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Senate Bill 427 |
Senate Author: Nelson |
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Effective: 9-1-13 |
House Sponsor: Raymond |
Senate Bill 427 amends the Human Resources Code to exempt from licensing requirements a child-care facility operated by a nonprofit organization located in a municipality with a population of at least 600,000 that is in a county on the Texas-Mexico border that, in addition to meeting other criteria, provides emergency shelter and care to certain children who are victims of human trafficking. The bill authorizes the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) to designate a licensed day-care center or group day-care home for an unannounced biennial inspection, rather than an annual inspection, if the facility has a history of substantial compliance with minimum licensing standards. The bill includes a residential child-care facility among the facilities, homes, and agencies for which the director, owner, or operator is required to submit a complete set of fingerprints of specified persons for purposes of conducting a background and criminal history check.
Senate Bill 427 includes a family home among the facilities against which DFPS is authorized to impose an administrative sanction, as an alternative to an administrative penalty, for a violation of statutory provisions regulating those facilities or a related rule or order. The bill establishes the violations for which DFPS is authorized to impose an administrative penalty without first imposing a nonmonetary administrative sanction.
Senate Bill 427 prohibits a person from serving as a child-care administrator of a general residential operation without a license issued by DFPS and establishes additional eligibility requirements relating to criminal history and background checks for a new or renewal child-care or child-placing agency administrator's license. The bill authorizes DFPS to deny, revoke, suspend, or refuse to renew such a license, or place on probation or reprimand a license holder for engaging in conduct that makes the license holder ineligible for a permit for certain facilities or family homes or employment as a controlling person or service in that capacity in a facility or family home.