HB 1049

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to Pinellas County; amending chapter 61-
3	2681, Laws of Florida, as amended; redefining the term
4	"family day care home" and defining the term "large family
5	child care home"; revising and providing requirements for
6	licensing and regulating such homes; providing an
7	effective date.
8
9	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
10
11	Section 1.  Subsection (5) of section 2 of chapter 61-2681,
12	Laws of Florida, as amended by chapters 70-893 and 2007-277,
13	Laws of Florida, is amended to read:
14	Section 2.  Definitions; capacity and time limitations.-
15	(5)(a)  A "family child care home" or "family day care
16	home" means an occupied a facility for child care in a place of
17	residence in which child care is regularly provided for children
18	from at least two unrelated households, with or without
19	compensation. A family child care home shall be allowed to
20	provide care for one of the following groups of children, which
21	shall include household preschool-aged children, whether present
22	or not, and household school-aged children under 13 years of
23	age, when on the premises of the family child care home or on a
24	field trip with children enrolled in care:
25	1.  A maximum of six children, if no more than three of
26	those children are under 18 months of age.
27	2.  A maximum of eight children, if no more than five of
28	those children are preschool aged, and of those five, no more
29	than three are under 18 months of age, and of those three, no
30	more than two are under 12 months of age of a family, person, or
31	persons who receive no more than four (4) children under
32	seventeen (17) years of age away from their own homes who are
33	not related to such person or persons by blood, marriage, or
34	adoption, for the purpose of providing family care and training
35	for such children. No more than three (3) of the four (4)
36	children may be under two (2) years of age. This term shall not
37	be construed to include children above first grade level except
38	in homes where children below first grade level are also
39	received for care.
40	(b)  A "large family child care home" means a home that is
41	licensed under section 402.3131, Florida Statutes. A "large
42	family child care home" means an occupied residence in which
43	child care is regularly provided for children, with or without
44	compensation, from at least two unrelated households and which
45	has at least two full-time child care personnel on the premises
46	during the hours of operation. One of the two full-time child
47	care personnel must be the operator or the operator's
48	substitute. A large family child care home must first have
49	operated as a licensed family child care home for 2 consecutive
50	years, with an operator who has had a child development
51	associate credential or its equivalent for 1 year, before
52	seeking licensure as a large family child care home. The 2
53	consecutive years of operation as a licensed family child care
54	home must have been in this state and within 5 years before the
55	date of application to operate a large family child care home. A
56	large family child care home shall be allowed to provide care
57	for one of the following groups of children, which shall include
58	those children under 13 years of age who are related to the
59	caregiver:
60	1.  A maximum of eight children from birth to 24 months of
61	age.
62	2.  A maximum of twelve children, with no more than four
63	children under 24 months of age.
64
65	A large family child care home must meet and comply with this
66	paragraph at all times unless there is an insufficient number of
67	children in care to meet the definition of a large family child
68	care home, in which case additional personnel are not required.
69	(c)(b)  Child care may be provided for 24 hours or longer
70	for a child whose parent or legal guardian works a shift of 24
71	hours or more. The requirement that a parent or legal guardian
72	work a shift of 24 hours or more must be certified in writing by
73	the employer, and the written certification must be maintained
74	in the facility by the child care provider and made available to
75	the license board and the state child care licensing agency. The
76	time that a child remains in child care, however, may not exceed
77	72 consecutive hours in any 7-day period. During a declared
78	state of emergency, the license board or the state child care
79	licensing agency may temporarily waive the time limitations
80	provided in this paragraph.
81	Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2011.

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