As Introduced
135th General Assembly
Regular Session H. B. No. 602
2023-2024
Representatives Fowler Arthur, McClain
Cosponsors: Representatives Barhorst, Claggett, Click, Dean, Ferguson, Gross,
Holmes, John, Johnson, Kick, King, Klopfenstein, Lear, Stein, Stoltzfus,
Swearingen, Wiggam, Williams, Willis
A BILL
To amend sections 5104.01, 5104.02, and 5104.38 and 1
to enact sections 303.215 and 519.215 of the 2
Revised Code to exempt home education groups 3
from child care regulations, county and township 4
zoning regulations, and to amend the versions of 5
sections 5104.01, 5104.02, and 5104.38 of the 6
Revised Code that are scheduled to take effect 7
on January 1, 2025, to continue the change on 8
and after that date. 9
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 5104.01, 5104.02, and 5104.38 be 10
amended and sections 303.215 and 519.215 of the Revised Code be 11
enacted to read as follows: 12
Sec. 303.215. (A) Except as provided in division (B) of 13
this section, sections 303.01 to 303.25 of the Revised Code do 14
not confer on any county rural zoning commission, board of 15
county commissioners, or board of zoning appeals the authority 16
to prohibit or restrict the location of a home education 17
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As Introduced
learning pod, as defined in section 5104.01 of the Revised Code, 18
in any district or zone in the county. 19
(B) Division (A) of this section does not limit the 20
authority of a county rural zoning commission, board of county 21
commissioners, or board of zoning appeals to require that a 22
building or residence used by a home education learning pod 23
comply with zoning requirements that would otherwise apply to 24
the building or residence if it was not associated with or used 25
by a home education learning pod. 26
Sec. 519.215. (A) Except as provided in division (B) of 27
this section, sections 519.01 to 519.25 of the Revised Code do 28
not confer on any township zoning commission, board of township 29
trustees, or board of zoning appeals the authority to prohibit 30
or restrict the location of a home education learning pod, as 31
defined in section 5104.01 of the Revised Code, in any district 32
or zone in the township. 33
(B) Division (A) of this section does not limit the 34
authority of a township zoning commission, board of township 35
trustees, or board of zoning appeals to require that a building 36
or residence used by a home education learning pod comply with 37
zoning requirements that would otherwise apply to the building 38
or residence if it was not associated with or used by a home 39
education learning pod. 40
Sec. 5104.01. As used in this chapter: 41
(A) "Administrator" means the person responsible for the 42
daily operation of a center, type A home, or approved child day 43
camp. The administrator and the owner may be the same person. 44
(B) "Approved child day camp" means a child day camp 45
approved pursuant to section 5104.22 of the Revised Code. 46
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(C) "Authorized representative" means an individual 47
employed by a center, type A home, or approved child day camp 48
that is owned by a person other than an individual and who is 49
authorized by the owner to do all of the following: 50
(1) Communicate on the owner's behalf; 51
(2) Submit on the owner's behalf applications for 52
licensure or approval; 53
(3) Enter into on the owner's behalf provider agreements 54
for publicly funded child care. 55
(D) "Border state child care provider" means a child care 56
provider that is located in a state bordering Ohio and that is 57
licensed, certified, or otherwise approved by that state to 58
provide child care funded by the child care block grant act. 59
(E) "Career pathways model" means an alternative pathway 60
to meeting the requirements to be a child care staff member or 61
administrator that does both of the following: 62
(1) Uses a framework approved by the director of job and 63
family services to document formal education, training, 64
experience, and specialized credentials and certifications; 65
(2) Allows the child care staff member or administrator to 66
achieve a designation as an early childhood professional level 67
one, two, three, four, five, or six. 68
(F) "Caretaker parent" means the father or mother of a 69
child whose presence in the home is needed as the caretaker of 70
the child, a person who has legal custody of a child and whose 71
presence in the home is needed as the caretaker of the child, a 72
guardian of a child whose presence in the home is needed as the 73
caretaker of the child, and any other person who stands in loco 74
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parentis with respect to the child and whose presence in the 75
home is needed as the caretaker of the child. 76
(G) "Chartered nonpublic school" means a school that meets 77
standards for nonpublic schools prescribed by the director of 78
education and workforce for nonpublic schools pursuant to 79
section 3301.07 of the Revised Code. 80
(H) "Child" includes an infant, toddler, preschool-age 81
child, or school-age child. 82
(I) "Child care block grant act" means the "Child Care and 83
Development Block Grant Act of 2014," 128 Stat. 1971 (2014), 42 84
U.S.C. 9858, as amended. 85
(J) "Child day camp" means a program in which only school- 86
age children attend or participate, that operates for no more 87
than twelve hours per day and no more than fifteen weeks during 88
the summer. For purposes of this division, the maximum twelve 89
hours of operation time does not include transportation time 90
from a child's home to a child day camp and from a child day 91
camp to a child's home. 92
(K) "Child care" means all of the following: 93
(1) Administering to the needs of infants, toddlers, 94
preschool-age children, and school-age children outside of 95
school hours; 96
(2) By persons other than their parents, guardians, or 97
custodians; 98
(3) For part of the twenty-four-hour day; 99
(4) In a place other than a child's own home, except that 100
an in-home aide provides child care in the child's own home; 101
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(5) By a provider required by this chapter to be licensed 102
or approved by the department of job and family services, 103
