By Raymond H.B. No. 3550
77R5497 KLA-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the regulation of certain child-care facilities,
1-3 child-placing agencies, and family homes.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 42.041(b), Human Resources Code, as
1-6 amended by Chapters 1063 and 1217, Acts of the 75th Legislature,
1-7 Regular Session, 1997, is reenacted and amended to read as follows:
1-8 (b) This section does not apply to:
1-9 (1) a state-operated facility;
1-10 (2) an agency foster home or agency foster group home;
1-11 (3) a facility that is operated in connection with a
1-12 shopping center, business, religious organization, or establishment
1-13 where children are cared for during short periods while parents or
1-14 persons responsible for the children are attending religious
1-15 services, shopping, or engaging in other activities on or near the
1-16 premises, including but not limited to retreats or classes for
1-17 religious instruction;
1-18 (4) a school or class for religious instruction that
1-19 does not last longer than two weeks and is conducted by a religious
1-20 organization during the summer months;
1-21 (5) a youth camp licensed by the Texas Department of
1-22 Health;
1-23 (6) a facility licensed, [operated,] certified, or
1-24 registered by another state agency;
2-1 (7) an educational facility accredited by the Texas
2-2 Education Agency, the Texas Private School Accreditation
2-3 Commission, or the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, or
2-4 an open-enrollment charter school granted a charter under
2-5 Subchapter D, Chapter 12, Education Code, that operates primarily
2-6 for educational purposes for children who are at least five years
2-7 of age [in grades kindergarten and above], an after-school program
2-8 operated directly by an accredited educational facility or
2-9 open-enrollment charter school, or an after-school program operated
2-10 by another entity under contract with the educational facility or
2-11 open-enrollment charter school, if the Texas Education Agency, the
2-12 Texas Private School Accreditation Commission, or the Southern
2-13 Association of Colleges and Schools has approved the curriculum
2-14 content of the after-school program operated under the contract;
2-15 (8) an educational facility that operates solely for
2-16 educational purposes for children who are at least five years of
2-17 age [in grades kindergarten] through at least grade two, that does
2-18 not provide custodial care for more than one hour during the hours
2-19 before or after the customary school day, and that is a member of
2-20 an organization that promulgates, publishes, and requires
2-21 compliance with health, safety, fire, and sanitation standards
2-22 equal to standards required by state, municipal, and county codes;
2-23 (9) a kindergarten or prekindergarten [preschool]
2-24 educational program for children who are at least three years of
2-25 age but younger than six years of age that is operated as part of a
2-26 public school or a private school accredited by the Texas Education
2-27 Agency, the Texas Private School Accreditation Commission, or the
3-1 Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, that offers
3-2 educational programs through grade six, and that does not provide
3-3 custodial care during the hours before or after the customary
3-4 school day;
3-5 (10) a family home, whether registered or listed;
3-6 (11) an educational facility that is integral to and
3-7 inseparable from its sponsoring religious organization or an
3-8 educational facility both of which do not provide custodial care
3-9 for more than two hours maximum per day, and that offers
3-10 educational programs for children age five and above in one or more
3-11 of the following: kindergarten through at least grade three,
3-12 elementary, or secondary grades;
3-13 (12) an emergency shelter facility providing shelter
3-14 to minor mothers who are the sole support of their natural children
3-15 under Section 32.201, Family Code, unless the facility would
3-16 otherwise require a license as a child-care facility under this
3-17 section;
3-18 (13) a juvenile detention facility certified under
3-19 Section 51.12, Family Code, or Section 141.042(d), a juvenile
3-20 facility providing services solely for the Texas Youth Commission,
3-21 or any other correctional facility for children operated or
3-22 regulated by another state agency or by a political subdivision of
3-23 the state;
3-24 (14) an elementary-age (ages 5-13) recreation program
3-25 operated by a municipality provided the governing body of the
3-26 municipality annually adopts standards of care by ordinance after a
3-27 public hearing for such programs, that such standards are provided
4-1 to the parents of each program participant, and that the ordinances
4-2 shall include, at a minimum, staffing ratios, minimum staff
4-3 qualifications, minimum facility, health, and safety standards, and
4-4 mechanisms for monitoring and enforcing the adopted local
4-5 standards; and further provided that parents be informed that the
4-6 program is not licensed by the state and the program may not be
4-7 advertised as a child-care facility; or
4-8 (15) an annual youth camp held in a municipality with
4-9 a population of more than 1.5 million that operates for not more
4-10 than three months and that has been operated for at least 10 years
4-11 by a nonprofit organization that provides care for the homeless.
