*EH1253.1*
March 11, 2025
ENGROSSED
HOUSE BILL No. 1253
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DIGEST OF HB 1253 (Updated March 10, 2025 10:30 am - DI 140)
Citations Affected: IC 12-17.2.
Synopsis: Child care. Provides that a granted waiver or variance
expires three years after the date that the waiver or variance becomes
effective. Provides that, not later than June 30, 2026, the division of
family resources (division) shall establish an organizational license
category for multi-site child care centers operating under one owner,
and specifies obligations of the division with regard to the new license
category. Removes the requirement that a child receiving child care
from a school must be the child of a student or employee of the school.
Effective: July 1, 2025.
Heine, DeVon, Heaton, Hamilton
(SENATE SPONSORS — BROWN L, CHARBONNEAU)
January 9, 2025, read first time and referred to Committee on Family, Children and Human
Affairs.
January 27, 2025, amended, reported — Do Pass. Referred to Committee on Ways and
Means pursuant to Rule 126.3.
February 6, 2025, reported — Do Pass.
February 10, 2025, read second time, ordered engrossed.
February 11, 2025, engrossed. Read third time, passed. Yeas 91, nays 0.
SENATE ACTION
February 20, 2025, read first time and referred to Committee on Family and Children
Services.
March 10, 2025, reported favorably — Do Pass; reassigned to Committee on
Appropriations.
EH 1253—LS 7209/DI 148 March 11, 2025
First Regular Session of the 124th General Assembly (2025)
PRINTING CODE. Amendments: Whenever an existing statute (or a section of the Indiana
Constitution) is being amended, the text of the existing provision will appear in this style type,
additions will appear in this style type, and deletions will appear in this style type.
Additions: Whenever a new statutory provision is being enacted (or a new constitutional
provision adopted), the text of the new provision will appear in this style type. Also, the
word NEW will appear in that style type in the introductory clause of each SECTION that adds
a new provision to the Indiana Code or the Indiana Constitution.
Conflict reconciliation: Text in a statute in this style type or this style type reconciles conflicts
between statutes enacted by the 2024 Regular Session of the General Assembly.
ENGROSSED
HOUSE BILL No. 1253
A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning
human services.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana:
1 SECTION 1. IC 12-17.2-2-8, AS AMENDED BY P.L.134-2024,
2 SECTION 4, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE
3 JULY 1, 2025]: Sec. 8. The division shall exempt from licensure the
4 following programs:
5 (1) A program for children enrolled in grades kindergarten
6 through 12 that is operated by the department of education or a
7 public or private school.
8 (2) A program for children who become at least three (3) years of
9 age as of December 1 of a particular school year (as defined in
10 IC 20-18-2-17) that is operated by the department of education or
11 a public or private school.
12 (3) A nonresidential program for a child that provides child care
13 for less than four (4) hours a day.
14 (4) A recreation program for children that operates for not more
15 than ninety (90) days in a calendar year.
16 (5) A program whose primary purpose is to provide social,
17 recreational, or religious activities for school age children, such
EH 1253—LS 7209/DI 148 2
1 as scouting, boys club, girls club, sports, or the arts.
2 (6) A program operated to serve migrant children that:
3 (A) provides services for children from migrant worker
4 families; and
5 (B) is operated during a single period of less than one hundred
6 twenty (120) consecutive days during a calendar year.
7 (7) A child care ministry registered under IC 12-17.2-6.
8 (8) A child care home if the provider operates to serve migrant
9 children.
10 (9) A child care program operated by a public or private school
11 that does the following:
12 (A) Provides day care on school property for children of
13 students or employees of schools in the school corporation in
14 which the public or private school is located.
15 (B) Complies with health, safety, and sanitation standards as
16 determined by the division under section 4 of this chapter for
17 child care centers or in accordance with a variance or waiver
18 of a rule governing child care centers approved by the division
19 under section 10 of this chapter.
20 (C) Substantially complies with the fire and life safety rules as
21 determined by the state fire marshal under rules adopted by the
22 division under section 4 of this chapter for child care centers
23 or in accordance with a variance or waiver of a rule governing
24 child care centers approved by the division under section 10 of
25 this chapter.
26 (10) A school age child care program (commonly referred to as a
27 latch key program) established under IC 20-26-5-2 that is
28 operated by:
29 (A) the department of education;
30 (B) a public or private school; or
31 (C) a public or private organization under a written contract
32 with:
33 (i) the department of education; or
34 (ii) a public or private school.
35 (11) A child care program that:
36 (A) is operated by a public or private organization under a
37 contract with a public or private school;
38 (B) serves children who are enrolled in the public or private
39 school in:
40 (i) grades kindergarten through 12; or
41 (ii) a preschool program offered by a public or private
42 school as described in this subdivision; and
EH 1253—LS 7209/DI 148 3
1 (C) serves children who are:
2 (i) attending school through remote or e-learning due to a
3 disaster emergency declared under IC 10-14-3-12 or
4 IC 10-14-3-29; or
5 (ii) participating in a learning recovery program that
6 administers an assessment to measure student learning loss
7 and provides Indiana academic standards aligned
8 instruction.
