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AN ACT relating to children. 1
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 2
Section 1. KRS 199.640 is amended to read as follows: 3
(1) Any facility or agency seeking to conduct, operate, or maintain any child-caring 4
facility or child-placing agency shall first obtain a license to conduct, operate, or 5
maintain the facility or agency from the cabinet. 6
(2) The cabinet shall: 7
(a) Develop standards, as provided in subsection (5) of this section, which must 8
be met by any facility or agency seeking to be licensed to conduct, operate, or 9
maintain a child-caring facility or child-placing agency; 10
(b) Issue licenses to any facility or agency found to meet established standards 11
and revoke or suspend a license after a hearing in any case that a facility or 12
agency holding a license is determined to have substantially failed to conform 13
to the requirements of the standards; and 14
(c) Establish and follow procedures designed to ensure that any facility or agency 15
licensed to conduct, operate, or maintain a child-caring facility or child-16
placing agency complies with the requirements of the standards on an ongoing 17
basis. 18
(3) Licenses shall be issued for a period of one (1) year from date of issue unless 19
revoked by the cabinet. Each licensed facility or agency shall be visited and 20
inspected at least one (1) time each year by a person authorized by the cabinet and 21
meeting specific qualifications established by the secretary of the cabinet in an 22
administrative regulation. A complete report of the visit and inspection shall be 23
filed with the cabinet. 24
(4) Each license issued shall specify the type of care or service the licensee is 25
authorized to perform. The cabinet may promulgate administrative regulations to 26
establish fees that shall not exceed costs of the program to the cabinet, for the 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 22 RS BR 1127
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proper administration of licensure. The fees collected by the secretary shall be 1
deposited in the State Treasury and credited to a revolving fund account for the 2
purpose of carrying out the provisions of this section. The balance of said account 3
shall lapse to the general fund at the end of each biennium. 4
(5) (a) The secretary shall promulgate administrative regulations establishing basic 5
standards of care and service for child-caring facilities and child-placing 6
agencies relating to the health and safety of all children in the care of the 7
facility or agency, the basic components for a quality program, as referenced 8
below, and any other factors as may be necessary to promote the welfare of 9
children cared for or placed by the agencies and facilities. Standards 10
established may vary depending on the capacity of the agency or facility 11
seeking licensure. These administrative regulations shall establish standards 12
that ensure that: 13
1. The treatment program offered by the facility or agency is directed 14
toward child safety, improved child functioning, improved family 15
functioning, and continuity and permanence for the child; 16
2. The facility or agency has on staff, or has contracted with, individuals 17
who are qualified to meet the treatment needs of the children being 18
served, including their psychological and psychiatric needs; 19
3. The facility or agency has procedures in place to ensure that its staff 20
receives ongoing training and that all staff members who are required to 21
do so meet all regional and national standards; 22
4. The facility or agency develops an integrated, outcomes-based treatment 23
plan that meets the health, mental health, education, safety, and security 24
needs of each child in its care; 25
5. The facility or agency has procedures in place to include parents, family, 26
and other caregivers in a child's treatment program; 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 22 RS BR 1127
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6. The facility or agency has procedures in place whereby it evaluates its 1
programs on a quarterly basis and documents changes in the program if 2
the results of the review indicate a change is needed; 3
7. The facility or agency makes available quality programs for substance 4
abuse prevention and treatment with providers licensed under KRS 5
Chapter 222 as part of its treatment services; 6
8. The facility or agency initiates discharge planning at admission and 7
provides sufficient aftercare;[ and] 8
9. The facility or agency has written policies and procedures in place that 9
outline the structure and objectives of cooperative relationships with the 10
community within which it is located and the local school district, 11
including outreach activities to be undertaken by the facility or agency to 12
both develop and maintain those cooperative relationships; and 13
10. The facility or agency has procedures in place to ensure the proper 14
staff-to-child ratio is maintained with allowances for emergencies, 15
sickness, or other unexpected circumstances. 16
(b) The secretary shall promulgate administrative regulations establishing 17
recordkeeping and reporting requirements and standards for licensed agencies 18
and facilities that recognize the electronic storage and retrieval of information 19
for those facilities that possess the necessary technology and that include, at a 20
minimum, the following information relating to children in the care of the 21
agency or facility: 22
1. The name, age, social security number, county of origin, and all former 23
residences of the child; 24
