1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to child-care facilities, agencies, and advisory
1-3 committees.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 42.001, Human Resources Code, as amended
1-6 by Chapters 664 and 1063, Acts of the 75th Legislature, Regular
1-7 Session, 1997, is reenacted to read as follows:
1-8 Sec. 42.001. PURPOSE. The purpose of this chapter is to
1-9 protect the health, safety, and well-being of the children of the
1-10 state who reside in child-care facilities by establishing statewide
1-11 minimum standards for their safety and protection and by regulating
1-12 the facilities through a licensing program or by requiring
1-13 child-care facilities to be regulated by alternative accreditation
1-14 bodies. It is the policy of the state to ensure the protection of
1-15 all children under care in child-care facilities and to encourage
1-16 and assist in the improvement of child-care programs. It is also
1-17 the intent of the legislature that freedom of religion of all
1-18 citizens is inviolate. With respect to a school or child-care
1-19 facility sponsored by a religious organization, nothing in this
1-20 chapter gives a governmental agency authority to regulate, control,
1-21 supervise, or in any way be involved in the:
1-22 (1) form, manner, or content of religious instruction,
1-23 ministry, teaching, or the curriculum offered by the school or
1-24 facility;
2-1 (2) ability of the school or facility to select and
2-2 supervise qualified personnel, and otherwise control the terms of
2-3 employment, including the right to employ individuals who share the
2-4 religious views of the school or facility;
2-5 (3) internal self-governance and autonomy of the
2-6 school or facility; or
2-7 (4) religious environment of the school or facility,
2-8 such as symbols, art, icons, and scripture.
2-9 SECTION 2. Section 42.002(3), Human Resources Code, as
2-10 amended by Chapters 1022 and 1063, Acts of the 75th Legislature,
2-11 Regular Session, 1997, is reenacted to read as follows:
2-12 (3) "Child-care facility" means a facility licensed,
2-13 certified, or registered by the department to provide assessment,
2-14 care, training, education, custody, treatment, or supervision for a
2-15 child who is not related by blood, marriage, or adoption to the
2-16 owner or operator of the facility, for all or part of the 24-hour
2-17 day, whether or not the facility is operated for profit or charges
2-18 for the services it offers.
2-19 SECTION 3. Section 42.041(b), Human Resources Code, as
2-20 amended by Chapters 1063 and 1217, Acts of the 75th Legislature,
2-21 Regular Session, 1997, is reenacted to read as follows:
2-22 (b) This section does not apply to:
2-23 (1) a state-operated facility;
2-24 (2) an agency foster home or agency foster group home;
2-25 (3) a facility that is operated in connection with a
2-26 shopping center, business, religious organization, or establishment
2-27 where children are cared for during short periods while parents or
3-1 persons responsible for the children are attending religious
3-2 services, shopping, or engaging in other activities on or near the
3-3 premises, including but not limited to retreats or classes for
3-4 religious instruction;
3-5 (4) a school or class for religious instruction that
3-6 does not last longer than two weeks and is conducted by a religious
3-7 organization during the summer months;
3-8 (5) a youth camp licensed by the Texas Department of
3-9 Health;
3-10 (6) a facility licensed, operated, certified, or
3-11 registered by another state agency;
3-12 (7) an educational facility accredited by the Texas
3-13 Education Agency or the Southern Association of Colleges and
3-14 Schools that operates primarily for educational purposes in grades
3-15 kindergarten and above, an after-school program operated directly
3-16 by an accredited educational facility, or an after-school program
3-17 operated by another entity under contract with the educational
3-18 facility, if the Texas Education Agency or Southern Association of
3-19 Colleges and Schools has approved the curriculum content of the
3-20 after-school program operated under the contract;
3-21 (8) an educational facility that operates solely for
3-22 educational purposes in grades kindergarten through at least grade
3-23 two, that does not provide custodial care for more than one hour
3-24 during the hours before or after the customary school day, and that
3-25 is a member of an organization that promulgates, publishes, and
3-26 requires compliance with health, safety, fire, and sanitation
3-27 standards equal to standards required by state, municipal, and
4-1 county codes;
4-2 (9) a kindergarten or preschool educational program
4-3 that is operated as part of a public school or a private school
4-4 accredited by the Texas Education Agency, that offers educational
4-5 programs through grade six, and that does not provide custodial
4-6 care during the hours before or after the customary school day;
4-7 (10) a family home, whether registered or listed;
4-8 (11) an educational facility that is integral to and
4-9 inseparable from its sponsoring religious organization or an
4-10 educational facility both of which do not provide custodial care
4-11 for more than two hours maximum per day, and that offers
4-12 educational programs for children age five and above in one or more
4-13 of the following: kindergarten through at least grade three,
4-14 elementary, or secondary grades;
4-15 (12) an emergency shelter facility providing shelter
4-16 to minor mothers who are the sole support of their natural children
4-17 under Section 32.201, Family Code, unless the facility would
4-18 otherwise require a license as a child-care facility under this
4-19 section;
4-20 (13) a juvenile detention facility certified under
4-21 Section 51.12, Family Code, or Section 141.042(d), a juvenile
4-22 facility providing services solely for the Texas Youth Commission,
4-23 or any other correctional facility for children operated or
4-24 regulated by another state agency or by a political subdivision of
4-25 the state;
4-26 (14) an elementary-age (ages 5-13) recreation program
4-27 operated by a municipality provided the governing body of the
5-1 municipality annually adopts standards of care by ordinance after a
5-2 public hearing for such programs, that such standards are provided
5-3 to the parents of each program participant, and that the ordinances
5-4 shall include, at a minimum, staffing ratios, minimum staff
5-5 qualifications, minimum facility, health, and safety standards, and
5-6 mechanisms for monitoring and enforcing the adopted local
5-7 standards; and further provided that parents be informed that the
5-8 program is not licensed by the state and the program may not be
5-9 advertised as a child-care facility; or
5-10 (15) an annual youth camp held in a municipality with
5-11 a population of more than 1.5 million that operates for not more
5-12 than three months and that has been operated for at least 10 years
5-13 by a nonprofit organization that provides care for the homeless.
