Florida Family Child Care Home Association

Transcription

1 Florida Family Child Care Home Association Dear Honorable Members of the Children, Families & Seniors Subcommittee, I am contacting you in regards to supporting HB 119 with language recommendations on the following pages. As a family child care provider, and a member of Florida Family Child Care Home Association, I understand the value of protecting Florida s youngest citizens from potentially hazardous settings or situations. There are fewer things more important than the children that enter my home to be educated and looked after every week. Under current law, there are a number of loopholes that allow people providing unregulated child care the ability to take in children and provide low-quality and at times unsafe or life-threatening care. Current laws put many of Florida s children at risk for potential harm by allowing individuals with a history of abuse or criminal activity to interact with children in legally operating settings because of the number of children or families they provide care for. Current law also permits these people providing unregulated child care to advertise and appear as legitimate safe services to parents. Anyone who advertises to provide a service that is regulated in the state of Florida is therefore running a business and should be required to meet the requirements of the law. Currently Lori Berman from the Florida House of Representatives, and Audrey Gibson from the Florida Senate, appear to be attempting to address this issue by introduction of two identical bills (HB 119 & SB 120 respectively). These bills attempt to close loopholes in Florida's child care statutes (402) but falls short of what regulated child care providers perceive should be the bills intent, protecting children from potential harm in child care settings. Line of HB 119 speaks only of those that are licensed, registered, or exempt not the unregulated. Anyone that advertises to provide child care in a home or facility outside of the child's residence should be required to put in a state or local license number. I believe this bill can better serve the public by including the suggested language supported by the Florida Family Child Care Home Association, and our affiliate, the National Association for Family Child Care. These slight substitutions in language provide better clarity of the law that will greater protect children from potential harm. I appreciate you taking my comments into consideration and thank you for your service. If you have any questions on the recommendations we are suggesting please contact: Lynn Gibson, President of Florida Family Child Care Home Association at or Childcarelaws@aol.com

2 HB 119 Line Child Care Facility means a child care center or child care arrangement that provides child care for more than four children unrelated to the operator, wherever operated, and whether or not operated for profit. The following is not included: Suggested language: Child Care Facility means a child care center or child care arrangement that provides child care for more than four children unrelated to the operator, wherever operated, and whether or not operated for profit. The following is not included: Rational: All children, including children under 13 years of age, that are being supervised by the operator should count in capacity when on the premises and care for children enrolled is being provided. Supervision of children has a limit to what can safely be done; it should not matter if children are relatives or not when they are mixed in with enrolled children. Line The following are not included: (a) Public Schools and nonpublic schools and their integral programs, except as provided in s ; (b) Summer camps having children in full-time residence; (c) Summer day camps; (d) Bible schools normally conducted during vacation periods; and (e) Operators of transient establishments as defined in chapter 509 which provide child care services solely for the quests of their establishment or resort, if all child care personnel of the establishment or resort are screened according to the level 2 screening requirements of chapter 435; and Suggested language: (f) Family Day Care Homes and Large Family Child Care Homes as defined in (8) and (11) Rational: Family Day Care Homes and Large Family Child Care Homes have their own definition (8) and (11) and follow separate Florida Administrative Codes - Homes 65c-20 Centers 65c-22 Line Proof of screening and background checks for the operator, each household member, and the designated substitute. Suggested language: Proof of screening and background checks for the operator, each household member over age 12, and the designated substitute (2) and show that only household members over the age of 12 years are screened. (Add "over age 12" after "each household member") Rational: Children under age 12 are not screened or background checked. The way it is written it says "each member" and should allow that exception and not contradict other areas of the statue. 1

3 Line A large family child care home must homes shall be licensed under this section and permanently post its license in a conspicuous location that is visible by all parents and guardians and the department. Suggested language: A large family child care home must homes shall be licensed under this section and permanently post its license in a conspicuous location that is visible by all parents and guardians and the department. Rational: Remove the word "permanently". Look at line of HB 119 in the new requirements for Family Day Care Home the word permanently is not used. We ask that the word permanently be removed as it means once it is placed there it can NEVER be moved. As long as it continues to be conspicuously displayed it should be allowed to be moved. Line (a) For a child care facility licensed under pursuant to s , the such fee is shall be $1 per child, based on the licensed capacity of the facility. However, if a facility has a licensed capacity of 25 children or fewer, except that the minimum fee is shall be $25 per facility and the maximum fee shall be $100 per facility. (b) For a family day care home registered under pursuant to s , the such fee is shall be $25. (c) For a family day care home licensed under pursuant to s , the such fee is shall be $50. (d) For a large family child care home licensed under pursuant to s , the such fee is shall be $60. Suggested language: (a) For a child care facility licensed under pursuant to s , the such fee is shall be $1 per child, based on the licensed capacity of the facility. However, if a facility has a licensed capacity of 25 children or fewer, except that the minimum fee is shall be $25 $70 per facility and the maximum fee shall be $100 per facility. (b) For a family day care home registered under pursuant to s , the such fee is shall be $25 $50. (c) For a family day care home licensed under pursuant to s , the such fee is shall be $50. (d) For a large family child care home licensed under pursuant to s , the such fee is shall be $60. Rational: License fees should be fairly regulated for all categories of child care. If homes limited to 10 or less children in care are $25.00 for registered, and $50.00 for licensed what is the incentive to get licensed? They should be the same fee. A fee of $60 is set for large family child care homes that can only have 12 children maximum, but centers are given a minimum $25.00 fee for the first 25 children in capacity allowing center to be charged $1 per child, while licensed family child care homes and large family child care homes pay $5 per child. This needs to be adjusted and regulated fairly. Line Advertisement. A person, as defined in s. 1.01, may not advertise a child care facility as defined in s , a child care facility that is exempt from licensing requirements pursuant to s , a family day care home as defined in s , or a large family child care home as defined in s without including within such advertisement the state or local agency license number, exemption number, or registration number of the facility or home. As used in this section, the term "advertisement" includes, but is not limited to, the marketing of child care services to the public on vehicles; print materials; electronic media, including Internet websites; and radio and television announcements. A person who violates this section commits a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s or s

