AN ACT relating to child care.

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AN ACT relating to child care. 1
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 2
Section 1. KRS 199.894 is amended to read as follows: 3
As used in KRS 199.892 to 199.896 and Section 2 of this Act , unless the context 4
otherwise requires: 5
(1) "Cabinet" means the Cabinet for Health and Family Services; 6
(2) ["Secretary" means secretary for health and family services; 7
(3) ]"Child Care and Development Fund" has the same meaning as in 45 C.F.R. sec. 8
98.2; 9
(3) "Child Care Assistance Program" or "CCAP" means Kentucky's child -care 10
subsidy program providing families with the financial resources to find and 11
afford quality child care; 12
(4) "Child-care center" means any child -care center that provides full - or part -time 13
care, day or night, to four (4) or more children in a nonresidential setting who are 14
not the children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or children in legal custody of the 15
operator. "Child-care center" shall not include any child -care facility operated by a 16
religious organization while religious services are being conducted [,] or a youth 17
development agency. For the purposes of this section, "youth development agency" 18
means a program with tax -exempt status under 26 U.S.C. sec. 501(c)(3), which 19
operates cont inuously throughout the year as an outside -school-hours center for 20
youth who are six (6) years of age or older, and for which there are no fee or 21
scheduled-care arrangements with the parent or guardian of the youth served; 22
(5)[(4)] "Department" means the Department for Community Based Services;[ and] 23
(6)[(5)] "Family child-care home" means a private home that is the primary residence 24
of an individual who provides full or part -time care day or night for six (6) or fewer 25
children who are not the children, sib lings, stepchildren, grandchildren, nieces, 26
nephews, or children in legal custody of the provider; 27
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(7) "Licensed type II child -care center" means a center that regularly provides child 1
care for at least seven (7), but no more than twelve (12), children inc luding no 2
more than twelve (12) children that are related to the licensee; and 3
(8) "Secretary" means the secretary of the cabinet. 4
Section 2. KRS 199.8982 is amended to read as follows: 5
(1) (a) The cabinet shall establis h a family child -care home certification program 6
which shall be administered by the department. A family child -care provider 7
shall apply for certification of the provider's home if the provider is caring for 8
four (4) to six (6) children unrelated to the pr ovider. A family child -care 9
provider caring for three (3) or fewer children may apply for certification of 10
the provider's home at the discretion of the provider. Applicants for 11
certification shall not have been found by the cabinet or a court to have 12
abused or neglected a child, and shall meet the following minimum 13
requirements: 14
1. Submit two (2) written character references; 15
2. Provide a written statement from a physician or advanced practice 16
registered nurse that the applicant is in good health; 17
3. Submit to a criminal record check in accordance with KRS 199.8965; 18
4. Provide smoke detectors, a telephone, an adequate water supply, 19
sufficient lighting and space, and a safe environment in the residence in 20
which care is provided; 21
5. Provide a copy of the resul ts of a tuberculosis risk assessment and the 22
results of any appropriate follow -up with skin testing or chest X -ray for 23
applicants who are determined to be at risk for developing tuberculosis 24
in accordance with the recommendations of the Centers for Disease 25
Control and Prevention within thirty (30) days of the date of application 26
for certification; and 27
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6. Demonstrate completion of a total of at least six (6) hours of training in 1
the following areas within three (3) months of application for 2
certification: 3
a. Basic health, safety, and sanitation; 4
b. Recognizing and reporting child abuse; and 5
c. Developmentally appropriate child-care practice. 6
(b) Initial applications for certification shall be made to the department. The 7
cabinet may promulgate administrative r egulations to establish fees that shall 8
not exceed costs of the program to the cabinet, for proper administration of 9
the certification. The department shall issue a certificate of operation upon 10
inspecting the family child -care home and determining the pro vider's 11
compliance with the provisions of this section. The inspection shall be 12
unannounced. A certificate of operation issued pursuant to this section shall 13
not be transferable and shall be renewed every two (2) years for a fee that 14
shall not exceed costs of the program to the cabinet for renewal. 15
(c) A certified family child -care provider shall display the certificate of operation 16
in a prominent place within the residence in which care is provided. The 17
cabinet shall provide the certified family child -care provider with written 18
information explaining the requirements for a family day -care provider and 19
instructions on the method of reporting violations of the requirements which 20
the provider shall distribute to parents. 21
(d) Upon request of any person, the cab inet shall provide information regarding 22
the denial, revocation, suspension, or violation of any type of day -care license 23
of the family child -care provider. Identifying information regarding children 24
and their families shall remain confidential. 25
(e) The ca binet shall provide, upon request, public information regarding the 26
inspections of and the plans of correction for the family child -care home 27
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within the past year. All information distributed by the cabinet under this 1
paragraph shall include a statement in dicating that the reports as provided 2
under this paragraph from the past five (5) years are available from the family 3
child-care home upon the parent's, custodian's, guardian's, or other interested 4
person's request. 5
