|
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
relating to licensing and inspection requirements of the Department |
|
of Family and Protective Services for certain facilities. |
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
SECTION 1. Subsection (b), Section 42.041, 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, the Texas Private School Accreditation |
|
Commission, 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 public school that provides before-school or |
|
after-school programs, child care, or other extended day activities |
|
on a tuition-free basis. |
|
SECTION 2. Section 42.044, Human Resources Code, is amended |
|
by adding Subsection (b-1) to read as follows: |
|
(b-1) Notwithstanding Subsection (b), the department is |
|
required to inspect only as necessary a licensed child-care |
|
facility that offers only an after-school program operated directly |
|
by an educational facility accredited by the Texas Education |
|
Agency, the Texas Private School Accreditation Commission, or the |
|
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. |
|
SECTION 3. Subsection (c), Section 42.054, Human Resources |
|
Code, is amended to read as follows: |
|
(c) The department shall charge each licensed child-care |
|
facility an annual license fee in the amount of $35 plus $2 [$1] for |
|
each child the child-care facility is permitted to serve. The fee |
|
is due on the date on which the department issues the child-care |
|
facility's initial license and on the anniversary of that date. |
|
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2007. |