Florida Senate - 2010 SB 834
By Senator Justice
16-00643A-10 2010834__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to child care facilities; amending s.
3 402.302, F.S.; revising and providing definitions;
4 providing for certain household children to be
5 included in calculations regarding the capacity of
6 licensed family day care homes and large family child
7 care homes; providing conditions for supervision of
8 household children of operators of family day care
9 homes and large family child care homes; amending s.
10 402.318, F.S.; requiring the Department of Children
11 and Family Services or the local licensing agency to
12 report violations of certain advertising requirements
13 applicable to child care facilities to the state
14 attorney’s office; revising such advertising
15 requirements; providing penalties; providing an
16 effective date.
17
18 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
19
20 Section 1. Section 402.302, Florida Statutes, is amended to
21 read:
22 402.302 Definitions.—As used in this chapter, the term:
23 (1) “Child care” means the care, protection, and
24 supervision of a child, for a period of less than 24 hours a day
25 on a regular basis, which supplements parental care, enrichment,
26 and health supervision for the child, in accordance with his or
27 her individual needs, and for which a payment, fee, or grant is
28 made for care.
29 (2) “Child care facility” includes any child care center or
30 child care arrangement which provides child care for more than
31 five children unrelated to the operator and which receives a
32 payment, fee, or grant for any of the children receiving care,
33 wherever operated, and whether or not operated for profit. The
34 following are not included:
35 (a) Public schools and nonpublic schools and their integral
36 programs, except as provided in s. 402.3025;
37 (b) Summer camps having children in full-time residence;
38 (c) Summer day camps;
39 (d) Bible schools normally conducted during vacation
40 periods; and
41 (e) Operators of transient establishments, as defined in
42 chapter 509, which provide child care services solely for the
43 guests of their establishment or resort, provided that all child
44 care personnel of the establishment are screened according to
45 the level 2 screening requirements of chapter 435.
46 (3) “Child care personnel” means all owners, operators,
47 employees, and volunteers working in a child care facility. The
48 term does not include persons who work in a child care facility
49 after hours when children are not present or parents of children
50 in Head Start. For purposes of screening, the term includes any
51 member, over the age of 12 years, of a child care facility
52 operator’s family, or person, over the age of 12 years, residing
53 with a child care facility operator if the child care facility
54 is located in or adjacent to the home of the operator or if the
55 family member of, or person residing with, the child care
56 facility operator has any direct contact with the children in
57 the facility during its hours of operation. Members of the
58 operator’s family or persons residing with the operator who are
59 between the ages of 12 years and 18 years shall not be required
60 to be fingerprinted but shall be screened for delinquency
61 records. For purposes of screening, the term shall also include
62 persons who work in child care programs which provide care for
63 children 15 hours or more each week in public or nonpublic
64 schools, summer day camps, family day care homes, or those
65 programs otherwise exempted under s. 402.316. The term does not
66 include public or nonpublic school personnel who are providing
67 care during regular school hours, or after hours for activities
68 related to a school’s program for grades kindergarten through
69 12. A volunteer who assists on an intermittent basis for less
70 than 40 hours per month is not included in the term “personnel”
71 for the purposes of screening and training, provided that the
72 volunteer is under direct and constant supervision by persons
73 who meet the personnel requirements of s. 402.305(2). Students
74 who observe and participate in a child care facility as a part
75 of their required coursework shall not be considered child care
76 personnel, provided such observation and participation are on an
77 intermittent basis and the students are under direct and
78 constant supervision of child care personnel.
79 (4) “Department” means the Department of Children and
80 Family Services.
81 (5) “Drop-in child care” means child care provided
82 occasionally in a child care facility in a shopping mall or
83 business establishment where a child is in care for no more than
84 a 4-hour period and the parent remains on the premises of the
85 shopping mall or business establishment at all times. Drop-in
86 child care arrangements shall meet all requirements for a child
87 care facility unless specifically exempted.
88 (6) “Evening child care” means child care provided during
89 the evening hours and may encompass the hours of 6:00 p.m. to
90 7:00 a.m. to accommodate parents who work evenings and late
91 night shifts.
92 (7) “Family day care home” means an occupied residence in
93 which child care is regularly provided for children from at
94 least two unrelated families and which receives a payment, fee,
95 or grant for any of the children receiving care, whether or not
96 operated for profit. A family day care home shall be allowed to
97 provide care for one of the following groups of children, which
98 shall include household those children under 13 years of age who
99 are related to the caregiver:
100 (a) A maximum of four children from birth to 12 months of
101 age.
