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AN ACT relating to the family child care homes. 1
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 2
Section 1. KRS 199.894 is amended to read as follows: 3
As used in KRS 199.892 to 199.896 and Section 2 of this Act, unless the context 4
otherwise requires: 5
(1) "Cabinet" means the Cabinet for Health and Family Services; 6
(2) ["Secretary" means secretary for health and family services; 7
(3) ]"Child Care and Development Fund" has the same meaning as in 45 C.F.R. sec. 8
98.2; 9
(3) "Child Care Assistance Program" or "CCAP" means Kentucky's child-care 10
subsidy program providing families with the financial resources to find and 11
afford quality child care; 12
(4) "Child-care center" means any child-care center that provides full- or part-time 13
care, day or night, to four (4) or more children in a nonresidential setting who are 14
not the children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or children in legal custody of the 15
operator. "Child-care center" shall not include any child-care facility operated by a 16
religious organization while religious services are being conducted[,] or a youth 17
development agency. For the purposes of this section, "youth development agency" 18
means a program with tax-exempt status under 26 U.S.C. sec. 501(c)(3), which 19
operates continuously throughout the year as an outside-school-hours center for 20
youth who are six (6) years of age or older, and for which there are no fee or 21
scheduled-care arrangements with the parent or guardian of the youth served; 22
(5)[(4)] "Department" means the Department for Community Based Services;[ and] 23
(6)[(5)] "Family child-care home" means a private home that is the primary residence 24
of an individual who provides full or part-time care day or night for six (6) or fewer 25
children who are not the children, siblings, stepchildren, grandchildren, nieces, 26
nephews, or children in legal custody of the provider; and 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 25 RS BR 1346
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(7) "Secretary" means the secretary of the cabinet. 1
Section 2. KRS 199.8982 is amended to read as follows: 2
(1) (a) The cabinet shall establish a family child-care home certification program 3
which shall be administered by the department. A family child-care provider 4
shall apply for certification of the provider's home if the provider is caring for 5
four (4) to six (6) children unrelated to the provider. A family child-care 6
provider caring for three (3) or fewer children may apply for certification of 7
the provider's home at the discretion of the provider. Applicants for 8
certification shall not have been found by the cabinet or a court to have 9
abused or neglected a child, and shall meet the following minimum 10
requirements: 11
1. Submit two (2) written character references; 12
2. Provide a written statement from a physician or advanced practice 13
registered nurse that the applicant is in good health; 14
3. Submit to a criminal record check in accordance with KRS 199.8965; 15
4. Provide smoke detectors, a telephone, an adequate water supply, 16
sufficient lighting and space, and a safe environment in the residence in 17
which care is provided; 18
5. Provide a copy of the results of a tuberculosis risk assessment and the 19
results of any appropriate follow-up with skin testing or chest X-ray for 20
applicants who are determined to be at risk for developing tuberculosis 21
in accordance with the recommendations of the Centers for Disease 22
Control and Prevention within thirty (30) days of the date of application 23
for certification; and 24
6. Demonstrate completion of a total of at least six (6) hours of training in 25
the following areas within three (3) months of application for 26
certification: 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 25 RS BR 1346
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a. Basic health, safety, and sanitation; 1
b. Recognizing and reporting child abuse; and 2
c. Developmentally appropriate child-care practice. 3
(b) Initial applications for certification shall be made to the department. The 4
cabinet may promulgate administrative regulations to establish fees that shall 5
not exceed costs of the program to the cabinet, for proper administration of 6
the certification. The department shall issue a certificate of operation upon 7
inspecting the family child-care home and determining the provider's 8
compliance with the provisions of this section. The inspection shall be 9
unannounced. A certificate of operation issued pursuant to this section shall 10
not be transferable and shall be renewed every two (2) years for a fee that 11
shall not exceed costs of the program to the cabinet for renewal. 12
(c) A certified family child-care provider shall display the certificate of operation 13
in a prominent place within the residence in which care is provided. The 14
cabinet shall provide the certified family child-care provider with written 15
information explaining the requirements for a family day-care provider and 16
instructions on the method of reporting violations of the requirements which 17
the provider shall distribute to parents. 18
(d) Upon request of any person, the cabinet shall provide information regarding 19
the denial, revocation, suspension, or violation of any type of day-care license 20
of the family child-care provider. Identifying information regarding children 21
and their families shall remain confidential. 22
(e) The cabinet shall provide, upon request, public information regarding the 23
inspections of and the plans of correction for the family child-care home 24
within the past year. All information distributed by the cabinet under this 25
paragraph shall include a statement indicating that the reports as provided 26
