Florida Senate - 2021                             CS for SB 1096
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Children, Families, and Elder Affairs; and
       Senator Book
       
       
       
       
       586-02623-21                                          20211096c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the screening of summer camp
    3         personnel; amending s. 402.302, F.S.; defining terms;
    4         creating s. 402.3132, F.S.; providing applicability of
    5         certain requirements to summer day camps and summer
    6         24-hour camps; providing an exception; requiring such
    7         camps to meet specified minimum requirements relating
    8         to health, sanitation, and safety and specified child
    9         care personnel screening requirements; providing that
   10         failure of a camp to comply with the child care
   11         personnel screening requirements results in the loss
   12         of the camp’s ability to operate; prohibiting the
   13         Department of Children and Families from licensing
   14         summer day camps and summer 24-hour camps; authorizing
   15         the department to access personnel records of such
   16         camps for a specified purpose; authorizing the
   17         department to adopt rules; authorizing the department
   18         or local licensing agency to perform specified
   19         enforcement actions; requiring camps to register with
   20         the department for inclusion in the department’s
   21         summer camp listing to be in compliance with specified
   22         requirements; amending s. 409.175, F.S.; conforming
   23         provisions to changes made by the act; providing an
   24         effective date.
   25          
   26  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   27  
   28         Section 1. Present subsection (18) of section 402.302,
   29  Florida Statutes, is redesignated as subsection (20), and new
   30  subsection (18) and subsection (19) are added to that section,
   31  to read:
   32         402.302 Definitions.—As used in this chapter, the term:
   33         (18)“Summer day camp” means recreational, educational, and
   34  other enrichment programs operated during summer vacation for
   35  children who are 5 years of age or older on or before September
   36  1.
   37         (19)“Summer 24-hour camp” means recreational, educational,
   38  and other enrichment programs operated on a 24-hour basis during
   39  summer vacation for children who are 5 years of age or older on
   40  or before September 1 which are not exclusively educational.
   41         Section 2. Section 402.3132, Florida Statutes, is created
   42  to read:
   43         402.3132Summer day camps and summer 24-hour camps.—
   44         (1)The provisions of ss. 402.301-402.319, with the
   45  exception of the requirements regarding the screening of child
   46  care personnel, do not apply to a summer day camp or a summer
   47  24-hour camp. However, a summer day camp or a summer 24-hour
   48  camp shall meet the minimum requirements of the local governing
   49  body as to health, sanitation, and safety, if applicable, and
   50  shall meet the child care personnel screening requirements in
   51  ss. 402.305 and 402.3055.
   52         (2)Failure by a summer day camp or a summer 24-hour camp
   53  to comply with the child care personnel screening requirements
   54  in ss. 402.305 and 402.3055 shall result in the loss of the
   55  camp’s ability to operate.
   56         (3) The department may not license summer day camps or
   57  summer 24-hour camps. However, the department must be provided
   58  access to the personnel records of such facilities to ensure
   59  compliance with the child care personnel screening requirements
   60  in ss. 402.305 and 402.3055. The department may adopt rules
   61  relating to the personnel screening requirements for summer day
   62  camps and summer 24-hour camps.
   63         (4)The department or local licensing agency may commence
   64  and maintain all proper and necessary actions and proceedings
   65  for any of the following purposes:
   66         (a)To protect the health, sanitation, safety, and well
   67  being of all children under care.
   68         (b)To enforce its rules and regulations.
   69         (c)To apply to the proper circuit court for injunctions.
   70  The court shall have jurisdiction, upon hearing and for cause
   71  shown, to grant a temporary or permanent injunction restraining
   72  any person or entity from violating or continuing to violate any
   73  of the child care personnel screening requirements in ss.
   74  402.305 and 402.3055, including refusal to terminate the
   75  employment of personnel found to be in noncompliance.
   76         (d)To impose an administrative fine, not to exceed $100
   77  per violation per day, for each violation of the child care
   78  personnel screening requirements in ss. 402.305 and 402.3055.
