AN ACT relating to child-care centers and declaring an emergency.

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AN ACT relating to child-care centers and declaring an emergency. 1
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 2
Section 1. KRS 199.896 is amended to read as follows: 3
(1) A[No] person, association, or organization shall not conduct, operate, maintain, or 4
advertise any child -care center without obtaining a license as provided in KRS 5
199.892 to 199.896. 6
(2) The cabinet may promulgate administrative regulations in accordance 7
with[pursuant to] KRS Chapter 13A relating to license fees and may, in the 8
administrative regulations, establish standards of care and service for a child -care 9
center, crit eria for the denial of a license if criminal records indicate convictions 10
that may impact the safety and security of children in care, and procedures for 11
enforcement of penalties which are not in contravention of this section. 12
(3) Each initial application for a license shall be made to the cabinet and shall be 13
accompanied by a fee that shall not exceed administrative costs of the program to 14
the cabinet and shall be renewable annually upon expiration and reapplication when 15
accompanied by a renewal fee that s hall not exceed administrative costs of the 16
program to the cabinet. Regular licenses and renewals thereof shall expire one (1) 17
year from their effective date. 18
(4) A[No] child-care center shall not be refused a license or have its license revoked for 19
failure to meet standards set by the secretary until after the expiration of a period 20
not to exceed six (6) months from the date of the first official notice that the 21
standards have not been met. If, however, the cabinet has probable cause to believe 22
that an imm ediate threat to the public health, safety, or welfare exists, the cabinet 23
may take emergency action pursuant to KRS 13B.125. All administrative hearings 24
conducted under authority of KRS 199.892 to 199.896 shall be conducted in 25
accordance with KRS Chapter 13B. 26
(5) If, upon inspection or investigation, the inspector general finds that a child -care 27
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center licensed under this section has violated the administrative regulations 1
promulgated in accordance with KRS Chapter 13A by[, standards, or requirements 2
of] the cabine t, the inspector general shall issue a statement of deficiency to the 3
center containing: 4
(a) A statement of fact; 5
(b) A statement of how an administrative regulation [, standard, or requirement of 6
the cabinet] was violated; and 7
(c) The timeframe, negotiated with the child-care center, within which a violation 8
is to be corrected, except that a violation that poses an immediate threat to the 9
health, safety, or welfare of children in the center shall be corrected in no 10
event later than five (5) working days fro m the date of the statement of 11
deficiency. 12
(6) The Cabinet for Health and Family Services, in consultation with the Office of the 13
Inspector General, shall establish by administrative regulations promulgated in 14
accordance with KRS Chapter 13A an informal di spute resolution process through 15
which a child-care provider may dispute licensure deficiencies that have an adverse 16
effect on the child-care provider's license. 17
(7) A child -care center shall have the right to appeal to the Cabinet for Health and 18
Family Se rvices under KRS Chapter 13B any action adverse to its license or the 19
assessment of a civil penalty issued by the inspector general as the result of a 20
violation contained in a statement of deficiency within twenty (20) days of the 21
issuance of the action or assessment of the civil penalty. An appeal shall not act to 22
stay the correction of a violation. 23
(8) In assessing the civil penalty to be levied against a child -care center for a violation 24
contained in a statement of deficiency issued under this section, t he inspector 25
general or the inspector general's designee shall take into consideration the 26
following factors: 27
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(a) The gravity of the threat to the health, safety, or welfare of children posed by 1
the violation; 2
(b) The number and type of previous violations of the child-care center; 3
(c) The reasonable diligence exercised by the child -care center and efforts to 4
correct the violation; and 5
(d) The amount of assessment necessary to assure immediate and continued 6
compliance. 7
(9) Upon a child -care center's failure to take action to correct a violation [of the 8
administrative regulations, standards, or requirements of the cabinet ] contained in a 9
statement of deficiency, or at any time when the operation of a child -care center 10
poses an immediate threat to the health, safety, or welfare of children in the center, 11
and the child-care center continues to operate after the cabinet has taken emergency 12
action to deny, suspend, or revoke its license, the cabinet or the cabinet's designee 13
shall take at least one (1) of the following actions against the center: 14
(a) Institute proceedings to obtain an order compelling compliance with the 15
administrative regulations promulgated by the cabinet in accordance with 16
KRS Chapter 13A[, standards, and requirements of the cabinet]; 17
(b) Institute injunctive proceedings in Circuit Court to terminate the operation of 18
the center; 19
(c) Institute action to discontinue payment of child-care subsidies; or 20
(d) Suspend or revoke the license or impose other penalties provided by law. 21
(10) Upon request of any person, the cabinet shall provide information regarding the 22
denial, revocation, suspension, or violation of any type of child -care center license 23
of the operator. Identifying information regarding children and their families shall 24
remain confidential. 25
(11) The cabinet shall provide, upon request, public information regarding the 26
inspections of and the plans of correction for the child -care center within the past 27
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year. All information distributed by the cabinet under this subsection shall include a 1
statement indicating that the reports as provided under this subsection from the past 2
five (5) years are available from the child -care center upon the parent's, custodian's, 3
guardian's, or other interested person's request. 4
