Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB81 Compare Versions

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1	1	81R30609 UM-D
2	2	By: Nelson, et al. S.B. No. 81
3	3	Substitute the following for S.B. No. 81:
4	4	By: Rose C.S.S.B. No. 81
5	5
6	6
7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to certain providers of subsidized child care.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Subtitle B, Title 4, Labor Code, is amended by
12	12	adding Chapter 312 to read as follows:
13	13	CHAPTER 312. REQUIREMENTS FOR PROVIDERS OF UNREGULATED
14	14	SELF-ARRANGED CHILD CARE
15	15	Sec. 312.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
16	16	(1) "Department" means the Department of Family and
17	17	Protective Services.
18	18	(2) "Unregulated self-arranged child care" means
19	19	child care that is:
20	20	(A) funded wholly or partly from money received
21	21	under the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42
22	22	U.S.C. Section 9858 et seq.); and
23	23	(B) provided by a provider who:
24	24	(i) is at least 18 years of age;
25	25	(ii) complies with any federal or state
26	26	requirements regarding subsidized child care that apply to the
27	27	provider;
28	28	(iii) provides child-care services for less
29	29	than 24 hours a day to a child who is, by marriage, blood
30	30	relationship, or court decree:
31	31	(a) the grandchild of the provider;
32	32	(b) the great-grandchild of the
33	33	provider;
34	34	(c) the sibling of the provider, and
35	35	the child resides in a separate residence from the provider; or
36	36	(d) the niece or nephew of the
37	37	provider; and
38	38	(iv) does not hold a license, listing, or
39	39	registration issued under Chapter 42, Human Resources Code, to
40	40	provide care for children for less than 24 hours a day.
41	41	Sec. 312.002. MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING. The commission
42	42	and the department shall adopt a memorandum of understanding
43	43	regarding the administration and payment of costs of background and
44	44	criminal history checks required under this chapter.
45	45	Sec. 312.003. REQUIREMENTS FOR UNREGULATED SELF-ARRANGED
46	46	CHILD CARE. The commission shall ensure that money appropriated to
47	47	the commission that is used by the commission or a local workforce
48	48	development board to pay for child-care services provided by an
49	49	unregulated self-arranged child-care provider is used only to pay
50	50	for care provided by a provider who, after completion of a
51	51	background and criminal history check required by this chapter, is
52	52	not precluded from providing that care.
53	53	Sec. 312.004. REQUIRED BACKGROUND AND CRIMINAL HISTORY
54	54	CHECK. (a) In accordance with department rules, an individual
55	55	seeking to provide unregulated self-arranged child care must,
56	56	before beginning to provide that care, submit for use in conducting
57	57	a background and criminal history check:
58	58	(1) the individual's name to the department; and
59	59	(2) to the Department of Public Safety in accordance
60	60	with that department's rules, a complete set of the individual's
61	61	fingerprints in a form and of a quality acceptable to that
62	62	department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for conducting a
63	63	criminal history check.
64	64	(b) The department shall conduct background and criminal
65	65	history checks by:
66	66	(1) using the information provided by an individual
67	67	under this section;
68	68	(2) submitting the fingerprints provided by an
69	69	individual under this section or causing the fingerprints to be
70	70	submitted electronically as authorized by Subsection (f) to the
71	71	Department of Public Safety for the purpose of conducting a state
72	72	and federal criminal history check and using the resulting
73	73	information made available by the Department of Public Safety under
74	74	Section 411.114, Government Code, and by the Federal Bureau of
75	75	Investigation and any other criminal justice agency under Section
76	76	411.087, Government Code; and
77	77	(3) using the department's central registry of
78	78	reported cases of child abuse and neglect established under Section
79	79	261.002, Family Code.
80	80	(c) In determining whether to preclude an individual from
81	81	providing unregulated self-arranged child care, the department
82	82	shall use the standards that apply in conducting background and
83	83	criminal history checks under Section 42.056, Human Resources Code,
84	84	for listed or registered family home providers.