2. The names, residences, and occupations, if available, of the child's 25
parents; 26
3. The date on which the child was received by the agency or facility; the 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 22 RS BR 1127
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date on which the child was placed in a foster home or made available 1
for adoption; and the name, occupation, and residence of any person 2
with whom a child is placed; and 3
4. A brief and continuing written narrative history of each child covering 4
the period during which the child is in the care of the agency or facility. 5
(c) The secretary may promulgate administrative regulations creating separate 6
licensure standards for different types of facilities. 7
(d) The secretary shall promulgate administrative regulations to establish 8
practices and procedures for the inspection of child-caring facilities and child-9
placing agencies. These administrative regulations shall establish a uniform 10
reporting mechanism that includes guidelines for: 11
1. Enforcement; 12
2. Allowances and a warning system before deficiencies are cited; 13
3. Allowances for corrections to be made at the time of the inspection; 14
and 15
4. Procedures for licensees to submit a written response to warnings and 16
deficiencies and requirements that all written responses by licensees 17
be retained in their entirety. 18
(e) The secretary shall promulgate administrative regulations to establish 19
practices and procedures that: 20
1. Require any individual who inspects a child-caring facility or a child-21
placing agency to ensure that all of his or her inspections and reports 22
are done in a proper legal manner; 23
2. Subject an individual to discipline by the cabinet, including 24
suspension or dismissal of the individual from employment by the 25
cabinet, if an inspection or report is improperly done; and 26
3. Require any individual who inspects a child-caring facility or a child-27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 22 RS BR 1127
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placing agency to ensure that all of his or her inspections and reports 1
are completed onsite and provided to the facility before the inspector 2
leaves the premises. 3
(6) Any administrative regulations promulgated pursuant to KRS Chapter 13A to 4
govern services provided by church-related privately operated child-caring agencies 5
or facilities shall not prohibit the use of reasonable corporal physical discipline 6
which complies with the provisions of KRS 503.110(1), including the use of 7
spanking or paddling, as a means of punishment, discipline, or behavior 8
modification and shall prohibit the employment of persons convicted of any sexual 9
offense with any child-caring facility or child-placing agency. 10
(7) All records regarding children or facts learned about children and their parents and 11
relatives by any licensed agency or facility shall be deemed confidential in the same 12
manner and subject to the same provisions as similar records of the cabinet. The 13
information thus obtained shall not be published or be open for public inspection, 14
except to authorized employees of: 15
(a) The cabinet or of such licensed agency or facility in performance of their 16
duties; and 17
(b) A school or local school district in which a child is enrolling or currently 18
enrolled, in order to identify and serve the educational needs of the child, in 19
accordance with KRS 199.802. 20
Section 2. KRS 199.896 is amended to read as follows: 21
(1) No person, association, or organization shall conduct, operate, maintain, or 22
advertise any child-care center without obtaining a license as provided in KRS 23
199.892 to 199.896. 24
(2) The cabinet may promulgate administrative regulations pursuant to KRS Chapter 25
13A relating to license fees and may, in the administrative regulations, establish 26
standards of care and service for a child-care center, criteria for the denial of a 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 22 RS BR 1127
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license if criminal records indicate convictions that may impact the safety and 1
security of children in care, and procedures for enforcement of penalties which are 2
not in contravention of this section. 3
(3) Each initial application for a license shall be made to the cabinet and shall be 4
accompanied by a fee that shall not exceed administrative costs of the program to 5
the cabinet and shall be renewable annually upon expiration and reapplication when 6
accompanied by a renewal fee that shall not exceed administrative costs of the 7
program to the cabinet. Regular licenses and renewals thereof shall expire one (1) 8
year from their effective date. 9
(4) No child-care center shall be refused a license or have its license revoked for failure 10
to meet standards set by the secretary until after the expiration of a period not to 11
exceed six (6) months from the date of the first official notice that the standards 12
have not been met. If, however, the cabinet has probable cause to believe that an 13
immediate threat to the public health, safety, or welfare exists, the cabinet may take 14
emergency action pursuant to KRS 13B.125. All administrative hearings conducted 15
under authority of KRS 199.892 to 199.896 shall be conducted in accordance with 16
KRS Chapter 13B. 17
(5) If, upon inspection or investigation, the inspector general finds that a child-care 18
center licensed under this section has violated the administrative regulations, 19
standards, or requirements of the cabinet, the inspector general shall issue a 20
