Enrolled Bill Summary

            House Bill 2482 amends the Human Resources Code to require the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services to establish a procedure by which a child-care facility or child-placing agency can operate without a license issued if the facility or agency is accredited by a private organization approved by the department. To be approved, an accreditation organization must promulgate and require compliance with standards that meet or exceed the state's minimum licensing requirements with exceptions for internal self-governance and curriculum. An organization is prohibited from having any person serve as a member of the governing body who has a financial interest in an accredited facility or child-placing agency.

            Accreditation organizations must check to see whether child care facility employees are listed with the department as a person who abused or neglected a child, and both the organizations and the department are given authority to institute criminal history checks. The department is authorized to inspect an accredited facility in response to certain complaints and is required to suspend a certificate and, if appropriate, place the children at the facility elsewhere if the facility has violated accreditation standards and the violation creates an immediate threat to the health or safety of children at the facility. The act also clarifies the prerogatives of a faith-based facility that chooses to be licensed by the state rather than certified by a private organization. The provisions of the act are abolished unless reenacted by the legislature within four years from the date of enactment.