By: Swinford (Senate Sponsor - Seliger) H.B. No. 1786
         (In the Senate - Received from the House May 11, 2007;
  May 15, 2007, read first time and referred to Committee on Health
  and Human Services; May 18, 2007, reported adversely, with
  favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 6, Nays
  0; May 18, 2007, sent to printer.)
 
  COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 1786 By:  Uresti
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to an exemption for certain programs from the child-care
  licensing requirements.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
               SECTION 1.  Section 42.041(b), Human Resources Code,
  is amended to read as follows:
         (b)  This section does not apply to:
               (1)  a state-operated facility;
               (2)  an agency foster home or agency foster group home;
               (3)  a facility that is operated in connection with a
  shopping center, business, religious organization, or
  establishment where children are cared for during short periods
  while parents or persons responsible for the children are attending
  religious services, shopping, or engaging in other activities on or
  near the premises, including but not limited to retreats or classes
  for religious instruction;
               (4)  a school or class for religious instruction that
  does not last longer than two weeks and is conducted by a religious
  organization during the summer months;
               (5)  a youth camp licensed by the [Texas] Department of
  State Health Services;
               (6)  a facility licensed, operated, certified, or
  registered by another state agency;
               (7)  an educational facility accredited by the Texas
  Education Agency or the Southern Association of Colleges and
  Schools that operates primarily for educational purposes in grades
  kindergarten and above, an after-school program operated directly
  by an accredited educational facility, or an after-school program
  operated by another entity under contract with the educational
  facility, if the Texas Education Agency or Southern Association of
  Colleges and Schools has approved the curriculum content of the
  after-school program operated under the contract;
               (8)  an educational facility that operates solely for
  educational purposes in grades kindergarten through at least grade
  two, that does not provide custodial care for more than one hour
  during the hours before or after the customary school day, and that
  is a member of an organization that promulgates, publishes, and
  requires compliance with health, safety, fire, and sanitation
  standards equal to standards required by state, municipal, and
  county codes;
               (9)  a kindergarten or preschool educational program
  that is operated as part of a public school or a private school
  accredited by the Texas Education Agency, that offers educational
  programs through grade six, and that does not provide custodial
  care during the hours before or after the customary school day;
               (10)  a family home, whether registered or listed;
               (11)  an educational facility that is integral to and
  inseparable from its sponsoring religious organization or an
  educational facility both of which do not provide custodial care
  for more than two hours maximum per day, and that offers educational
  programs for children age five and above in one or more of the
  following:  kindergarten through at least grade three, elementary,
  or secondary grades;
               
               (12)  an emergency shelter facility providing shelter
  to minor mothers who are the sole support of their natural children
  under Section 32.201, Family Code, unless the facility would
  otherwise require a license as a child-care facility under this
  section;
               (13)  a juvenile detention facility certified under
  Section 51.12, Family Code, or Section 141.042(d), a juvenile
  facility providing services solely for the Texas Youth Commission,
  or any other correctional facility for children operated or
  regulated by another state agency or by a political subdivision of
  the state;
               (14)  an elementary-age (ages 5-13) recreation program
  operated by a municipality provided the governing body of the
  municipality annually adopts standards of care by ordinance after a
  public hearing for such programs, that such standards are provided
  to the parents of each program participant, and that the ordinances
  shall include, at a minimum, staffing ratios, minimum staff
  qualifications, minimum facility, health, and safety standards,
  and mechanisms for monitoring and enforcing the adopted local
  standards; and further provided that parents be informed that the
  program is not licensed by the state and the program may not be
  advertised as a child-care facility; [or]
               (15)  an annual youth camp held in a municipality with a
  population of more than 1.5 million that operates for not more than
  three months and that has been operated for at least 10 years by a
  nonprofit organization that provides care for the homeless; or
               (16)  a food distribution program that:
                     (A)  serves an evening meal to children two years
  of age or older; and
                     (B)  is operated by a nonprofit food bank in a
  nonprofit, religious, or educational facility for not more than two
  hours a day on regular business days.
               SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2007.
 
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