Florida Senate - 2019                             CS for SB 1492
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Children, Families, and Elder Affairs; and
       Senator Book
       
       
       
       
       586-04037-19                                          20191492c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to government-sponsored recreation
    3         programs; amending s. 402.302, F.S.; revising the
    4         definition of the term “child care facility” to
    5         exclude government-sponsored recreation programs;
    6         defining the term “government-sponsored recreation
    7         program”; amending s. 402.316, F.S.; providing an
    8         exemption for government-sponsored recreation programs
    9         from specified child care facility requirements;
   10         providing that an otherwise exempt government
   11         sponsored recreation program may waive the exemption
   12         by notifying the department; providing that such a
   13         program may not withdraw its waiver of the exemption
   14         and continue to operate; amending ss. 39.201, 402.305,
   15         and 1002.82, F.S.; conforming cross-references;
   16         providing an effective date.
   17          
   18  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   19  
   20         Section 1. Present subsections (9) through (18) of section
   21  402.302, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as subsections (10)
   22  through (19), respectively, a new subsection (9) is added to
   23  that section, and paragraph (f) is added to subsection (2) of
   24  that section, to read:
   25         402.302 Definitions.—As used in this chapter, the term:
   26         (2) “Child care facility” includes any child care center or
   27  child care arrangement which provides child care for more than
   28  five children unrelated to the operator and which receives a
   29  payment, fee, or grant for any of the children receiving care,
   30  wherever operated, and whether or not operated for profit. The
   31  following are not included:
   32         (a) Public schools and nonpublic schools and their integral
   33  programs, except as provided in s. 402.3025;
   34         (b) Summer camps having children in full-time residence;
   35         (c) Summer day camps;
   36         (d) Bible schools normally conducted during vacation
   37  periods; and
   38         (e) Operators of transient establishments, as defined in
   39  chapter 509, which provide child care services solely for the
   40  guests of their establishment or resort, provided that all child
   41  care personnel of the establishment are screened according to
   42  the level 2 screening requirements of chapter 435; and
   43         (f) Government-sponsored recreation programs.
   44         (9) “Government-sponsored recreation program” means an
   45  afterschool recreation program for school-age children which has
   46  organized, regularly scheduled activities, including educational
   47  or enrichment activities, and which meets all of the following
   48  requirements:
   49         (a) Offers not more than 4 hours of programming per day.
   50  However, the program may extend its hours in order to provide
   51  services before school and on teacher planning days, holidays,
   52  and intercessions that occur during the school district’s
   53  official calendar year.
   54         (b) Is operated by a county or a municipality that has
   55  adopted for the program by ordinance standards of care, which
   56  include, but are not limited to, meeting minimum staff-to
   57  children ratios in accordance with s. 402.305(4) and rules
   58  adopted by the department thereunder; ensuring that all
   59  personnel meet the requirements of ss. 402.302, 402.305, and
   60  402.3055; meeting minimum facility, health, and safety
   61  standards, including annual fire inspections conducted by the
   62  city or county Fire Marshal; ensuring annual health inspections
   63  are conducted by the Department of Health; conducting regular
   64  inspection, cleaning, repair, and maintenance of buildings,
   65  grounds, and equipment; ensuring at least one staff person
   66  trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation is present at all times
   67  when children are present; setting standards related to the
   68  provision of food; training program employees regarding working
   69  with school-age children; engaging in activities designed to
   70  address the ages, interests, and abilities of participants;
   71  carrying out annual inspections of vehicles transporting
   72  children; enforcing regulations related to the number of
   73  children in vehicles in accordance with vehicle capacity and
   74  searching vehicles after use to ensure no children are left in
   75  the vehicle; ensuring custodial parents or guardians have
   76  reasonable access to children while the children are in care;
   77  developing age-appropriate policies relating to child discipline
   78  practices and making such policies available to parents or
   79  guardians at the time of registration.
