Florida Senate - 2024 SB 596 By Senator Garcia 36-01630-24 2024596__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to child care facility safety 3 measures; amending s. 402.305, F.S.; requiring child 4 care facility personnel to maintain certification in 5 first aid training and pediatric cardiopulmonary 6 resuscitation procedures; requiring that such training 7 be attended and completed in person; requiring certain 8 child care facilities to place video recording 9 equipment in certain designated areas; requiring 10 facilities to record such areas at all times during 11 which certain children are present and to maintain the 12 video recordings for a specified timeframe; providing 13 that such video recordings are confidential and may 14 not be released except under certain circumstances; 15 conforming a provision to changes made by the act; 16 requiring child care facilities to provide inservice 17 cardiopulmonary resuscitation training to child care 18 personnel at least twice a year; providing an 19 effective date. 20 21 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 22 23 Section 1.Paragraph (e) of subsection (2), subsection (5), 24 and paragraph (a) of subsection (7) of section 402.305, Florida 25 Statutes, are amended to read: 26 402.305Licensing standards; child care facilities. 27 (2)PERSONNEL.Minimum standards for child care personnel 28 shall include minimum requirements as to: 29 (e)Minimum Training requirements for child care personnel. 30 1.Such minimum standards for training must shall ensure 31 that all child care personnel take an approved 40-clock-hour 32 introductory course in child care, which course covers at least 33 the following topic areas: 34 a.State and local rules and regulations governing which 35 govern child care. 36 b.Health, safety, and nutrition. 37 c.Identifying and reporting child abuse and neglect. 38 d.Child development, including typical and atypical 39 language, cognitive, motor, social, and self-help skills 40 development. 41 e.Observation of developmental behaviors, including using 42 a checklist or other similar observation tools and techniques to 43 determine the childs developmental age level. 44 f.Specialized areas, including computer technology for 45 professional and classroom use and early literacy and language 46 development of children from birth to 5 years of age, as 47 determined by the department, for owner-operators and child care 48 personnel of a child care facility. 49 g.Developmental disabilities, including autism spectrum 50 disorder and Down syndrome, and early identification, use of 51 available state and local resources, classroom integration, and 52 positive behavioral supports for children with developmental 53 disabilities. 54 55 Within 90 days after employment, child care personnel shall 56 begin training to meet the training requirements. Child care 57 personnel shall successfully complete such training within 1 58 year after the date on which the training began, as evidenced by 59 passage of a competency examination. Successful completion of 60 the 40-clock-hour introductory course shall articulate into 61 community college credit in early childhood education, pursuant 62 to ss. 1007.24 and 1007.25. Exemption from all or a portion of 63 the required training shall be granted to child care personnel 64 based upon educational credentials or passage of competency 65 examinations. Child care personnel possessing a 2-year degree or 66 higher which that includes 6 college credit hours in early 67 childhood development or child growth and development, or a 68 child development associate credential or an equivalent state 69 approved child development associate credential, or a child 70 development associate waiver certificate are shall be 71 automatically exempted from the training requirements in sub 72 subparagraphs b., d., and e. 73 2.The introductory course in child care must shall stress, 74 to the extent possible, an interdisciplinary approach to the 75 study of children. 76 3.The introductory course must shall cover recognition and 77 prevention of shaken baby syndrome; prevention of sudden infant 78 death syndrome; recognition and care of infants and toddlers 79 with developmental disabilities, including autism spectrum 80 disorder and Down syndrome; and early childhood brain 81 development within the topic areas identified in this paragraph. 82 4.On an annual basis in order to further their child care 83 skills and, if appropriate, administrative skills, child care 84 personnel who have fulfilled the requirements for the child care 85 training must shall be required to take an additional 1 86 continuing education unit of approved inservice training, or 10 87 clock hours of equivalent training, as determined by the 88 department. 89 5.Child care personnel must shall be required to complete 90 0.5 continuing education unit of approved training or 5 clock 91 hours of equivalent training, as determined by the department, 92 in early literacy and language development of children from 93 birth to 5 years of age one time. The year that this training is 94 completed, it shall fulfill the 0.5 continuing education unit or 95 5 clock hours of the annual training required in subparagraph 4. 96 6.Procedures for ensuring the training of qualified child 97 care professionals to provide training of child care personnel, 98 including onsite training, must shall be included in the minimum 99 standards. It is recommended that the state community child care 100 coordination agencies (central agencies) be contracted by the 101 department to coordinate such training when possible. Other 102 district educational resources, such as community colleges and 103 career programs, can be designated in such areas where central 104 agencies may not exist or are determined not to have the 105 capability to meet the coordination requirements set forth by 106 the department. 107 7.Training requirements do shall not apply to certain 108 occasional or part-time support staff, including, but not 109 limited to, swimming instructors, piano teachers, dance 110 instructors, and gymnastics instructors. 111 8.The child care operator must shall be required to take 112 basic training in serving children with disabilities within 5 113 years after employment, either as a part of the introductory 114 training or the annual 8 hours of inservice training. 115 9.Child care personnel must be required to maintain a 116 current, valid certificate of course completion for first aid 117 training and pediatric cardiopulmonary resuscitation procedures. 118 Such course must be attended and completed in person and not 119 online. 120 (5)PHYSICAL FACILITIES; SURVEILLANCE. 121 (a)Minimum standards must shall include requirements for 122 building conditions, indoor play space, outdoor play space, 123 napping space, bathroom facilities, food preparation facilities, 124 outdoor equipment, and indoor equipment. Because of the nature 125 and duration of drop-in child care, outdoor play space and 126 outdoor equipment is shall not be required for licensure; 127 however, if such play space and equipment are provided, then the 128 minimum standards shall apply to drop-in child care. With 129 respect to minimum standards for physical facilities of a child 130 care program for school-age children which is operated in a 131 public school facility, the department shall adopt the State 132 Uniform Building Code for Public Educational Facilities 133 Construction as the minimum standards, regardless of the 134 operator of the program. The Legislature intends that if a child 135 care program for school-age children is operated in a public 136 school, the program need not conform to standards for physical 137 facilities other than the standards adopted by the Commissioner 138 of Education. 139 (b)Facilities that provide care to children 4 years of age 140 or younger must place video recording equipment in each area of 141 the facility designated as an instructional area for such 142 children. 143 1.The areas designated as instructional areas for children 144 4 years of age or younger must be recorded at all times during 145 which such children are present. 146 2.The facility shall retain all video recordings required 147 under this paragraph for at least 90 days after the date they 148 are recorded. 149 3.Video recordings required by this paragraph are 150 confidential and may not be released or viewed by the public, 151 except that a facility shall release a video for viewing to the 152 following persons and entities: 153 a.A parent or guardian of a child who alleges his or her 154 child was harmed at the facility. 155 b.A law enforcement agency or the department, upon 156 request. 157 c.Employees of the child care facility, for training 158 purposes. 159 (7)SANITATION AND SAFETY. 160 (a)Minimum standards must shall include requirements for 161 sanitary and safety conditions, first aid treatment, emergency 162 procedures, and pediatric cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The 163 minimum standards must shall require that all child care 164 personnel be at least one staff person trained in 165 cardiopulmonary resuscitation, as evidenced by current 166 documentation of course completion, which course must have been 167 attended and completed in person and not online. All child care 168 facilities shall provide inservice training in cardiopulmonary 169 resuscitation to child care personnel at least twice a year be 170 present at all times that children are present. 171 Section 2.This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.