85	85	(d) A provider of unregulated self-arranged child care for
86	86	whom a background and criminal history check was conducted under
87	87	this section and who, following that check, has continuously
88	88	received payments for providing that care shall, not later than the
89	89	fifth anniversary of the date the previous check was completed,
90	90	submit the information described by Subsection (a) in the manner
91	91	provided by that subsection. The department shall use that
92	92	information to conduct a background and criminal history check in
93	93	the manner prescribed by Subsections (b) and (c). A provider of
94	94	unregulated self-arranged child care for whom a background and
95	95	criminal history check was conducted who ceased providing that care
96	96	and who seeks to resume providing that care must provide the
97	97	information described by Subsection (a) in the manner provided by
98	98	that subsection and undergo another background and criminal history
99	99	check unless the department determines that the check is
100	100	unnecessary based on the length of elapsed time since the previous
101	101	check was conducted.
102	102	(e) The commission must provide notice of the background and
103	103	criminal history check requirement to the parent or guardian of the
104	104	child who will receive care through an unregulated self-arranged
105	105	child-care provider before the parent or guardian selects the
106	106	provider.
107	107	(f) The executive commissioner of the Health and Human
108	108	Services Commission may adopt rules to implement this section,
109	109	including rules that require fingerprints to be submitted
110	110	electronically through an applicant fingerprinting service center.
111	111	(g) An individual seeking to provide unregulated
112	112	self-arranged child care shall pay the cost of submitting the
113	113	individual's fingerprints under this section.
114	114	Sec. 312.005. COSTS. In accordance with the memorandum of
115	115	understanding adopted under Section 312.002, the commission shall
116	116	pay to the department the costs incurred by the department in
117	117	conducting background and criminal history checks under this
118	118	chapter using funds available for that purpose under the Child Care
119	119	and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. Section 9858 et
120	120	seq.).
121	121	Sec. 312.006. NOTICE AND OPPORTUNITY TO BE HEARD CONCERNING
122	122	ACCURACY OF INFORMATION. (a) If the department determines that a
123	123	provider or prospective provider of unregulated self-arranged
124	124	child care is precluded from providing that care because of the
125	125	individual's background and criminal history check under Section
126	126	312.004, the department shall notify the individual of that
127	127	determination.
128	128	(b) The department shall include in the notice provided
129	129	under Subsection (a) a description of the process by which an
130	130	individual may dispute the accuracy of the individual's criminal
131	131	history record and listing on the department's central registry of
132	132	reported abuse and neglect and a description of any process for
133	133	disputing the accuracy of the individual's criminal history record
134	134	with the Department of Public Safety.
135	135	Sec. 312.007. REQUIRED STATEMENT. (a) Except as provided
136	136	by Section 312.008, an unregulated self-arranged child-care
137	137	provider and the parent or guardian of the child who receives care
138	138	through the provider shall each submit a statement to the
139	139	commission not later than the 15th day of the month following the
140	140	end of each calendar quarter during which the provider provided the
141	141	care. The statement must:
142	142	(1) specify the number of hours the provider cared for
143	143	the child during each month of the previous calendar quarter;
144	144	(2) include the sworn statement of the provider or the
145	145	parent or guardian, as applicable, that the record of the hours is
146	146	accurate; and
147	147	(3) be signed by the provider or the parent or
148	148	guardian, as applicable.
149	149	(b) The statement in Subsection (a) may be on a form
150	150	provided by the commission.
151	151	(c) The commission shall provide notice to each individual
152	152	required to submit a statement under this section that knowingly
153	153	making, presenting, or using a false governmental record is a
154	154	criminal offense under Section 37.10, Penal Code.