(12) All fees collected under the pro visions of KRS 199.892 to 199.896 for license and 5
certification applications shall be paid into the State Treasury and credited to a 6
special fund for the purpose of administering KRS 199.892 to 199.896 including the 7
payment of expenses of and to the partic ipants in child -care workshops. The funds 8
collected are hereby appropriated for the use of the cabinet. The balance of the 9
special fund shall lapse to the general fund at the end of each biennium. 10
(13) Any advertisement for child -care services shall includ e the address of where the 11
service is being provided. 12
(14) All inspections of licensed and unlicensed child -care centers by the Cabinet for 13
Health and Family Services shall be unannounced. 14
(15) All employees and owners of a child -care center who provide ca re to children shall 15
demonstrate within the first three (3) months of employment completion of at least 16
a total of six (6) hours of orientation in the following areas: 17
(a) Basic health, safety, and sanitation; 18
(b) Recognizing and reporting child abuse; and 19
(c) Developmentally appropriate child-care practice. 20
(16) All employees and owners of a child -care center who provide care to children shall 21
annually demonstrate to the department completion of at least six (6) hours of 22
training in child development. Thes e hours shall include but are not limited to one 23
and one-half (1.5) hours one (1) time every five (5) years of continuing education in 24
the recognition and prevention of pediatric abusive head trauma, as defined in KRS 25
620.020. Training in recognizing pediatric abusive head trauma may be designed in 26
collaboration with organizations and agencies that specialize in the prevention and 27
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recognition of pediatric head trauma approved by the secretary of the Cabinet for 1
Health and Family Services. The one and one -half (1.5) hours required under this 2
section shall be included in the current number of required continuing education 3
hours. 4
(17) The Cabinet for Health and Family Services shall make available either through the 5
development or approval of a model training c urriculum and training materials, 6
including video instructional materials, to cover the areas specified in subsection 7
(15) of this section. The cabinet shall develop or approve the model training 8
curriculum and training materials to cover the areas specifi ed in subsection (15) of 9
this section. 10
(18) Child-care centers licensed pursuant to this section and family child -care homes 11
certified pursuant to KRS 199.8982 shall not use corporal physical discipline, 12
including the use of spanking, shaking, or paddling, as a means of punishment, 13
discipline, behavior modification, or for any other reason. For the purposes of this 14
section, "corporal physical discipline" means the deliberate infliction of physical 15
pain and does not include spontaneous physical contact that is intended to protect a 16
child from immediate danger. 17
(19) Child-care centers that provide instructional and educational programs for 18
preschool-aged children that operate for a maximum of twenty (20) hours per week 19
and that a child attends for no more than fifteen (15) hours per week shall: 20
(a) Notify the cabinet in writing that the center is operating; 21
(b) Meet all child -care center licensure requirements and administrative 22
regulations related to employee background checks; 23
(c) Meet all child -care center licensure requirements and administrative 24
regulations related to tuberculosis screenings; and 25
(d) Be exempt from all other child -care center licensure requirements and 26
administrative regulations. 27
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(20) Child-care centers that provide instructional and educational programs for 1
preschool-aged children that operate for a maximum of twenty (20) hours per week 2
and that a child attends for no more than ten (10) hours per week shall be exempt 3
from all child-care licensure requirements and administrative regulations. 4
(21) Instructional programs for school -age children that o ffer, whether free or for a fee, 5
recreational, educational, sports training, or vacation programs that include but are 6
not limited to martial arts and dance programs to children under eighteen (18) years 7
of age, that a child attends outside the presence of his or her parent or legal 8
guardian, shall be exempt from all child -care licensure administrative regulations if 9
the following criteria are met: 10
(a) The program provides primary instruction in a skill, talent, ability, expertise, 11
or proficiency; 12
(b) The p rogram operates outside the time period when school is in session, 13
including before or after school hours, holidays, school breaks, teaching 14
planning days, or summer vacation; 15
(c) The program does not advertise or otherwise represent that the program is a 16
licensed child-care center or that the program offers child-care services; 17
(d) The program informs the parent or guardian: 18
1. That the program is not licensed by the cabinet; and 19
2. About the physical risks a child may face while participating in the 20
program; and 21
(e) The program conducts the following background checks for all program 22
employees and volunteers who work with children: 23
1. Check of the child abuse and neglect records maintained by the cabinet; 24
and 25
2. In-state criminal background information che ck from the Justice and 26
Public Safety Cabinet or Administrative Office of the Courts. 27
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(22) Directors and employees of child -care centers in a position that involves 1
supervisory or disciplinary power over a minor, or direct contact with a minor, shall 2
submit to a criminal record check in accordance with KRS 199.8965. 3
(23) A director or employee of a child -care center may be employed on a probationary 4
status pending receipt of the criminal background check. Application for the 5
criminal record of a probationar y employee shall be made no later than the date 6
probationary employment begins. 7
(24) In determining whether to issue a plan of correction, directed plan of correction, 8
or suspension or revocation of a child -care center license in response to any 9
alleged vi olation of an administrative regulation by a child -care center, in 10
