Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE
REGULAR SESSION
                Introduced Senate Bill 852
                By Senator Taylor [Introduced February 19, 2024; referred to the Committee on Health and Human Resources]
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  A BILL to amend and reenact §49-2-113 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating
            to modifying the ratio of children at family child care facilities Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
     ARTICLE 2. STATE RESPONSIBILITIES FOR CHILDREN.
     §49-2-113.      Residential child-care centers;    licensure,    certification,   approval,   and registration; requirements.
            (a) Any person, corporation, or child welfare agency, other than a state agency, which
  operates a residential child-care center shall obtain a license from the department.
            (b) Any residential child-care facility, day-care center, or any child-placing agency operated
  by the state shall obtain approval of its operations from the secretary.
            (c) Any family day-care facility which operates in this state, including family day-care
  facilities approved by the department for receipt of funding, shall obtain a statement of certification
  from the department.
            (d) Every family day-care home which operates in this state, including family day-care
  homes approved by the department for receipt of funding, shall obtain a certificate of registration
 from the department. The facilities and placing agencies shall maintain the same standards of care
 applicable to licensed facilities, centers, or placing agencies of the same category.
           (e) This section does not apply to:
           (1) A kindergarten, preschool, or school education program which is operated by a public
 school or which is accredited by the West Virginia Department of Education or any other
 kindergarten, preschool, or school programs which operate with sessions not exceeding four
 hours per day for any child;
           (2) An individual or facility which offers occasional care of children for brief periods while
 parents are shopping, engaging in recreational activities, attending religious services, or engaging
 in other business or personal affairs;
           (3) Summer recreation camps operated for children attending sessions for periods not
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 exceeding 30 days;
           (4) Hospitals or other medical facilities which are primarily used for temporary residential
 care of children for treatment, convalescence, or testing;
           (5) Persons providing family day care solely for children related to them;
           (6) Any juvenile detention facility or juvenile correctional facility operated by or under
 contract with the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation for the secure housing or holding of
 juveniles committed to its custody;
           (7) Any out-of-school time program that has been awarded a grant by the West Virginia
 Department of Education to provide out-of-school time programs to kindergarten through 12th
 grade students when the program is monitored by the West Virginia Department of Education;
           (8) Any out-of-school time program serving children six years of age or older and meets all
 of the following requirements, or is an out-of-school time program that is affiliated and in good
 standing with a national congressionally chartered organization or is an out-of-school time,
 summer recreation camp, or day camp program operated by a county parks and recreation
 commission, boards, and municipalities and meets all of the following requirements:
           (A) The program is located in a facility that meets all fire and health codes;
           (B) The program performs state and federal background checks on all volunteers and staff;
           (C) The program’s primary source of funding is not from fees for service except for
 programs operated by county parks and recreation commissions, boards, and municipalities; and
           (D) The program has a formalized monitoring system in place; or
           (9) Any kindergarten, preschool, or school education program which is operated by a
 private, parochial, or church school that is recognized by the West Virginia Department of
 Education under Policy 2330.
           (f) The secretary is authorized to issue an emergency rule relating to conducting a survey
 of existing facilities in this state in which children reside on a temporary basis in order to ascertain
 whether they should be subject to licensing under this article or applicable licensing provisions
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 relating to behavioral health treatment providers.
           (g) Any informal family child-care home or relative family child-care home may voluntarily
 register and obtain a certificate of registration from the department.
           (h) All facilities or programs that provide out-of-school time care shall register with the
 department upon commencement of operations and on an annual basis thereafter. The
 department shall obtain information such as the name of the facility or program, the description of
 the services provided, and any other information relevant to the determination by the department
 as to whether the facility or program meets the criteria for exemption under this section.
           (i) Any child-care service that is licensed or receives a certificate of registration shall have a
 written plan for evacuation in the event of fire, natural disaster, or other threatening situation that
 may pose a health or safety hazard to the children in the child-care service.
           (1) The plan shall include, but not be limited to:
           (A) A designated relocation site and evacuation;
           (B) Procedures for notifying parents of the relocation and ensuring family reunification;
           (C) Procedures to address the needs of individual children including children with special
 needs;
           (D) Instructions relating to the training of staff or the reassignment of staff duties, as
 appropriate;
           (E) Coordination with local emergency management officials; and
           (F) A program to ensure that appropriate staff are familiar with the components of the plan.
           (2) A child-care service shall update the evacuation plan by December 31 of each year. If a
 child-care service fails to update the plan, no action shall be taken against the child-care services
 license or registration until notice is provided and the child-care service is given 30 days after the
 receipt of notice to provide an updated plan.
           (3) A child-care service shall retain an updated copy of the plan for evacuation and shall
 provide notice of the plan and notification that a copy of the plan will be provided upon request to
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 any parent, custodian, or guardian of each child at the time of the child’s enrollment in the child-
 care service and when the plan is updated.
           (4) All child-care centers and family child-care facilities shall provide the plan and each
 updated copy of the plan to the Director of the Office of Emergency Services in the county where
 the center or facility is located.
           (j) A residential child-care center which has entered into a contract with the department to
 provide services to a certain number of foster children, shall accept any foster child who meets the
 residential child-care center’s program criteria, if the residential child-care center has not met its
 maximum capacity as provided for in the contract. Any residential child-care center which has
 entered into a contract with the department may not discharge any child in its program, except as
 provided in the contract, including that if the youth does not meet the residential treatment level
 and target population, the provider shall request a MDT and work toward an alternative placement.
           (k) In addition to the legislative rules set forth in §49-2-121 of this code, when determining
 the ratio between staff members and children, a family child care facility shall include all children
 10 years of age and under who are present and cared for in the facility, including any child of the
 director,          staff members,             and friends of         the child.
               NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to modify the ratio of children at family child care facilities.
               Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.
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Statutes affected: 
Introduced Version: 49-2-113