under this paragraph from the past five (5) years are available from the family 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 25 RS BR 1346
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child-care home upon the parent's, custodian's, guardian's, or other interested 1
person's request. 2
(f) The cabinet shall promulgate administrative regulations in accordance with 3
KRS Chapter 13A which establish standards for the issuance, monitoring, 4
release of information under this section and KRS 199.896 and 199.898, 5
renewal, denial, revocation, and suspension of a certificate of operation for a 6
family child-care home and establish criteria for the denial of certification if 7
criminal records indicate convictions that may impact the safety and security 8
of children in care. A denial, suspension, or revocation of a certificate may be 9
appealed, and upon appeal an administrative hearing shall be conducted in 10
accordance with KRS Chapter 13B. If the cabinet has probable cause to 11
believe that there is an immediate threat to the public health, safety, or 12
welfare, the cabinet may take emergency action to suspend a certificate 13
pursuant to KRS 13B.125. The cabinet shall promulgate administrative 14
regulations to impose minimum staff-to-child ratios. The cabinet may 15
promulgate administrative regulations relating to other requirements 16
necessary to ensure minimum safety in family child-care homes. The cabinet 17
shall develop and provide an "easy-to-read" guide containing the following 18
information to a family child-care provider seeking certification of his home: 19
1. Certification requirements and procedures; 20
2. Information about available child-care training; and 21
3. Child-care food sponsoring organizations. 22
(2) Family child-care providers shall annually demonstrate to the department 23
completion of at least six (6) hours of training in child development. These hours 24
shall include but are not limited to one and one-half (1.5) hours one (1) time every 25
five (5) years of continuing education in the recognition and prevention of pediatric 26
abusive head trauma, as defined in KRS 620.020. Training in recognizing pediatric 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 25 RS BR 1346
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abusive head trauma may be designed in collaboration with organizations and 1
agencies that specialize in the prevention and recognition of pediatric abusive head 2
trauma approved by the secretary of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. 3
The one and one-half (1.5) hours of continuing education required under this 4
section shall be included in the current number of required continuing education 5
hours. 6
(3) The cabinet shall, either through the development of or approval of, make available 7
a model training curriculum and training materials, including video instructional 8
materials, to cover the areas specified in subsection (1)(a)6. of this section. The 9
cabinet shall develop or approve the model training curriculum and training 10
materials to cover the areas specified in subsection (1)(a)6. of this section. 11
(4) (a) As used in this subsection "local government" means a city, county, charter 12
county, urban-county government, consolidated local government, or unified 13
local government. 14
(b) The provisions of this section shall supersede all local government ordinances 15
or regulations pertaining to the certification, licensure, and training 16
requirements related to the operation of family child-care homes and no local 17
government shall adopt or enforce any additional licensure, certification, or 18
training requirements specifically applicable to family child-care homes in 19
addition to those provided in this section. This subsection shall not be 20
interpreted or construed to exempt family child-care homes from compliance 21
with local government ordinances and regulations that apply generally within 22
the jurisdiction. 23
(c) Because the availability of adequate child-care as an essential business is vital 24
to the Commonwealth's state and local economies, by January 1, 2022, a local 25
government that has adopted land use regulations pursuant to KRS Chapter 26
100 shall specifically name family child-care homes in the text of its zoning 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 25 RS BR 1346
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regulations to authorize the board of adjustments to separately consider the 1
applications of proposed family child-care homes for conditional use permits 2
within the residential zones of the planning unit where they are not a fully 3
permitted use pursuant to KRS 100.237. 4
(5) The cabinet shall promulgate administrative regulations in accordance with KRS 5
Chapter 13A to establish the process and procedures to allow certified family 6
child-care home providers to: 7
(a) Receive payments from the cabinet for children enrolled who are 8
participating in the CCAP operated by the cabinet utilizing federal funds 9
under the Child Care and Development Fund, in accordance with 45 C.F.R. 10
pt. 98; 11
(b) Apply as an individual applicant for the CCAP operated by the cabinet 12
utilizing federal funds under the Child Care and Development Fund, in 13
accordance with 45 C.F.R. pt. 98, for his or her children who are enrolled at 14
his or her certified family child-care home so long as the provider applicant 15
is serving at least three (3) children who are not the children, siblings, 16
stepchildren, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or children in legal custody of 17
the provider applicant; and 18
(c) Receive payments from the cabinet for his or her children who are enrolled 19
at his or her certified family child-care home if the provider applicant meets 20
the income guidelines of the CCAP and the requirements of paragraph (b) 21
of this subsection. 22