9 (12) An educational program:
10 (A) consisting of a group of not more than ten (10) students
11 who attend the educational program in lieu of attending
12 prekindergarten or kindergarten through grade 12 at a public
13 or private school;
14 (B) whose students meet in a single classroom in person or
15 outside a classroom and which may include mixed age level
16 groupings; and
17 (C) that is under the supervision of a teacher or tutor.
18 (13) If located in the same public or private school building:
19 (A) a preschool program that is operated by the public or
20 private school; and
21 (B) either or both of the following:
22 (i) A child care program described in subdivision (9).
23 (ii) A school age child care program described in
24 subdivision (10).
25 (14) A child care program operated by a public or private school
26 that does the following:
27 (A) Provides day care on school property for children of
28 employees of a business or organization with which the school
29 has entered into a contract to provide services. If the school
30 property is owned by the school, the school property must have
31 been both:
32 (i) owned by the school; and
33 (ii) used for child care;
34 on or before January 1, 2024.
35 (B) Complies with health, safety, and sanitation standards as
36 determined by the division under section 4 of this chapter for
37 child care centers or in accordance with a variance or waiver
38 of a rule governing child care centers approved by the division
39 under section 10 of this chapter.
40 (C) Substantially complies with the fire and life safety rules as
41 determined by the state fire marshal under rules adopted by the
42 division under section 4 of this chapter for child care centers
EH 1253—LS 7209/DI 148 4
1 or in accordance with a variance or waiver of a rule governing
2 child care centers approved by the division under section 10 of
3 this chapter.
4 SECTION 2. IC 12-17.2-2-11 IS AMENDED TO READ AS
5 FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2025]: Sec. 11. A waiver or
6 variance granted under section 10 of this chapter and a waiver or
7 variance renewed under section 12 of this chapter expires on the earlier
8 of the following:
9 (1) The date when the license affected by the waiver or variance
10 expires.
11 (2) The date set by the division for the expiration of the waiver or
12 variance.
13 (3) The occurrence of the event set by the division for the
14 expiration of the waiver or variance.
15 (4) Two (2) Three (3) years after the date that the waiver or
16 variance becomes effective.
17 SECTION 3. IC 12-17.2-2-15 IS ADDED TO THE INDIANA
18 CODE AS A NEW SECTION TO READ AS FOLLOWS
19 [EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2025]: Sec. 15. (a) Not later than June 30,
20 2026, the division shall establish an organizational license category
21 for multi-site child care centers operating under one (1) owner.
22 (b) In establishing the license category under subsection (a), the
23 division shall do the following:
24 (1) Allow an owner to make a single license application for
25 one (1) or more child care centers.
26 (2) Allow an owner to pay a single licensure fee, even if
27 applying for multiple child care center licenses.
28 (3) Provide maximum flexibility to an owner when the owner
29 is considering adding new locations to serve a community's
30 need for licensed child care.
31 (4) Reduce redundancy in the application process for an
32 owner.
33 (5) Reduce the administrative burden to the state in reviewing
34 multiple licenses for a single owner.
35 (6) Monitor each location to ensure that each location meets
36 important health and safety standards.
37 (7) Inspect each location separately for compliance, create
38 separate plans of correction, and provide location based
39 enforcement that does not affect the other locations.
40 (8) Consider the maximum efficiencies for the organizational
41 license holder to drive down operational costs for the child
42 care center owner.
EH 1253—LS 7209/DI 148 5
COMMITTEE REPORT
Mr. Speaker: Your Committee on Family, Children and Human
Affairs, to which was referred House Bill 1253, has had the same under
consideration and begs leave to report the same back to the House with
the recommendation that said bill be amended as follows:
Page 1, delete lines 1 through 17.
Page 2, delete lines 1 through 18.
Page 5, line 14, delete "multi-state" and insert "multi-site".
Page 5, delete lines 36 through 42.
Delete page 6.
Renumber all SECTIONS consecutively.
and when so amended that said bill do pass.
(Reference is to HB 1253 as introduced.)
DEVON
Committee Vote: yeas 12, nays 0.
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COMMITTEE REPORT
Mr. Speaker: Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was
referred House Bill 1253, has had the same under consideration and
begs leave to report the same back to the House with the
recommendation that said bill do pass.
(Reference is to HB 1253 as printed January 27, 2025.)
THOMPSON
Committee Vote: Yeas 22, Nays 0
EH 1253—LS 7209/DI 148 6
COMMITTEE REPORT
Mr. President: The Senate Committee on Family and Children
Services, to which was referred House Bill No. 1253, has had the same
under consideration and begs leave to report the same back to the
Senate with the recommendation that said bill DO PASS and be
reassigned to the Senate Committee on Appropriations.
(Reference is to HB 1253 as printed February 6, 2025.)
WALKER G, Chairperson
Committee Vote: Yeas 8, Nays 0
EH 1253—LS 7209/DI 148