   79         (5)To be in compliance with the requirements of this
   80  section, all summer day camps or 24-hour summer camps must
   81  register with the department for inclusion in the department’s
   82  summer camp listing.
   83         Section 3. Paragraphs (j), (l), (o), and (p) of subsection
   84  (2), paragraph (d) of subsection (4), paragraphs (e) and (l) of
   85  subsection (6), paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (10), and
   86  paragraphs (b) and (c) of subsection (12) of section 409.175,
   87  Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   88         409.175 Licensure of family foster homes, residential
   89  child-caring agencies, and child-placing agencies; public
   90  records exemption.—
   91         (2) As used in this section, the term:
   92         (j) “Personnel” means all owners, operators, employees, and
   93  volunteers working in a child-placing agency or residential
   94  child-caring agency who may be employed by or do volunteer work
   95  for a person, corporation, or agency that holds a license as a
   96  child-placing agency or a residential child-caring agency, but
   97  the term does not include those who do not work on the premises
   98  where child care is furnished and have no direct contact with a
   99  child or have no contact with a child outside of the presence of
  100  the child’s parent or guardian. For purposes of screening, the
  101  term includes any member, over the age of 12 years, of the
  102  family of the owner or operator or any person other than a
  103  client, over the age of 12 years, residing with the owner or
  104  operator if the agency is located in or adjacent to the home of
  105  the owner or operator or if the family member of, or person
  106  residing with, the owner or operator has any direct contact with
  107  the children. Members of the family of the owner or operator, or
  108  persons residing with the owner or operator, who are between the
  109  ages of 12 years and 18 years are not required to be
  110  fingerprinted, but must be screened for delinquency records. For
  111  purposes of screening, the term also includes owners, operators,
  112  employees, and volunteers working in summer day camps, or summer
  113  24-hour camps providing care for children. A volunteer who
  114  assists on an intermittent basis for less than 10 hours per
  115  month is shall not be included in the term “personnel” for the
  116  purposes of screening if a person who meets the screening
  117  requirement of this section is always present and has the
  118  volunteer in his or her line of sight.
  119         (l) “Residential child-caring agency” means any person,
  120  corporation, or agency, public or private, other than the
  121  child’s parent or legal guardian, that provides staffed 24-hour
  122  care for children in facilities maintained for that purpose,
  123  regardless of whether operated for profit or whether a fee is
  124  charged. Such residential child-caring agencies include, but are
  125  not limited to, maternity homes, runaway shelters, group homes
  126  that are administered by an agency, emergency shelters that are
  127  not in private residences, and wilderness camps. Residential
  128  child-caring agencies do not include hospitals, boarding
  129  schools, summer or recreation camps, nursing homes, or
  130  facilities operated by a governmental agency for the training,
  131  treatment, or secure care of delinquent youth, or facilities
  132  licensed under s. 393.067 or s. 394.875 or chapter 397.
  133         (o)“Summer day camp” means recreational, educational, and
  134  other enrichment programs operated during summer vacations for
  135  children who are 5 years of age on or before September 1 and
  136  older.
  137         (p)“Summer 24-hour camp” means recreational, educational,
  138  and other enrichment programs operated on a 24-hour basis during
  139  summer vacation for children who are 5 years of age on or before
  140  September 1 and older, that are not exclusively educational.
  141         (4)
  142         (d) This license requirement does not apply to boarding
  143  schools, recreation and summer camps, nursing homes, hospitals,
  144  or to persons who care for children of friends or neighbors in
  145  their homes for periods not to exceed 90 days or to persons who
  146  have received a child for adoption from a licensed child-placing
  147  agency.
  148         (6)
  149         (e)1. The department may pursue other remedies provided in
  150  this section in addition to denial or revocation of a license
  151  for failure to comply with the screening requirements. The
  152  disciplinary actions determination to be made by the department
  153  and the procedure for hearing for applicants and licensees shall
  154  be in accordance with chapter 120.
  155         2. When the department has reasonable cause to believe that
  156  grounds for denial or termination of employment exist, it shall
  157  notify, in writing, the applicant or, licensee, or summer or
  158  recreation camp, and the personnel affected, stating the
  159  specific record that indicates noncompliance with the screening
  160  requirements.
