BILL ANALYSIS

S.B. 260

By: West

Human Services

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Reports indicate an increase in the number of incidents occurring at a child-care facility or at the hands of a child-care worker that have resulted in harm to or even death of a child in the facility's or child-care worker's care. S.B. 260 seeks to amend current law relating to minimum training standards for employees of certain child-care facilities to increase the hours of training required for certain workers and directors of such facilities.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

S.B. 260 amends the Human Resources Code to increase from eight to 24 the hours of initial training required of certain employees of a day-care center.  The bill specifies that such training must be completed not later than the 90th day after the employee's first day of employment and makes the requirement applicable to an employee who has less than two years of employment experience in a regulated child-care facility in the alternative to an employee who has no previous training. The bill requires eight hours of the initial training to be completed before the employee is given responsibility for a group of children.

S.B. 260 increases from 15 to 24 the hours of annual training required for each employee of a day-care center or group day-care home, excluding the director, and increases from 20 to 30 the hours of required annual training for each director of a day-care center or group day-care home.  The bill makes the increased hours of required training applicable to an employee or director of a child-care facility regardless of the date the person began employment with or service as director of the child-care facility.

S.B. 260 prohibits the Department of Family and Protective Services, in adopting minimum training standards for an employee of a regulated child-care facility, from requiring more training hours than the number of hours prescribed by the bill. 

S.B. 260 requires an employee of a child-care facility to complete an orientation to the facility not later than the seventh day after the date the employee begins employment.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2011