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2015 SESSION

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HB 1570 Child day centers and family day homes; regulations, national background check required, report.

Introduced by: Robert D. Orrock, Sr. | all patrons    ...    notes | add to my profiles | history

SUMMARY AS PASSED:

Family day homes and child day centers; licensure; background checks; reporting; notice. Requires fingerprint-based national criminal history records checks for licensed child day centers and family day homes and requires employees and volunteers of such child day centers and family day homes to notify the provider if they are convicted of a barrier crime or subject to a founded complaint of child abuse or neglect. The bill adds the offenses that require registration in the Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry to the list of barrier crimes specific to family day homes. The bill lowers from five to four the maximum number of children for whom a family day home may provide care without a license, exclusive of the provider's children and any children who reside in the home. The bill requires (i) local commissioners of the revenue or other local business license officials to report to the Department of Social Services (the Department) semiannually the contact information for any child day center or family day home to which a business license was issued; (ii) unlicensed and unregistered family day homes, other than those in which all of the children receiving care are related to the provider by blood or marriage, to provide written notice to parents stating that the family day home is not regulated by the Department and referring the parents to a website maintained by the Department for additional information; and (iii) child day centers and family day homes that contract with the Department to provide child care services that are funded by the Child Care and Development Block Grant to comply with all requirements established by federal law and regulation. The bill also requires the Department to (a) develop recommendations related to appropriate criminal and civil penalties for individuals who wrongfully operate a child day center or family day home without a license or provide care for more children than the maximum number permitted under their license; (b) report on the requirements established in the Child Care and Development Block Grant to the Senate Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services and the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions by December 1, 2015; (c) develop and make available to child day centers and family day homes training and technical information and assistance regarding compliance with new licensure requirements established in the bill; and (d) work with certain localities authorized to regulate and license family day homes to identify and address any differences between ordinances adopted by such localities and state regulations for the licensure of family day homes. The provisions of the bill that require licensure of family day homes providing care for five or more children have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2016. The provisions of the bill that require fingerprint-based national criminal history records checks have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2017. This bill is identical to SB 1168.

SUMMARY AS PASSED HOUSE:

Unlicensed, unregistered family day homes; notice to Department of Social Services and notice to parents. Requires fingerprint-based national criminal history records checks for licensed child day centers and family day homes. The bill also requires family day homes providing care for five or more children, other than the children of the provider or children that reside in the home, for compensation to be licensed by the Department of Social Services. Currently, only family day homes providing care for six or more children, other than the children of the provider or children that reside in the home, are required to be licensed. The bill also requires local commissioners of the revenue or other local business license officials to report to the Department of Social Services on a quarterly basis the name, address, and contact information for any child day center or family day home to which a business license was issued; requires the Department of Social Services to promulgate regulations requiring licensed and registered child day centers and family day homes to notify the parent of every child enrolled in the child day center or family day home, in writing, of any emergency situation that occurs while the child is receiving care; and requires all unlicensed and unregistered family day homes, other than those in which all of the children receiving care are related by blood or marriage to the provider, to provide written notice to the parents of every child receiving care stating that the family day home is not regulated by the Department of Social Services and referring the parents to a website maintained by the Department for additional information regarding licensed, registered, and unlicensed, unregistered family day homes. The bill also requires all child day centers and family day homes that enter into a contract with the Department of Social Services or a local department of social services to provide child care services that are funded, in whole or in part, by the Child Care and Development Block Grant to comply with all requirements established by federal law and regulation. The bill also requires the Department of Social Services to develop recommendations related to appropriate criminal and civil penalties for individuals who operate or engage in the conduct of a child day center or family day home without first obtaining a license or after such license has been revoked or has expired and not been renewed, or who operate or engage in the conduct of a child day center or family day home serving more children than the maximum stipulated in the license, and that the Department report on the requirements established in the Child Care and Development Block Grant to the Senate Committee on Education and Health and the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions by December 1, 2015.

SUMMARY AS INTRODUCED:

Unlicensed, unregistered family day homes; notice to Department of Social Services and notice to parents. Requires every unlicensed, unregistered family day home to submit a statement of intent to operate an unlicensed, unregistered family day home and the name, address, and telephone number of the person maintaining the family day home to the Department of Social Services prior to beginning such operation and annually thereafter. The bill also requires every unlicensed, unregistered family day home to provide written notice to the parents of every child receiving care stating that the family day home is not regulated by the Department of Social Services and referring parents to a website maintained by the Department for additional information regarding licensed, registered, and unregulated family day homes.