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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to the rights of a parent or guardian with a child in |
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certain child-care facilities. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. This Act may be cited as the Kairo and the Kids' |
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Law. |
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SECTION 2. Subchapter C, Chapter 42, Human Resources Code, |
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is amended by adding Section 42.04271 to read as follows: |
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Sec. 42.04271. RIGHTS OF PARENT OR GUARDIAN WITH CHILD IN |
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CERTAIN CHILD-CARE FACILITIES. (a) This section applies only to a |
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day-care center, group day-care home, before-school program, |
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after-school program, school-age program, or registered family |
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home. |
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(b) A parent or guardian of a child at a child-care facility |
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has the right to: |
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(1) enter and examine the child-care facility during |
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the facility's hours of operation without advance notice; |
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(2) file a complaint against the child-care facility; |
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(3) review the child-care facility's publicly |
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accessible records; |
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(4) review the child-care facility's written records |
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concerning the parent's or guardian's child; |
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(5) receive from the child-care facility the |
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commission's inspection reports for the child-care facility and |
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information about how to access the child-care facility's |
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compliance history online; |
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(6) have the child-care facility comply with a court |
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order preventing another parent or guardian from visiting or |
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removing the parent's or guardian's child; |
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(7) be provided the contact information for the |
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division responsible for regulating the child-care facility, |
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including the division's name, address, and phone number; |
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(8) inspect any video recordings of an alleged |
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incident of abuse or neglect involving the parent's or guardian's |
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child, provided that: |
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(A) video recordings of the alleged incident are |
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available; |
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(B) the parent or guardian of the child is not |
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allowed to retain any part of the video recording depicting a child |
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who is not the parent's or guardian's child; and |
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(C) the parent or guardian of any other child |
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captured in the video recording receives notice from the facility |
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under Subsection (c); |
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(9) obtain a copy of the child-care facility's |
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policies and procedures; |
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(10) review, on the request of the parent or guardian, |
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the facility's: |
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(A) staff training records; and |
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(B) any in-house staff training curriculum used |
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by the facility; and |
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(11) be free from any retaliatory action by the |
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child-care facility for exercising any of the parent's or |
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guardian's rights. |
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(c) Before allowing a parent or guardian to inspect a video |
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recording under Subsection (b)(8), a child-care facility must |
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provide notice to the parent or guardian of any other child captured |
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in the video recording. |
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(d) This section does not affect the ability of a law |
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enforcement agency or the department to access a video recording as |
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part of an investigation of an incident depicted in the video |
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recording. |
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(e) A child-care facility shall provide the parent or |
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guardian of the child with a written copy of the rights listed in |
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Subsection (b) not later than the child's first day at the facility. |
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SECTION 3. Not later than September 30, 2023, a child-care |
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facility shall provide the information required by Section |
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42.04271, Human Resources Code, as added by this Act, to the parent |
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or guardian of each child enrolled at the facility on the effective |
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date of this Act. |
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SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |