SESSION OF 2024
SUPPLEMENTAL NOTE ON HOUSE SUBSTITUTE FOR
HOUSE SUBSTITUTE FOR SENATE BILL NO. 96
As Amended by House Committee of the Whole

Brief*
House Sub. for House Sub. for SB 96, as amended,
would establish and update law regulating child care centers
and child care homes and would establish the Kansas Office
of Early Childhood.
The bill would provide certain definitions, modify license
capacity and staff-to-child ratios, and establish staffing
requirements, including professional development training.
References to the Secretary for Children and Families
would be replaced with references to the Executive Director
of the Kansas Office of Early Childhood.
The provisions establishing and updating law regulating
child care centers and child care homes would expire on June
30, 2026, as applied to the Secretary for Children and
Families and would transition to the Kansas Office of Early
Childhood beginning on July 1, 2026.

Updates to and Establishment of Law Regulating Child
Care Centers
The bill would make various changes to law related to
the regulation of child care centers. These revisions would
generally expire on June 30, 2026, and would be replaced by
provisions under the Kansas Office of Early Childhood.
____________________
*Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research
Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental
note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at
http://www.kslegislature.org
Definitions
The bill would define the following terms:
● “Assistant teacher” would mean an individual who
is 18 years of age or older and completes staff
orientation at the time of employment;
● “Child care center” would mean a facility that meets
child care center regulations and provides care and
educational activities for children;
● “Child care home” would mean premises where
care is provided for children at a residence;
● ”Day care facility” would mean a day care home,
preschool, child care center, school-age program,
youth out-of-school time program, or other facility
of a type determined by the Executive Director to
require regulation;
● ”Drop-in program” would mean the same as
defined in KSA 65-527: a child care facility that is
not located in an individual’s residence, that serves
exclusively school-age children and youth where
the operator permits children and youth to arrive at
and depart from the program at the child or youth’s
own volition at unscheduled times;
● “Infant” would mean a child who is between 2
weeks and 12 months of age or a child older than
12 months of age who has not learned how to
walk;
● “Lead teacher” would mean an individual who is 18
years of age or older, has a high school diploma or
equivalent education, and meets the training
requirements in the bill;


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 ● “Licensure year” would mean the period of time
beginning on the effective date and ending on the
expiration date of a license;
● “Program director” would mean the staff member of
a child care center who is at least 18 years of age;
meets the training requirements for the license
capacity of the child care center; and is responsible
for implementing and supervising the
comprehensive and coordinated plan of activities
that provide for the education, care, protection, and
development of children who attend a child care
center;
● “School-age” would mean a child who will be at
least 6 years of age on or before the first day of
September of any school year, but is under the age
of 16;
● “Toddler” would mean a child a who has learned to
walk and is at least 12 months, but less than 30
months, of age; and
● “Unit” would mean the number of children that may
be present in one group in a child care center.
Staff Training and Education Requirements
The bill would require that all staff members
demonstrate an understanding of children and act with sound
judgment.
Program Director for Child Care Centers. The bill
would require a child care center to have a program director
on the premises. The Secretary of Health and Environment
could not require a program director to have training
requirements that are more restrictive than those outlined
below. Related training would be defined to include, but not
be limited to, early childhood education, elementary
education, special education, speech pathology, occupational
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therapy, social work, or family science and human
development.
Program directors would be required to be at least 18
years of age and hold a high school diploma or equivalent.
● If a child care center is licensed for fewer than 24
children, the program director would need:
○ An associate degree or higher degree in early
childhood or a related discipline from a
regionally accredited college or university;
○ Technical certificate or diploma in early
childhood;
○ Child development associate credential;
○ Three semester hours of academic study or
equivalent training in early childhood or a
related discipline from a regionally accredited
college or university and three months
experience in early childhood education
providing direct care and supervision to
children; or
○ Six months experience in early childhood
education providing direct care and
supervision to children.
● If a child care center is licensed for 24 or more
children, the program director would need:
○ A bachelor’s degree or higher degree in early
childhood, child development, or a related
academic discipline from a regionally
accredited college or university and three
months of experience in early childhood
education providing direct care and
supervision to children;
○ A bachelor’s degree in a non-related
academic discipline from a regionally
accredited college or university and a child

