Florida Senate - 2023 SB 884



By Senator Stewart





17-01882-23 2023884__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to child care services; amending s.
3 1002.82, F.S.; requiring the Department of Education,
4 subject to legislative appropriation, to establish a
5 program to provide vouchers for child care services to
6 parents who meet a specified income requirement;
7 authorizing the State Board of Education to adopt
8 rules; providing an effective date.
9
10 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
11
12 Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of section
13 1002.82, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
14 1002.82 Department of Education; powers and duties.—
15 (2) The department shall:
16 (b) Preserve parental choice by:
17 1. Allowing Permitting parents to choose from a variety of
18 child care categories, including center-based care, family child
19 care, and informal child care to the extent authorized in the
20 state’s Child Care and Development Fund Plan as approved by the
21 United States Department of Health and Human Services pursuant
22 to 45 C.F.R. s. 98.18. Care and curriculum by a faith-based
23 provider may not be limited or excluded in any of these
24 categories.
25 2. Subject to the appropriation of funds by the
26 Legislature, establishing a program through which a parent may
27 obtain a voucher to subsidize all or a portion of the costs of
28 child care services for a child older than 18 months of age but
29 younger than 4 years of age. Only parents whose income is equal
30 to or below 200 percent of the then-current federal poverty
31 guidelines prescribed for the household size of the applicant by
32 the United States Department of Health and Human Services may
33 participate in the program. The State Board of Education may
34 adopt rules pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 to implement
35 this subparagraph.
36 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023.

Statutes affected:
S 884 Filed: 1002.82