statement of deficiency to the center containing: 21
(a) A statement of fact; 22
(b) A statement of how an administrative regulation, standard, or requirement of 23
the cabinet was violated; and 24
(c) The timeframe, negotiated with the child-care center, within which a violation 25
is to be corrected, except that a violation that poses an immediate threat to the 26
health, safety, or welfare of children in the center shall be corrected in no 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 22 RS BR 1127
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event later than five (5) working days from the date of the statement of 1
deficiency. 2
(6) The Cabinet for Health and Family Services, in consultation with the Office of the 3
Inspector General, shall establish by administrative regulations promulgated in 4
accordance with KRS Chapter 13A an informal dispute resolution process through 5
which a child-care provider may dispute licensure deficiencies that have an adverse 6
effect on the child-care provider's license. 7
(7) A child-care center shall have the right to appeal to the Cabinet for Health and 8
Family Services under KRS Chapter 13B any action adverse to its license or the 9
assessment of a civil penalty issued by the inspector general as the result of a 10
violation contained in a statement of deficiency within twenty (20) days of the 11
issuance of the action or assessment of the civil penalty. An appeal shall not act to 12
stay the correction of a violation. 13
(8) In assessing the civil penalty to be levied against a child-care center for a violation 14
contained in a statement of deficiency issued under this section, the inspector 15
general or the inspector general's designee shall take into consideration the 16
following factors: 17
(a) The gravity of the threat to the health, safety, or welfare of children posed by 18
the violation; 19
(b) The number and type of previous violations of the child-care center; 20
(c) The reasonable diligence exercised by the child-care center and efforts to 21
correct the violation; and 22
(d) The amount of assessment necessary to assure immediate and continued 23
compliance. 24
(9) Upon a child-care center's failure to take action to correct a violation of the 25
administrative regulations, standards, or requirements of the cabinet contained in a 26
statement of deficiency, or at any time when the operation of a child-care center 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 22 RS BR 1127
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poses an immediate threat to the health, safety, or welfare of children in the center, 1
and the child-care center continues to operate after the cabinet has taken emergency 2
action to deny, suspend, or revoke its license, the cabinet or the cabinet's designee 3
shall take at least one (1) of the following actions against the center: 4
(a) Institute proceedings to obtain an order compelling compliance with the 5
administrative regulations, standards, and requirements of the cabinet; 6
(b) Institute injunctive proceedings in Circuit Court to terminate the operation of 7
the center; 8
(c) Institute action to discontinue payment of child-care subsidies; or 9
(d) Suspend or revoke the license or impose other penalties provided by law. 10
(10) Upon request of any person, the cabinet shall provide information regarding the 11
denial, revocation, suspension, or violation of any type of child-care center license 12
of the operator. Identifying information regarding children and their families shall 13
remain confidential. 14
(11) The cabinet shall provide, upon request, public information regarding the 15
inspections of and the plans of correction for the child-care center within the past 16
year. All information distributed by the cabinet under this subsection shall include a 17
statement indicating that the reports as provided under this subsection from the past 18
five (5) years are available from the child-care center upon the parent's, custodian's, 19
guardian's, or other interested person's request. 20
(12) All fees collected under the provisions of KRS 199.892 to 199.896 for license and 21
certification applications shall be paid into the State Treasury and credited to a 22
special fund for the purpose of administering KRS 199.892 to 199.896 including the 23
payment of expenses of and to the participants in child-care workshops. The funds 24
collected are hereby appropriated for the use of the cabinet. The balance of the 25
special fund shall lapse to the general fund at the end of each biennium. 26
(13) Any advertisement for child-care services shall include the address of where the 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 22 RS BR 1127
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service is being provided. 1
(14) All inspections of licensed and unlicensed child-care centers by the Cabinet for 2
Health and Family Services shall be unannounced. 3
(15) All employees and owners of a child-care center who provide care to children shall 4
demonstrate within the first three (3) months of employment completion of at least 5
a total of six (6) hours of orientation in the following areas: 6
(a) Basic health, safety, and sanitation; 7
(b) Recognizing and reporting child abuse; and 8
(c) Developmentally appropriate child-care practice. 9
(16) All employees and owners of a child-care center who provide care to children shall 10
annually demonstrate to the department completion of at least six (6) hours of 11
training in child development. These hours shall include but are not limited to one 12
and one-half (1.5) hours one (1) time every five (5) years of continuing education in 13