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 development associate credential, technical
certificate, or diploma in early childhood; 6
months experience in early childhood
education providing direct care and
supervision to children; or 12 semester hours
of academic study or equivalent training in
early childhood education, child development,
or related disciplines;
○ A bachelor of arts or science degree in child
development or early childhood education,
including a supervised practicum and three
months experience teaching in a licensed
child care facility or preschool or working with
children in a related field; or
○ A bachelor of arts or a bachelor of science
degree in a related academic discipline and
12 hours of academic study or equivalent
training in child development, early childhood
education, curriculum resources, nutrition,
child guidance, parent education, supervised
practicum, or administration of early childhood
programs, and 6 months of experience
teaching in a licensed child care facility,
preschool, or working with children in a
related field.
The bill would require a child care center that is licensed
for more than 75 children to have an administrator, who may
also be the program director.
Lead Teacher. The bill would require a lead teacher to
be present with each unit of children in a facility. Lead
teachers would be required to be 18 years of age or older,
possess a a high school diploma or equivalent education, and
have:
● An associate degree or higher degree in early
childhood or a related discipline from a regionally
accredited college or university;

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 ● Technical certificate or diploma in early childhood;
● An associate degree or higher degree in early
childhood or a related discipline from a regionally
accredited college or university and six months of
experience in early childhood education providing
direct care and supervision to children;
● 12 semester hours of academic study or equivalent
training in early childhood, child development, or a
related academic discipline from a regionally
accredited college or university and either six
months of experience in early childhood providing
direct care and supervision to children, a child
development associate credential, or a technical
certificate or diploma in early childhood;
● A child development associate credential and one
year of experience in early childhood education
providing direct care and supervision to children
the same age they will be serving; or
● Six years experience in early childhood education
providing direct care and supervision to children
the same age they will be serving.
The bill would allow the program director to perform the
duties of a lead teacher in a facility licensed for less than 24
children.
Assistant Teacher. The bill would require an assistant
teacher to be 16 years of age or older.
Child Care Units. The bill would require a unit with at
least one infant to have at least one lead teacher. A unit
where all children are at least 12 months old would be
required to have at least 1 lead teacher or assistant teacher
present. All staff members would be required to be at least
three years older than the oldest child in the unit.