  161         3. Procedures established for hearing under chapter 120
  162  shall be available to the applicant or, licensee, summer day
  163  camp, or summer 24-hour camp, and affected personnel, in order
  164  to present evidence relating either to the accuracy of the basis
  165  for exclusion or to the denial of an exemption from
  166  disqualification. Such procedures may also be used to challenge
  167  a decision by a community-based care lead agency’s refusal to
  168  issue a letter supporting an application for licensure. If the
  169  challenge is to the actions of the community-based care lead
  170  agency, the respondent to the challenge shall be the lead agency
  171  and the department shall be notified of the proceedings.
  172         4. Refusal on the part of an applicant to dismiss personnel
  173  who have been found not to be in compliance with the
  174  requirements for good moral character of personnel shall result
  175  in automatic denial or revocation of license in addition to any
  176  other remedies provided in this section which may be pursued by
  177  the department.
  178         (l)The department may not license summer day camps or
  179  summer 24-hour camps. However, the department shall have access
  180  to the personnel records of such facilities to ensure compliance
  181  with the screening requirements. The department may adopt rules
  182  relating to the screening requirements for summer day camps and
  183  summer 24-hour camps.
  184         (10)(a) The department may institute injunctive proceedings
  185  in a court of competent jurisdiction to:
  186         1. Enforce the provisions of this section or any license
  187  requirement, rule, or order issued or entered into pursuant
  188  thereto; or
  189         2. Terminate the operation of an agency in which any of the
  190  following conditions exist:
  191         a. The licensee has failed to take preventive or corrective
  192  measures in accordance with any order of the department to
  193  maintain conformity with licensing requirements.
  194         b. There is a violation of any of the provisions of this
  195  section, or of any licensing requirement promulgated pursuant to
  196  this section, which violation threatens harm to any child or
  197  which constitutes an emergency requiring immediate action.
  198         3.Terminate the operation of a summer day camp or summer
  199  24-hour camp providing care for children when such camp has
  200  willfully and knowingly refused to comply with the screening
  201  requirements for personnel or has refused to terminate the
  202  employment of personnel found to be in noncompliance with the
  203  requirements for good moral character as determined in paragraph
  204  (5)(b).
  205         (b) If the department finds, within 30 days after written
  206  notification by registered mail of the requirement for
  207  licensure, that a person or agency continues to care for or to
  208  place children without a license or, within 30 days after
  209  written notification by registered mail of the requirement for
  210  screening of personnel and compliance with paragraph (5)(b) for
  211  the hiring and continued employment of personnel, that a summer
  212  day camp or summer 24-hour camp continues to provide care for
  213  children without complying, the department shall notify the
  214  appropriate state attorney of the violation of law and, if
  215  necessary, shall institute a civil suit to enjoin the person or
  216  agency from continuing the placement or care of children or to
  217  enjoin the summer day camp or summer 24-hour camp from
  218  continuing the care of children.
  219         (12)
  220         (b) It is unlawful for any person, agency, or family foster
  221  home, summer day camp, or summer 24-hour camp providing care for
  222  children to:
  223         1. Willfully or intentionally fail to comply with the
  224  requirements for the screening of personnel and family foster
  225  homes or the dismissal of personnel or removal of household
  226  members found not to be in compliance with the requirements for
  227  good moral character as specified in paragraph (5)(b).
  228         2. Use information from the criminal records obtained under
  229  this section for any purpose other than screening a person for
  230  employment as specified in this section or to release such
  231  information to any other person for any purpose other than
  232  screening for employment as specified in this section.
  233         (c) It is unlawful for any person, agency, or family foster
  234  home, summer day camp, or summer 24-hour camp providing care for
  235  children to use information from the juvenile records of any
  236  person obtained under this section for any purpose other than
  237  screening for employment as specified in this section or to
  238  release information from such records to any other person for
  239  any purpose other than screening for employment as specified in
  240  this section.
  241         Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2021.