the recognition and prevention of pediatric abusive head trauma, as defined in KRS 14
620.020. Training in recognizing pediatric abusive head trauma may be designed in 15
collaboration with organizations and agencies that specialize in the prevention and 16
recognition of pediatric head trauma approved by the secretary of the Cabinet for 17
Health and Family Services The one and one-half (1.5) hours required under this 18
section shall be included in the current number of required continuing education 19
hours. 20
(17) The Cabinet for Health and Family Services shall make available either through the 21
development or approval of a model training curriculum and training materials, 22
including video instructional materials, to cover the areas specified in subsection 23
(15) of this section. The cabinet shall develop or approve the model training 24
curriculum and training materials to cover the areas specified in subsection (15) of 25
this section. 26
(18) Child-care centers licensed pursuant to this section and family child-care homes 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 22 RS BR 1127
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certified pursuant to KRS 199.8982 shall not use corporal physical discipline, 1
including the use of spanking, shaking, or paddling, as a means of punishment, 2
discipline, behavior modification, or for any other reason. For the purposes of this 3
section, "corporal physical discipline" means the deliberate infliction of physical 4
pain and does not include spontaneous physical contact that is intended to protect a 5
child from immediate danger. 6
(19) Child-care centers that provide instructional and educational programs for 7
preschool-aged children that operate for a maximum of twenty (20) hours per week 8
and that a child attends for no more than fifteen (15) hours per week shall: 9
(a) Notify the cabinet in writing that the center is operating; 10
(b) Meet all child-care center licensure requirements and administrative 11
regulations related to employee background checks; 12
(c) Meet all child-care center licensure requirements and administrative 13
regulations related to tuberculosis screenings; and 14
(d) Be exempt from all other child-care center licensure requirements and 15
administrative regulations. 16
(20) Child-care centers that provide instructional and educational programs for 17
preschool-aged children that operate for a maximum of twenty (20) hours per week 18
and that a child attends for no more than ten (10) hours per week shall be exempt 19
from all child-care licensure requirements and administrative regulations. 20
(21) Instructional programs for school-age children shall be exempt from all child-care 21
licensure administrative regulations if the following criteria are met: 22
(a) The program provides direct instruction in a single skill, talent, ability, 23
expertise, or proficiency; 24
(b) The program does not provide services or offerings that are not directly related 25
to the single talent, ability, expertise, or proficiency; 26
(c) The program operates outside the time period when school is in session, 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 22 RS BR 1127
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including before or after school hours, holidays, school breaks, teaching 1
planning days, or summer vacation; 2
(d) The program does not advertise or otherwise represent that the program is a 3
licensed child-care center or that the program offers child-care services; 4
(e) The program informs the parent or guardian: 5
1. That the program is not licensed by the cabinet; and 6
2. About the physical risks a child may face while participating in the 7
program; and 8
(f) The program conducts the following background checks for all program 9
employees and volunteers who work with children: 10
1. Check of the child abuse and neglect records maintained by the cabinet; 11
and 12
2. In-state criminal background information check from the Justice and 13
Public Safety Cabinet or Administrative Office of the Courts. 14
(22) Directors and employees of child-care centers in a position that involves 15
supervisory or disciplinary power over a minor, or direct contact with a minor, shall 16
submit to a criminal record check in accordance with KRS 199.8965. 17
(23) A director or employee of a child-care center may be employed on a probationary 18
status pending receipt of the criminal background check. Application for the 19
criminal record of a probationary employee shall be made no later than the date 20
probationary employment begins. 21
(24) A director or employee of a child-care center may continue to be actively 22
employed following an allegation of abuse, neglect, or dependency unless the 23
cabinet has substantiated the allegation. 24
(25) The cabinet shall promulgate administrative regulations to identify emergency care 25
providers who provide essential child-care services during an identified state of 26
emergency. 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 22 RS BR 1127
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(26)[(25)] Notwithstanding any state law, administrative regulation, executive order, or 1
executive directive to the contrary, during the 2020 or 2021 state of emergency 2
declared by the Governor in response to COVID-19, including but not limited to 3
any mutated strain of the COVID-19 virus, the cabinet shall not establish any 4
restrictions on capacity for class or group size or the ability to combine classes and 5
groups for capacity limits in the morning or afternoon that is below the number that 6
was in effect on February 1, 2020. 7