(f) The cabinet shall promulgate adminis trative regulations in accordance with 6
KRS Chapter 13A which establish standards for the issuance, monitoring, 7
release of information under this section and KRS 199.896 and 199.898, 8
renewal, denial, revocation, and suspension of a certificate of operation for a 9
family child-care home and establish criteria for the denial of certification if 10
criminal records indicate convictions that may impact the safety and security 11
of children in care. A denial, suspension, or revocation of a certificate may be 12
appealed, and upon appeal an administrative hearing shall be conducted in 13
accordance with KRS Chapter 13B. If the cabinet has probable cause to 14
believe that there is an immediate threat to the public health, safety, or 15
welfare, the cabinet may take emergency action to suspend a certificate 16
pursuant to KRS 13B.125. The cabinet shall promulgate administrative 17
regulations to impose minimum staff -to-child ratios. The cabinet may 18
promulgate administrative regulations relating to other requirements 19
necessary to ensure mini mum safety in family child -care homes. The cabinet 20
shall develop and provide an "easy -to-read" guide containing the following 21
information to a family child-care provider seeking certification of his home: 22
1. Certification requirements and procedures; 23
2. Information about available child-care training; and 24
3. Child-care food sponsoring organizations. 25
(2) Family child -care provide rs shall annually demonstrate to the department 26
completion of at least six (6) hours of training in child development. These hours 27
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shall include but are not limited to one and one -half (1.5) hours one (1) time every 1
five (5) years of continuing education i n the recognition and prevention of pediatric 2
abusive head trauma, as defined in KRS 620.020. Training in recognizing pediatric 3
abusive head trauma may be designed in collaboration with organizations and 4
agencies that specialize in the prevention and recog nition of pediatric abusive head 5
trauma approved by the secretary of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. 6
The one and one -half (1.5) hours of continuing education required under this 7
section shall be included in the current number of required contin uing education 8
hours. 9
(3) The cabinet shall, either through the development of or approval of, make available 10
a model training curriculum and training materials, including video instructional 11
materials, to cover the areas specified in subsection (1)(a)6. o f this section. The 12
cabinet shall develop or approve the model training curriculum and training 13
materials to cover the areas specified in subsection (1)(a)6. of this section. 14
(4) (a) As used in this subsection "local government" means a city, county, chart er 15
county, urban -county government, consolidated local government, or unified 16
local government. 17
(b) The provisions of this section shall supersede all local government ordinances 18
or regulations pertaining to the certification, licensure, and training 19
requirements related to the operation of family child -care homes and no local 20
government shall adopt or enforce any additional licensure, certification, or 21
training requirements specifically applicable to family child -care homes in 22
addition to those provided in this section. This subsection shall not be 23
interpreted or construed to exempt family child -care homes from compliance 24
with local government ordinances and regulations that apply generally within 25
the jurisdiction. 26
(c) Because the availability of adequate c hild-care as an essential business is vital 27
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to the Commonwealth's state and local economies, by January 1, 2022, a local 1
government that has adopted land use regulations pursuant to KRS Chapter 2
100 shall specifically name family child -care homes in the tex t of its zoning 3
regulations to authorize the board of adjustments to separately consider the 4
applications of proposed family child -care homes for conditional use permits 5
within the residential zones of the planning unit where they are not a fully 6
permitted use pursuant to KRS 100.237. 7
(5) The cabinet shall promulgate administrative regulations in accordance with KRS 8
Chapter 13A to establish the process and procedures to allow certified family 9
child-care home providers and licensed type II child-care center providers to: 10
(a) Receive payments from the cabinet for children enrolled who are 11
participating in the CCAP operated by the cabinet utilizing federal funds 12
under the Child Care and Development Fund, in accordance with 45 C.F.R. 13
pt. 98; 14
(b) Apply as an indi vidual family applicant for the CCAP operated by the 15
cabinet utilizing federal funds under the Child Care and Development 16
Fund, in accordance with 45 C.F.R. pt. 98, for his or her children who are 17
enrolled at his or her certified family child -care home or licensed type II 18
child-care center so long as the provider applicant is serving at least three 19
(3) children who are not the children, siblings, stepchildren, grandchildren, 20
nieces, nephews, or children in legal custody of the provider applicant; and 21
(c) Receive payments from the cabinet for his or her children who are enrolled 22
at his or her certified family child -care home or licensed type II child -care 23
center if the provider applicant meets the income guidelines of the CCAP 24
and the requirements of paragraph (b) of this subsection. 25
(6) (a) Any provider who violates any provision of subsection (5) of this section 26
shall be guilty of an intentional program violation. As used in this 27
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subsection, "intentional program violation" means a CCAP recipient or 1
child car e provider that has intentionally made a false or misleading 2
statement or misrepresented, concealed, or withheld facts. 3
(b) A provider that is guilty of an intentional program violation shall be 4
disqualified from participation in CCAP: 5
1. For twelve (12) months for a first offense; 6
2. For twenty-four (24) months for a second offense; and 7
3. Permanently for a third offense. 8