4 Suggested language: Advertisement. - A person, as defined in s may not advertise a child care facility to provide child care services in their own home or facility unless; operating as defined in s (2), a child care facility that is exempt from licensing requirements in s , a family day care home as defined in (8), or a large family child care home as defined in s (11) without including within such advertisement the state or local license number, exemption number, or registration number of the facility or home. As used in this section, the term "advertisement" includes, but is not limited to, the marketing of child care services to the public on vehicles; print materials; electronic media, including internet websites; and radio and television announcements. A person who violates this section commits a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s or Rational: Current law is allowing people who are providing unregulated child care in their own homes or facilities to advertise without a license, registration, or exemption. Anyone that uses advertisement to secure clients are running a business and if it is a child care business they need to be licensed or registered. We would like to see some additional changes along with this bill (9) (b) Licensing Standards - Admissions and Recordkeeping section During the months of August and September of each year, each child care facility shall provide parents of children enrolled in the facility detailed information regarding the causes, symptoms, and transmission of the influenza virus in an effort to educate those parents regarding the importance of immunizing their children against influenza as recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Suggested language: At the time of enrollment each child care facility, family day care home or large family child care home shall provide parents or guardians of children enrolled in the facility or home detailed information regarding the causes, symptoms, and transmission of the influenza virus in an effort to educate those parents regarding the importance of immunizing their children against influenza as recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Rational: Waiting until August or September to provide this information to the children's guardians may be too late or missed completely depending on start dates in care. The best time to ensure that the information is received by the guardian is at enrollment. Once is enough, requiring the same guardians to yearly sign for something they have already been given is a waste of money and time. It should be the pediatricians responsibility to inform guardians of potential health risks and hazards at the child's annual checkup (15) Screening means the act of assessing the background of child care personnel and volunteers and includes, but is not limited to, employment history checks, local criminal records checks through local law enforcement agencies, fingerprinting for all purposes and checks in this subsection, statewide criminal records checks through the Department of Law Enforcement, and federal criminal records checks through the Federal Bureau of Investigation. 3

5 Suggested language: Screening means the act of assessing the background of child care personnel and volunteers and includes, but is not limited to, employment history checks, local criminal records checks through local law enforcement agencies, fingerprinting for all purposes and checks in this subsection, statewide criminal records checks through the Department of Law Enforcement, and federal criminal records checks through the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Rational: Remove "employment history checks" from the required list for screenings. Licensing agencies require all employment history checks to be back prior to issuing the temporary license to a provider or permitting a substitute or employee to begin working. This has held up some providers for months waiting on them to return. For many reasons this leads a person to a false sense of security. There is no way to prove that the applicant who is requesting their employment history check is truthful and told of all places employed. Some counties have the employment history checks mailed to their licensing agency and the operator never sees the results. There is a liability to the past employer filling out the employment history check to be careful in how they make a negative statement of a past employee for fear of being sued causing many to say nothing. There are laws requiring mandated reporting of anyone who has injured or harmed a child, so past employers in the child care field should have turned this person in already. Even if an employment history check came back with negative comments there is nothing that the licensing agency can do to prevent them from becoming licensed or the operator from hiring someone if they pass the fingerprinting and screening process; making this process insignificant in the licensing requirement. Although we request that it not be a requirement of licensing we do feel it is a best practice and should be considered by operators. This would allow the process to run smoothly and remove an imaginary safety net. As always, thank you for the work you do on the behalf of all Floridians. Lynn Gibson Bryce Dunham-Zemberi President of FFCCHA Manager of Public Policy at NAFCC childcarelaws@aol.com bzemberi@nafcc-mail.org