4-12 SECTION 2. Section 42.054, Human Resources Code, is amended
4-13 by amending Subsection (g) and adding Subsections (h), (i), (j),
4-14 and (k) to read as follows:
4-15 (g) Not later than the 31st day before the date the annual
4-16 fee under this section for a license, registration, or listing of a
4-17 facility, agency, or home is due, the department shall send written
4-18 notice of the annual fee to the license, registration, or listing
4-19 holder's last known address, according to the department's records.
4-20 (h) A facility, agency, or home that does not pay the annual
4-21 fee under this section for a license, registration, or listing on
4-22 or before the date the fee is due, but pays the fee on or before
4-23 the 90th day after the due date, must pay to the department a fee
4-24 in the amount of one and one-half times the required annual fee.
4-25 (i) A facility, agency, or home that pays the annual fee
4-26 under this section for a license, registration, or listing after
4-27 the 90th day after the date the fee was due, but before the first
5-1 anniversary of the due date, must pay to the department a fee in
5-2 the amount of two times the required annual fee.
5-3 (j) The department shall revoke the license, registration,
5-4 or listing of a facility, agency, or home that does not pay the
5-5 annual fee under this section for the license, registration, or
5-6 listing on or before the first anniversary of the date the fee was
5-7 due. The facility, agency, or home may obtain a new license,
5-8 registration, or listing by complying with the requirements and
5-9 procedures for obtaining an original license, registration, or
5-10 listing.
5-11 (k) The provisions of Subsections (b) through (j) [(f)] of
5-12 this section do not apply to:
5-13 (1) licensed foster homes and licensed foster group
5-14 homes;
5-15 (2) nonprofit facilities regulated under this chapter
5-16 that provided 24-hour care for children in the managing
5-17 conservatorship of the department during the 12-month period
5-18 immediately preceding the anniversary date of the facility's
5-19 license; or
5-20 (3) facilities operated by a nonprofit corporation or
5-21 foundation that provides 24-hour residential care and does not
5-22 charge for the care provided.
5-23 SECTION 3. Section 42.072(c), Human Resources Code, is
5-24 amended to read as follows:
5-25 (c) A person whose license, listing, registration, or
5-26 certification is revoked, or a corporation of which the person has
5-27 more than a 20 percent ownership interest, may not apply for any
6-1 license, listing, registration, or certification under this chapter
6-2 before the second anniversary of the date on which the revocation
6-3 takes effect by department or court order.
6-4 SECTION 4. Section 42.077(d), Human Resources Code, is
6-5 amended to read as follows:
6-6 (d) A facility or family home that receives from the
6-7 department notice that the facility's or home's [has its] license,
6-8 listing, or registration is revoked or suspended shall mail
6-9 notification of this action by certified mail to the parents or
6-10 guardian of the child served by the facility or family home. The
6-11 facility or family home shall mail the notification within five
6-12 days of the effective date of the revocation or suspension of the
6-13 license, listing, or registration, regardless of whether the
6-14 facility or home files an appeal of the revocation or suspension
6-15 with the State Office of Administrative Hearings.
6-16 SECTION 5. Section 42.0505, Human Resources Code, is
6-17 repealed.
6-18 SECTION 6. The change in law made by Section 42.054, Human
6-19 Resources Code, as amended by this Act, applies only to a
6-20 child-care facility, child-placing agency, or family home for which
6-21 an annual fee for a license, registration, or listing becomes due
6-22 on or after the effective date of this Act. A child-care facility,
6-23 child-placing agency, or family home for which an annual fee for a
6-24 license, registration, or listing becomes due before the effective
6-25 date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the
6-26 fee became due, and the former law is continued in effect for that
6-27 purpose.
7-1 SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.