5-14 SECTION 4. Section 42.042(g), Human Resources Code, as
5-15 amended by Chapters 1063 and 1217, Acts of the 75th Legislature,
5-16 Regular Session, 1997, is reenacted to read as follows:
5-17 (g) In promulgating minimum standards the department may
5-18 recognize and treat differently the types of services provided by
5-19 the following:
5-20 (1) registered family homes;
5-21 (2) child-care facilities, including child-care
5-22 institutions, foster group homes, foster homes, group day-care
5-23 homes, and day-care centers;
5-24 (3) child-placing agencies;
5-25 (4) agency foster homes; and
5-26 (5) agency foster group homes.
5-27 SECTION 5. Section 42.044(c), Human Resources Code, as
6-1 amended by Chapters 1022 and 1063, Acts of the 75th Legislature,
6-2 Regular Session, 1997, is reenacted to read as follows:
6-3 (c) The department must investigate a facility regulated
6-4 under this chapter or a registered family home when a complaint is
6-5 received. The representative of the department must notify the
6-6 operator of a registered family home or the director or authorized
6-7 representative of a regulated facility when a complaint is being
6-8 investigated and report in writing the results of the investigation
6-9 to the family home's operator or to the regulated facility's
6-10 director or the director's authorized representative.
6-11 SECTION 6. Section 42.052(c), Human Resources Code, as
6-12 amended by Chapters 1022, 1063, and 1217, Acts of the 75th
6-13 Legislature, Regular Session, 1997, is reenacted to read as
6-14 follows:
6-15 (c) A family home that provides care for compensation for
6-16 three or fewer children, excluding children who are related to the
6-17 caretaker, shall list with the department if the home provides
6-18 regular care in the caretaker's own residence. The home may
6-19 register with the department.
6-20 SECTION 7. Section 42.052(f), Human Resources Code, as
6-21 amended by Chapters 1022, 1063, and 1217, Acts of the 75th
6-22 Legislature, Regular Session, 1997, is reenacted to read as
6-23 follows:
6-24 (f) To remain listed or registered with the department, a
6-25 family home must comply with the department's rules and standards,
6-26 if applicable, and any provision of this chapter that applies to a
6-27 listed or registered family home.
7-1 SECTION 8. Section 42.052(j), Human Resources Code, as added
7-2 by Chapter 1217, Acts of the 75th Legislature, Regular Session,
7-3 1997, is repealed.
7-4 SECTION 9. Section 42.057, Human Resources Code, as added by
7-5 Chapter 1022, Acts of the 75th Legislature, Regular Session, 1997,
7-6 is repealed.
7-7 SECTION 10. Section 42.057, Human Resources Code, as added by
7-8 Chapter 1217, Acts of the 75th Legislature, Regular Session, 1997,
7-9 is repealed.
7-10 SECTION 11. Section 42.072(d), Human Resources Code, as
7-11 amended by Chapters 1022, 1063, and 1217, Acts of the 75th
7-12 Legislature, Regular Session, 1997, is reenacted to read as
7-13 follows:
7-14 (d) The department by rule may provide for denial of an
7-15 application or renewal for a licensed facility or for listing or
7-16 registering a family home or may revoke a facility's license or a
7-17 family home's listing or registration based on findings of
7-18 background or criminal history as a result of a background or
7-19 criminal history check.
7-20 SECTION 12. Section 44.061, Human Resources Code, is
7-21 repealed.
7-22 SECTION 13. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
7-23 a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
7-24 provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
7-25 Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
7-26 Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
_______________________________ _______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1178 was passed by the House on March
29, 2001, by the following vote: Yeas 146, Nays 0, 2 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 1178 on May 9, 2001, by a non-record vote.
_______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1178 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 2, 2001, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays
0, 1 present, not voting.
_______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________________
Date
__________________________
Governor