Generally, under present law, a license is required in order to operate a child care agency. The requirement to be licensed varies depending on the type of agency (such as a drop-in center, group child care home, etc.); for the various types of agencies, there are different minimum numbers of children served and hours of operation that trigger the licensure requirement. Also, present law contains various exemptions to the licensure requirement. One such exemption is a "Parents' Day Out" program operated by a religious organization that provides custodial care and services for children of less than school age with no child attending more than two days in each calendar week for not more than six hours each day. Parents' Day Out programs must display a sign stating that they are not required to be licensed by the state as a child care agency.
This bill revises the maximum amount of time that a Parents' Day Out program may care for a child and be exempt from licensure from "two days in each calendar week for not more than six hours each day" to "12 hours in each calendar week".

Statutes affected:
Current Version: 71-3-503(a)(6)(A), 71-3-503