HB63INTRODUCED
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7GAL2E-1
By Representative Gray
RFD: Children and Senior Advocacy
First Read: 07-Mar-23
PFD: 06-Mar-23
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5 7GAL2E-1 03/06/2023 GP (L)lg 2023-460
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SYNOPSIS:
Under existing law certain child-care facilities
that are operating as an integral part of a local
church ministry or a religious nonprofit school are
exempt from certain licensure requirements.
This bill would exempt certain child-care
facilities that provide cultural arts programs from
licensure requirements, provided the program is
strictly instructional and the facility does not
advertise itself as providing child care.
This bill would require exempt child-care
facilities to adhere to appropriate fire and health
codes, criminal history, background check requirements,
and insurance requirements, and to provide notice to
parents of their exempt status.
This bill would require parents to submit an
affidavit that they have been notified that the
facility is not licensed.
This bill would require the Department of Human
Resources to inspect any new child-care facility that
is exempt from licensure before the facility may
operate, and would allow the department to inspect any
other exempt child-care facility upon reasonable cause
that the facility is not in compliance with the law or
a child's safety is at risk.
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This bill would also allow the district attorney
to investigate, at his or her discretion, any
allegations against an exempt child-care facility.
A BILL
TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
Relating to child-care facilities; to add Section
38-7-3.1 to the Code of Alabama 1975; to exempt certain
child-care facilities that provide instructional cultural arts
programs from licensure requirements; to require exempt
child-care facilities to comply with fire and health codes and
certain other policies; to require exempt child-care
facilities to provide notice that the facility is not licensed
and to require parents to submit an affidavit confirming the
notice; to require the Department of Human Resources to
inspect certain exempt child-care facilities; and to allow the
district attorney to investigate certain allegations against
an exempt child-care facility.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
Section 1. Section 38-7-3.1 is added to the Code of
Alabama 1975, to read as follows:
ยง38-7-3.1
(a)(1) Except as provided in subdivision (2), the
licensure requirements of this chapter do not apply to a
child-care facility that provides cultural arts classes
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including, but not limited to, art, dance, gymnastics, martial
arts, and music, provided that the child-care facility
complies with all of the following:
a. The programs offered by the facility are strictly
instructional and skill-based in a single talent, ability,
expertise, proficiency, or subject or in closely related
skills, proficiencies, or subjects relating to cultural arts.
b. The child-care facility does not provide services
that are not directly related to the single skill or subject
or the closely related skills or subjects, including, but not
limited to, homework assistance.
c. The child-care facility does not advertise or
otherwise represent itself as a licensed child-care facility,
or advertise that it offers child-care services.
d. The child-care facility does not prepare meals or
snacks. The child-care facility may provide ready-to-eat
snacks, such as prepackaged snacks.
(2) A child-care facility that receives state or
federal funds is not exempt from licensure under this section.
(b) A child-care facility exempt from licensure under
this section shall do all of the following to maintain its
license exempt status:
(1) Provide notice of operation on an annual basis to
the appropriate fire and health departments so that the
facility may be inspected in accordance with the state and
local fire and health requirements, provided the facility
shall be inspected at least annually by the appropriate fire
department and the appropriate health department.
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(2) Provide to the department on or before October 1,
2023, and annually thereafter, the following records and
certify that the records are being maintained by the facility:
a. Documentation indicating the child-care facility is
in compliance with fire inspections and health inspections.
b. Employee names and their criminal history
information pursuant to Section 38-13-3.
c. Proof of property, casualty, and liability
insurance, as prescribed by the department.
d. Documentation within 30 days of any updated fire
inspection report, health inspection report, new criminal
background check suitability letter, or receipt of updated
insurance information as required under this subdivision.
(3) Post in plain view in a public area a statement
that the program is not regulated or licensed by the
Department of Human Resources.
(4) Require a parent or guardian to sign an affidavit
stating that the parent or guardian has been notified by the
responsible individual of the exempt child-care facility that
the facility has filed notice to the department and is exempt
from licensure and regulation by the department. The exempt
child-care facility shall file the affidavits annually with
the department. The affidavit shall be substantially in the
same form as provided in Section 38-7-3.
(c)(1) On and after the effective date of this act, any
individual or entity intending to operate a new child-care
facility in the state shall notify the department at least 30
days prior to operating, and the department shall inspect the
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facility and ensure compliance with this section before the
facility may begin operating.
(2) The department shall inspect any child-care
facility that is exempt from licensure under this section at
any time if it has reasonable cause to believe the facility is
not in compliance with this section or the safety of a child
is at risk. If the department finds there exists a situation
that may put the safety of a child at risk, the department may
refer the facility to the fire or health department or local
district attorney for the proper remedy or action.
(d)(1) The district attorney of the county in which a
child-care facility that is exempt from licensure under this
section is located, upon presentment of charges, may
investigate any allegations against the facility under the
laws of the state.
(2) The department, upon request, shall provide any
documentation necessary to confirm any of the information
relevant to a determination of whether a child-care facility
is exempt under this section to the district attorney.
(e) Any child-care facility that is exempt from
licensure under this section, upon request by the department,
shall provide the department with any information listed in
subsection (b) within 15 days.
(f) Nothing in this section or in this chapter
prohibits an employee of the department from carrying out the
duties of the department as prescribed in this title.
Section 2. This act shall become effective on the first
day of the third month following its passage and approval by
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the Governor, or its otherwise becoming law.141