102 (b) A maximum of three children from birth to 12 months of
103 age, and other children, for a maximum total of six children.
104 (c) A maximum of six preschool children if all are older
105 than 12 months of age.
106 (d) A maximum of 10 children if no more than 5 are
107 preschool age and, of those 5, no more than 2 are under 12
108 months of age.
109
110 Household children under 13 years of age, whether on the
111 premises of the family day care home or on a field trip with
112 children enrolled in child care, shall be included in the
113 overall capacity of the licensed home.
114 (8) “Household children” means children who are related by
115 blood, marriage, or legal adoption to, or who are the legal
116 wards of, an adult household member who meets the level 2
117 screening requirements as provided in s. 435.04. Supervision of
118 the operator’s household children shall be left to the
119 discretion of the operator unless those children receive
120 subsidized child care to be in the home.
121 (9)(8) “Large family child care home” means an occupied
122 residence in which child care is regularly provided for children
123 from at least two unrelated families, which receives a payment,
124 fee, or grant for any of the children receiving care, whether or
125 not operated for profit, and which has at least two full-time
126 child care personnel on the premises during the hours of
127 operation. One of the two full-time child care personnel must be
128 the owner or occupant of the residence. A large family child
129 care home must first have operated as a licensed family day care
130 home for 2 years, with an operator who has had a child
131 development associate credential or its equivalent for 1 year,
132 before seeking licensure as a large family child care home. A
133 large family child care home shall be allowed to provide care
134 for one of the following groups of children, which shall include
135 household those children under 13 years of age who are related
136 to the caregiver:
137 (a) A maximum of 8 children from birth to 24 months of age.
138 (b) A maximum of 12 children, with no more than 4 children
139 under 24 months of age.
140
141 Household children under 13 years of age, whether on the
142 premises of the large family child care home or on a field trip
143 with children enrolled in child care, shall be included in the
144 overall capacity of the licensed home.
145 (10)(9) “Indoor recreational facility” means an indoor
146 commercial facility which is established for the primary purpose
147 of entertaining children in a planned fitness environment
148 through equipment, games, and activities in conjunction with
149 food service and which provides child care for a particular
150 child no more than 4 hours on any one day. An indoor
151 recreational facility must be licensed as a child care facility
152 under s. 402.305, but is exempt from the minimum outdoor-square
153 footage-per-child requirement specified in that section, if the
154 indoor recreational facility has, at a minimum, 3,000 square
155 feet of usable indoor floor space.
156 (11)(10) “Local licensing agency” means any agency or
157 individual designated by the county to license child care
158 facilities.
159 (12)(11) “Operator” means any onsite person ultimately
160 responsible for the overall operation of a child care facility,
161 whether or not he or she is the owner or administrator of such
162 facility.
163 (13)(12) “Owner” means the person who is licensed to
164 operate the child care facility.
165 (14)(13) “Screening” means the act of assessing the
166 background of child care personnel and volunteers and includes,
167 but is not limited to, employment history checks, local criminal
168 records checks through local law enforcement agencies,
169 fingerprinting for all purposes and checks in this subsection,
170 statewide criminal records checks through the Department of Law
171 Enforcement, and federal criminal records checks through the
172 Federal Bureau of Investigation.
173 (15)(14) “Secretary” means the Secretary of Children and
174 Family Services.
175 (16)(15) “Substantial compliance” means that level of
176 adherence which is sufficient to safeguard the health, safety,
177 and well-being of all children under care. Substantial
178 compliance is greater than minimal adherence but not to the
179 level of absolute adherence. Where a violation or variation is
180 identified as the type which impacts, or can be reasonably
181 expected within 90 days to impact, the health, safety, or well
182 being of a child, there is no substantial compliance.
183 (17)(16) “Weekend child care” means child care provided
184 between the hours of 6 p.m. on Friday and 6 a.m. on Monday.
185 Section 2. Section 402.318, Florida Statutes, is amended to
186 read:
187 402.318 Advertisement.—No person, as defined in s. 1.01(3),
188 shall advertise or publish an advertisement for a child care
189 facility, family day care home, or large family child care home
190 without including within such advertisement the state or local
191 agency license number of such facility or home. The department
192 or local licensing agency shall report any person that violates
193 this section to the state attorney’s office in the appropriate
194 judicial circuit. Violation of this section is a misdemeanor of
195 the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s.
196 775.083.
197 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2010.