CHILD CARE NOTEBOOK AND DATABASE
Senate Bill 723 (Substitute S-1)
Sponsor: Sen. Tupac A. Hunter
Senate Bill 724 (Substitute S-2)
Sponsor: Sen. Mark C. Jansen
House Committee: Families and Children's Services
Senate Committee: Families and Human Services
Complete to 5-7-10
A SUMMARY OF SENATE BILLS 723 AND 724 AS REPORTED FROM HOUSE COMMITTEE ON 5-5-10
Senate Bill 723 would amend Section 3g of the Child Care Licensing Act to require an operation of a child care center, group child care home or family child care home to maintain a licensing notebook on its premises. The licensing notebook would be made available for review to parents, or guardians of children under the care of the center or home, and parents or guardians considering placing their children in its care.
The notebook would have to include the reports from all licensing or registration inspections, renewal inspections, special investigations, and corrective action plans. It also would have to include a summary sheet outlining those reports. The information in the notebook would have to be updated regularly and be made available at all times during the facility's normal hours of operation.
The Department would have to include on its "child in care/receipt" form, or any successor form, a check box allowing the parent or guardian to acknowledge awareness of the information available in the licensing notebook, and that the information was available on the Department's website. The form would have to contain in bold print the Department's website address where the information could be located.
The Department could not issue or renew a license or certificate of registration of a child care center, group child care home, or family child care home if the licensee, registrant, or applicant had had a previous license or registration revoked for a violation of the act, the rules promulgated under the act, or the terms of the license or registration that resulted in the serious injury or death of a child while under its care.
Senate Bill 724 would amend Section 11b of the Child Care Licensing Act to require the Department of Human Services include in its database of child care centers, family child care homes, and group child care homes, the number and nature of any special investigations regarding a center or home that the department classified as high risk. That information would have to remain in the database for the entire time the center or home maintained an active license or registration.
The bill would define "special investigation that the department classifies as high risk" to mean an investigation in which the department becomes aware that one or more of the following conditions exist: (1) abuse or neglect is the suspected cause of a child's death; (2) abuse or neglect resulted in severe injury to a child; or (3) a child is the victim of suspected sexual abuse or exploitation.
The database also would have to include information that, upon completion of a special investigation, the department had determined there were no substantiated rule violations.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Senate Bill 723 (S-1)
The Department of Human Services could see a small increase in one-time administrative costs as a result of modifying the "Child in Care/Receipt" form, adjusting procedures for the inspection of licensed child day care facilities, and prohibiting the issuance of a license for facilities that have had their license revoked due to a serious injury or death of a child while in care.
Senate Bill 724 (S-2)
There should be sufficient funds in current appropriations to accommodate the modifications to the online database of licensed child care facilities to meet the requirements of Senate Bill 724 (S-2).
POSITIONS:
Department of Human Services, Bureau of Child and Adult Licensing, indicated support for the bills. (5-5-10)
Fiscal Analyst: Kevin Koorstra
■ This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan House staff for use by House members in their deliberations, and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.