certified by a county department of job and family services, or 104
under contract with the department to provide publicly funded 105
child care as described in section 5104.32 of the Revised Code. 106
(L) "Child care center" and "center" mean any place that 107
is not the permanent residence of the licensee or administrator 108
in which child care or publicly funded child care is provided 109
for seven or more children at one time. "Child care center" and 110
"center" do not include any of the following: 111
(1) A place located in and operated by a hospital, as 112
defined in section 3727.01 of the Revised Code, in which the 113
needs of children are administered to, if all the children whose 114
needs are being administered to are monitored under the on-site 115
supervision of a physician licensed under Chapter 4731. of the 116
Revised Code or a registered nurse licensed under Chapter 4723. 117
of the Revised Code, and the services are provided only for 118
children who, in the opinion of the child's parent, guardian, or 119
custodian, are exhibiting symptoms of a communicable disease or 120
other illness or are injured; 121
(2) A child day camp; 122
(3) A place that provides care, if all of the following 123
apply: 124
(a) An organized religious body provides the care; 125
(b) A parent, custodian, or guardian of at least one child 126
receiving care is on the premises and readily accessible at all 127
times; 128
(c) The care is not provided for more than thirty days a 129
year; 130
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(d) The care is provided only for preschool-age and 131
school-age children. 132
(M) "Child care resource and referral service 133
organization" means a community-based nonprofit organization 134
that provides child care resource and referral services but not 135
child care. 136
(N) "Child care resource and referral services" means all 137
of the following services: 138
(1) Maintenance of a uniform data base of all child care 139
providers in the community that are in compliance with this 140
chapter, including current occupancy and vacancy data; 141
(2) Provision of individualized consumer education to 142
families seeking child care; 143
(3) Provision of timely referrals of available child care 144
providers to families seeking child care; 145
(4) Recruitment of child care providers; 146
(5) Assistance in developing, conducting, and 147
disseminating training for child care professionals and 148
provision of technical assistance to current and potential child 149
care providers, employers, and the community; 150
(6) Collection and analysis of data on the supply of and 151
demand for child care in the community; 152
(7) Technical assistance concerning locally, state, and 153
federally funded child care and early childhood education 154
programs; 155
(8) Stimulation of employer involvement in making child 156
care more affordable, more available, safer, and of higher 157
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As Introduced
quality for their employees and for the community; 158
(9) Provision of written educational materials to 159
caretaker parents and informational resources to child care 160
providers; 161
(10) Coordination of services among child care resource 162
and referral service organizations to assist in developing and 163
maintaining a statewide system of child care resource and 164
referral services if required by the department of job and 165
family services; 166
(11) Cooperation with the county department of job and 167
family services in encouraging the establishment of parent 168
cooperative child care centers and parent cooperative type A 169
family child care homes. 170
(O) "Child care staff member" means an employee of a child 171
care center, type A family child care home, licensed type B 172
family child care home, or approved child day camp who is 173
primarily responsible for the care and supervision of children. 174
The administrator, authorized representative, or owner may be a 175
child care staff member when not involved in other duties. 176
(P) "Drop-in child care center," "drop-in center," "drop- 177
in type A family child care home," and "drop-in type A home" 178
mean a center or type A home that provides child care or 179
publicly funded child care for children on a temporary, 180
irregular basis. 181
(Q) "Employee" means a person who either: 182
(1) Receives compensation for duties performed in a child 183
care center, type A family child care home, licensed type B 184
family child care home, or approved child day camp; 185
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(2) Is assigned specific working hours or duties in a 186
child care center, type A family child care home, licensed type 187
B family child care home, or approved child day camp. 188
(R) "Employer" means a person, firm, institution, 189
organization, or agency that operates a child care center, type 190
A family child care home, licensed type B family child care 191
home, or approved child day camp subject to licensure or 192
approval under this chapter. 193
(S) "Federal poverty line" means the official poverty 194
guideline as revised annually in accordance with section 673(2) 195
of the "Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981," 95 Stat. 196
511, 42 U.S.C. 9902, as amended, for a family size equal to the 197
size of the family of the person whose income is being 198
determined. 199
(T) "Head start program" means a school-readiness program 200
that satisfies all of the following: 201
(1) Is for children from birth to age five who are from 202
low-income families; 203
(2) Receives funds distributed under the "Improving Head 204
Start for School-Readiness Act of 2007," 42 U.S.C. 9831, as 205
amended; 206
(3) Is licensed as a child care program. 207
(U) "Home education" has the same meaning as in section 208
3321.042 of the Revised Code. 209
(V) "Home education learning pod" means a voluntary 210
association of parents who direct their children's education 211
through home education and includes the following 212
characteristics: 213
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(1) The parents choose to group their children together in 214
a home or other location at various times, which may include 215
hours