, swimming instructors, piano teachers, dance
127	instructors, and gymnastics instructors.
128	7. The department shall evaluate or contract for an
129	evaluation for the general purpose of determining the status of
130	and means to improve staff training requirements and testing
131	procedures. The evaluation shall be conducted every 2 years. The
132	evaluation shall include, but not be limited to, determining the
133	availability, quality, scope, and sources of current staff
134	training; determining the need for specialty training; and
135	determining ways to increase inservice training and ways to
136	increase the accessibility, quality, and cost-effectiveness of
137	current and proposed staff training. The evaluation methodology
138	shall include a reliable and valid survey of child care
139	personnel.
140	8. The child care operator shall be required to take basic
141	training in serving children with disabilities within 5 years
142	after employment, either as a part of the introductory training
143	or the annual 8 hours of inservice training.
144	(g) Minimum education requirements for child care
145	personnel. Such minimum education standards shall prohibit a
146	person who has not obtained a high school diploma or high school
147	equivalency diploma pursuant to s. 1003.435 from being employed
148	as child care personnel as defined in s. 402.302 unless:
149	1. Such person is under direct supervision and is not
150	counted for purposes of computing the child-to-staff ratio.
151	2. Such person is not serving in an instructional position
152	and is not counted for purposes of computing the child-to-staff
153	ratio.
154	3. Such person is employed in child care on July 1, 2004,
155	and has 10 or more years of documented experience working with
156	children in a child care setting or in a public school between
157	July 1, 1989, and July 1, 2004.
158
159	Those child care personnel employed in child care on July 1,
160	2004, who do not possess the required education and who are not
161	exempted from such pursuant to subparagraphs 1.-3. shall have
162	until July 1, 2005, to obtain the required education or shall be
163	prohibited from employment as child care personnel until such
164	time as they are in compliance.
165	(3) MINIMUM STAFF CREDENTIALS.--By July 1, 1996,For every
166	20 children in a licensed child care facility, beginning with
167	the first child,if the facility operates 8 hours or more per
168	week, one of the child care personnel in the facility must have:
169	(a) A currentchild development associate credential;
170	(b) A currentchild care professional credential, unless
171	the department determines that such child care professional
172	credential is not equivalent to or greater than a child
173	development associate credential; or
174	(c) A currentcredential that is equivalent to or greater
175	than the credential required in paragraph (a) or paragraph (b).
176
177	The department shall establish by rule those hours of operation,
178	such as during rest periods and transitional periods, when this
179	subsection does not apply.
180	Section 3. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) and subsection
181	(4) of section 402.313, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
182	402.313 Family day care homes.--
183	(1) Family day care homes shall be licensed under this act
184	if they are presently being licensed under an existing county
185	licensing ordinance, if they are participating in the subsidized
186	child care program, or if the board of county commissioners
187	passes a resolution that family day care homes be licensed. If
188	no county authority exists for the licensing of a family day
189	care home, the department shall have the authority to license
190	family day care homes under contract for the purchase-of-service
191	system in the subsidized child care program.
192	(a) If not subject to license, family day care homes shall
193	register annually with the department, providing the following
194	information:
195	1. The name and address of the home.
196	2. The name of the operator.
197	3. The number of children served.
198	4. Proof of a written plan to provide at least one other
199	competent adult to act as the operator in his or her absence and
200	to be available to substitute for the operator in an emergency.
201	This plan shall include the name, address, and telephone number
202	of the designated substitute.
203	5. Proof of screening and background checks for all
204	persons subject to screening requirements, including
205	substitutes, prior to caring for children.
206	6. Proof of successful completion of the 30-hour training
207	course, as evidenced by passage of a competency examination,
208	which shall include:
209	a. State and local rules and regulations that govern child
210	care.
211	b. Health, safety, and nutrition.
212	c. Identifying and reporting child abuse and neglect.
213	d. Child development, including typical and atypical
214	language development; and cognitive, motor, social, and self-
215	help skills development.
216	e. Observation of developmental behaviors, including using
217	a checklist or other similar observation tools and techniques to
218	determine a child's developmental level.
219	f. Specialized areas, including early literacy and
220	language development of children from birth to 5 years of age,
221	as determined by the department, for owner-operators of family
222	day care homes.
223	7. Proof that immunization records are kept current.
224	8. Proof of completion of the required continuing
225	education units or clock hours.
226	(4) Operators of family day care homes, and their
227	substitutes,must successfully complete an approved 30-clock-
228	hour introductory course in child care, as evidenced by passage
229	of a competency examination, before caring for children.
230	Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2004.