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 Professional Development. The bill would require any
staff member who provides care to children in a child care
center or a child care home to complete up to ten hours of
professional development training per year. The bill would
allow the Executive Director to specify the training for at least
eight of the ten hours. The bill would also require an
individual who provides care to children in a child care center
or a child care home to provide proof of completion for up to
four hours of training to the Executive Director and require the
Executive Director to retain records of an individual’s
professional development.
The bill would require a person who maintains a child
care home with one provider, if caring for four infants at once,
at any time during the licensure year, to submit proof of
completion of at least three hours of professional
development training in an infant-specific subject to the
Executive Director and require the Executive Director to
retain records of such compliance.
License Capacity
The bill would require the Secretary of Health and
Environment (Secretary) to update rules and regulations
regarding child ratios on or before July 1, 2024.
Local Ordinances
The bill would prohibit local governments from adopting
any ordinance, resolution, or regulation that is more restrictive
than defined in law for license capacity of child care homes or
staff-to-child ratios for child care centers.
The bill would require child care centers to meet fire
protection, water supply, and sewage disposal requirements
of the local jurisdiction. The bill also would require a
designated area for children’s activities to contain a minimum
of 28 square feet of floor space per child, excluding kitchens,
passageways, storage areas, and bathrooms, and a minimum
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of 60 square feet of outdoor play space for each child using
the space at a given time.
Licensing
The bill would clarify conditions on expedited
occupational credentialing to include any licensing of
individuals by the Secretary. The bill would also remove the
annual fee for child care centers, day care homes, and group
day care homes; however, the bill would require these
facilities to pay a $75 fee if they fail to renew their license in
the appropriate time frame.
The bill would prohibit the Secretary from requiring the
the licensee to live in the child care home.
The bill would allow a licensee to request a waiver and
would allow the Secretary to waive any requirements for a
day care facility for a set period of time.
Pilot Programs
The bill would allow the Secretary to develop and
operate a pilot program designed to increase the availability
or capacity of child care facilities or drop-in programs. The
Secretary would be authorized to waive the requirements
related to licensure and operation of the child care facility,
including staff requirements. The Secretary would be
prohibited from granting a license for a pilot program if the
Secretary determines that a day care facility or drop-in
program or staff of such facility or program would endanger
the health, safety, and welfare of any child.
The bill would allow a pilot program to be in operation for
up to five years and would allow the Secretary to extend the
pilot program for an additional two years.
If the Secretary determines a pilot program has been
successful and would increase the availability or capacity of
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child care facilities in the state, the Secretary would be
required to make suggestions and recommendations for
statutory changes related to day care facilities and drop-in
programs and adopt any rules and regulations consistent with
the findings of such pilot program, including additional
licensure categories and requirements for such categories.
The Secretary would be required to prepare and submit
a report on or before the first day of each regular session of
the Legislature regarding any pilot program. The content of
the report would be as outlined in the bill.
Use of Hygiene Products
The bill would provide child care facilities with the option
to use toothbrushes after meals or as appropriate.
The bill would also clarify that maternity centers and
child care facilities would be required to provide each resident
and employee with an individual towel, washcloth, or
disposable products.
Restrictions on Use of 15-passenger Vans
The bill would prohibit the Secretary from imposing
restrictions on the use of 15-passenger vans purchased on or
before July 1, 2024.

Establishment of the Kansas Office of Early Childhood
The bill would establish the Kansas Office of Early
Childhood (Office). The Office would be under the supervision
of the Executive Director, who would be appointed by the
Governor, subject to confirmation by the Senate.


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Executive Director of Early Childhood
The Executive Director would be in the unclassified
service under the Kansas Civil Service Act and would receive
an annual salary to be fixed by the Governor. All budgeting,
purchasing, and related management functions of the Office
would be under the supervision of the Executive Director. All
expenditures would be made in accordance with
appropriation acts upon warrants of the Director of Accounts
and Reports issued pursuant to vouchers approved by the
Executive Director or the Executive Director’s designee.
The Executive Director would submit an annual
appropriations request to the Legislature. The Office’s request
would be prepared and submitted as continuing law requires.
The provisions of the Kansas Governmental Operations
Accountability Law would apply to the Office, and the Office
would be subject to audit, review, and evaluation.
The Executive Director would be required to maintain an
office in Topeka, Kansas, and would be allowed to maintain
offices and facilities to carry out the functions of the Office in
other locations of the state.
Responsibilities of the Executive Director
The Executive Director would be required to:
● Collect metrics and information on services
available to children and families to better measure
the efficiency of the state’s early childhood system
and monitor benchmarks related to positive
outcomes for children and families;
● Prepare and implement plans for a comprehensive
service delivery system for children and families;


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● Facilitate and coordinate interagency cooperation
towards the goal of serving children and families
with a variety of other state agencies, such as the:
○ Department for Children and Families (DCF);
○ Kansas Department of Health and
Environment (KDHE);
○ Kansas Department of Corrections;
○ State Board of Education;
○ State Board of Regents; and
○ Any other state office or department providing
services to Kansas children and families;
● Provide a central contact for federal and state
agencies concerning early childhood care and
related services;
● Provide