   80         (c) Has been certified by the county or municipality as
   81  compliant with such standards of care and provides annual
   82  attestation to the department of compliance with such standards
   83  of care.
   84         (d) Provides notice to the parent or guardian of each child
   85  participating in the program that the program is not state
   86  licensed or advertised as a child care facility and provides
   87  them with the county’s or municipality’s standards of care.
   88         (e)Does not receive funding through the Child Care
   89  Development Block Grant of 2014, does not contract to provide a
   90  school readiness program pursuant to s. 1002.88, and does not
   91  have a Gold Seal Quality Care designation pursuant to s.
   92  402.281.
   93         Section 2. Subsections (1) and (3) of section 402.316,
   94  Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   95         402.316 Exemptions.—
   96         (1) The provisions of ss. 402.301-402.319, except for the
   97  requirements regarding screening of child care personnel, do
   98  shall not apply to a government-sponsored recreation program or
   99  to a child care facility that which is an integral part of
  100  church or parochial schools conducting regularly scheduled
  101  classes, courses of study, or educational programs accredited
  102  by, or by a member of, an organization that which publishes and
  103  requires compliance with its standards for health, safety, and
  104  sanitation. However, such facilities shall meet minimum
  105  requirements of the applicable local governing body as to
  106  health, sanitation, and safety and shall meet the screening
  107  requirements pursuant to ss. 402.305 and 402.3055. Failure by a
  108  facility to comply with such screening requirements shall result
  109  in the loss of the facility’s exemption from licensure.
  110         (3) Any government-sponsored recreation program or child
  111  care facility covered by the exemption provisions of subsection
  112  (1) may waive the exemption, but desiring to be included in this
  113  act, is authorized to do so by submitting notification to the
  114  department. Once licensed, such a program or facility may not
  115  cannot withdraw from its waiver of the exemption, and except for
  116  the requirements regarding screening of child care personnel,
  117  must continue to comply with ss. 402.301-402.319, in order to
  118  continue in operation the act and continue to operate.
  119         Section 3. Subsection (6) of section 39.201, Florida
  120  Statutes, is amended to read:
  121         39.201 Mandatory reports of child abuse, abandonment, or
  122  neglect; mandatory reports of death; central abuse hotline.—
  123         (6) Information in the central abuse hotline may not be
  124  used for employment screening, except as provided in s.
  125  39.202(2)(a) and (h) or s. 402.302(16) s. 402.302(15).
  126  Information in the central abuse hotline and the department’s
  127  automated abuse information system may be used by the
  128  department, its authorized agents or contract providers, the
  129  Department of Health, or county agencies as part of the
  130  licensure or registration process pursuant to ss. 402.301
  131  402.319 and ss. 409.175-409.176. Pursuant to s. 39.202(2)(q),
  132  the information in the central abuse hotline may also be used by
  133  the Department of Education for purposes of educator
  134  certification discipline and review.
  135         Section 4. Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section
  136  402.305, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
  137         402.305 Licensing standards; child care facilities.—
  138         (2) PERSONNEL.—Minimum standards for child care personnel
  139  shall include minimum requirements as to:
  140         (a) Good moral character based upon screening as defined in
  141  s. 402.302(16) s. 402.302(15). This screening shall be conducted
  142  as provided in chapter 435, using the level 2 standards for
  143  screening set forth in that chapter, and include employment
  144  history checks, a search of criminal history records, sexual
  145  predator and sexual offender registries, and child abuse and
  146  neglect registry of any state in which the current or
  147  prospective child care personnel resided during the preceding 5
  148  years.
  149         Section 5. Paragraph (y) of subsection (2) of section
  150  1002.82, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
  151         1002.82 Office of Early Learning; powers and duties.—
  152         (2) The office shall:
  153         (y) Establish staff-to-children ratios that do not exceed
  154  the requirements of s. 402.302(8) or (12) s. 402.302(8) or (11)
  155  or s. 402.305(4), as applicable, for school readiness program
  156  providers.
  157         Section 6. This act shall take effect July 1, 2019.