addition to any other required considerations under this section the cabinet shall 11
consider the following factors: 12
(a) If the child -care center self -reported the incident in question and if the 13
child-care center had a history of self-reporting incidents; 14
(b) If the incident was the result of the child -care center failing in any way 15
related to policy, training, enforcement, or supervision; 16
(c) If the incident was the result of an independent act of failure to follow 17
administrative regulations or center policy on the part of a child -care center 18
applicant for licensure, a child-care center director, or any staff person; 19
(d) Actions taken by the child -care center in addition to those required by 20
administrative regulation, including but not limited to installing cameras, 21
providing extra training for staff, implementing facility improvements, 22
enacting safety policies stricter than those required by administrative 23
regulation, and improving staff-to-child ratios; and 24
(e) If the child -care center appropriately responded to the violation by holding 25
the party responsible accountable for the violation and correcting or 26
initiating correction of any condition that contributed to the violation. 27
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(25) A violati on of a directed plan of correction shall not result in a suspension or 1
revocation of a child -care center's license unless the violation is solely 2
determined by the cabinet to be serious enough to justify the suspension or 3
revocation. 4
(26) A child-care center shall be permitted to provide requested documentation to the 5
cabinet up to five (5) business days following a request when any routine review 6
or audit related to an alleged violation of administrative regulation occurs. 7
(27) (a) A child-care center tha t has been granted a preliminary license with a six 8
(6) month probationary period by the cabinet shall receive a minimum of 9
two (2) weekly support contacts a week by the cabinet or the cabinet's 10
designee, with at least one (1) contact being in person for each week of a 11
six (6) month probationary period in order to assist the center owner, 12
supervisors, and staff in understanding, implementing, and practicing 13
administrative regulations properly. 14
(b) During the six (6) month probationary period, the cabinet shall not issue a 15
violation against a child -care center unless the cabinet determines that a 16
violation was knowingly committed after the cabinet had provided clear 17
instructions, or the violation cre ated an immediate threat to the health, 18
safety, or welfare of the children in the child-care center. 19
(28) The cabinet may allow but shall not require the inspector general, the inspector 20
general's designee, or other cabinet representative to: 21
(a) Take emergency action in accordance with subsection (4) of this section by 22
issuing an emergency order that suspends a child-care center's license; 23
(b) Revoke a child -care center's license if an emergency order has been issued 24
and the: 25
1. Child-care center has not r equested a hearing within the timeframes 26
required in subsection (7) of this section; or 27
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2. Condition that resulted in the emergency order is not corrected within 1
thirty (30) calendar days of service of an emergency order; 2
(c) Revoke a child-care center's license if: 3
1. A representative of the child-care center interferes with a cabinet 4
or other agency representative's ability to perform an official 5
duty; 6
2. A cabinet representative, a representative from another agency 7
with regulatory authority, or a parent is denied access during 8
operating hours to a child, the child -care center, or child -care 9
center staff; 10
3. The child -care center is discontinued or disqualified from 11
participation in Kentucky's child -care subsidy program or 12
another governmental assistance program as a result of fraud, 13
abuse, or criminal conviction related to the center; 14
4. The child-care center fails to meet a condition of, or violates a 15
requirement of, a directed plan of correction; 16
5. The child -care center applicant or licensee knowingly 17
misrepresents or submits false information on a form required by 18
the cabinet; 19
6. The child-care center is the subject of more than two (2) directed 20
plans of correction during a three (3) year period; or 21
7. The child-care center has failed to comply with required payment 22
provisions; and 23
(d) Suspend a child-care center's license if: 24
1. A violation of an administrative regulation is found to pose an 25
immediate threat to the health, safety, and welfare of the 26
children in care, as permitted in subsection (4) of this section; or 27
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2. The child-care center fails to comply with the approved plan of 1
correction. 2
(29) The cabinet shall promulgate administrative regulations in accordance with KRS 3
Chapter 13A to identify emergency care providers who provide essential child -care 4
services during an identified state of emergency.[ 5
(25) Notwithstanding any state law, administrative regulation, executive order, or 6
executive directive to the contrary, during the 2020 or 2021 state of emergency 7
declared by the Governor in response to COVID -19, including but not limited to 8
any mutated strain of the COVID -19 virus, the cabinet shall not establish any 9
restrictions on capacity for class or group size or the ability to combine classes and 10
groups for capacity limits in the morning or afte rnoon that is below the number that 11
was in effect on February 1, 2020.] 12
Section 2. The provisions of this Act shall apply: 13
(1) To any pending and not yet final action related to licensed child -care centers 14
that is under consideration by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services on the effective 15
date of this Act; and 16
(2) To any action related to licensed child -care centers that occurs on or after the 17
effective date of this Act. 18
Section 3. Whereas it is essential that the General Assembly promptly provide 19
access to adequate and quality child care in the Commonwealth in order to provide for 20
the health and safety of citizens, an emergency is declared to exist, and this Act takes 21
effect upon its passage and approval by the Governor or upon its otherwise becoming a 22
law. 23