155	155	Sec. 312.008. ELECTRONIC VALIDATION OF CHILD-CARE SERVICES
156	156	AND ATTENDANCE. (a) If feasible, the commission shall use an
157	157	electronic validation system to verify that a provider of
158	158	unregulated self-arranged child care is providing care and that the
159	159	child for whom the care is provided is in attendance during the
160	160	period the provider states that child-care services are being
161	161	provided.
162	162	(b) An unregulated self-arranged child-care provider and a
163	163	parent or guardian of a child who receives care through the provider
164	164	is not required to submit a statement under Section 312.007 if the
165	165	commission verifies the provision of care and the attendance of the
166	166	child using an electronic validation system.
167	167	Sec. 312.009. AUDITS. The commission shall audit on a
168	168	regular basis a random sample of unregulated self-arranged
169	169	child-care providers to:
170	170	(1) determine the accuracy, as applicable, of
171	171	statements submitted under Section 312.007 or the electronic
172	172	validation system used to verify child-care services and attendance
173	173	under Section 312.008; and
174	174	(2) ensure that the commission and local workforce
175	175	development boards are paying unregulated self-arranged child-care
176	176	providers only for care that is actually provided.
177	177	SECTION 2. Subdivision (2), Subsection (a), Section
178	178	411.114, Government Code, is amended to read as follows:
179	179	(2) The Department of Family and Protective Services
180	180	shall obtain from the department criminal history record
181	181	information maintained by the department that relates to a person
182	182	who is:
183	183	(A) an applicant for a license, registration,
184	184	certification, or listing under Chapter 42, Human Resources Code,
185	185	or Chapter 249, Health and Safety Code;
186	186	(B) an owner, operator, or employee of or an
187	187	applicant for employment by a child-care facility, child-placing
188	188	agency, family home, or maternity home licensed, registered,
189	189	certified, or listed under Chapter 42, Human Resources Code, or
190	190	Chapter 249, Health and Safety Code;
191	191	(C) a person 14 years of age or older who will be
192	192	regularly or frequently working or staying in a child-care
193	193	facility, family home, or maternity home while children are being
194	194	provided care, other than a child in the care of the home or
195	195	facility;
196	196	(D) an applicant selected for a position with the
197	197	Department of Family and Protective Services, the duties of which
198	198	include direct delivery of protective services to children, elderly
199	199	persons, or persons with a disability;
200	200	(E) an employee of, an applicant for employment
201	201	with, or a volunteer or an applicant volunteer with a business
202	202	entity or person that contracts with the Department of Family and
203	203	Protective Services to provide direct delivery of protective
204	204	services to children, elderly persons, or persons with a
205	205	disability, if the person's duties or responsibilities include
206	206	direct contact with children, elderly persons, or persons with a
207	207	disability;
208	208	(F) a registered volunteer with the Department of
209	209	Family and Protective Services;
210	210	(G) a person providing or applying to provide
211	211	in-home, adoptive, or foster care for children in the care of the
212	212	Department of Family and Protective Services and other persons
213	213	living in the residence in which the child will reside;
214	214	(H) a Department of Family and Protective
215	215	Services employee who is engaged in the direct delivery of
216	216	protective services to children, elderly persons, or persons with a
217	217	disability;
218	218	(I) a person who is the subject of a report the
219	219	Department of Family and Protective Services receives alleging that
220	220	the person has abused, neglected, or exploited a child, an elderly
221	221	person, or a person with a disability, provided that:
222	222	(i) the report alleges the person has
223	223	engaged in conduct that meets the statutory definition of abuse,
224	224	neglect, or exploitation under Chapter 261, Family Code, or Chapter
225	225	48, Human Resources Code; and
226	226	(ii) the person who is the subject of the
227	227	report is not also the victim of the alleged conduct;
228	228	(J) a person providing child care for a child who
229	229	is in the care of the Department of Family and Protective Services
230	230	and who is or will be receiving adoptive, foster, or in-home care;
231	231	(K) through a contract with a nonprofit
232	232	management center, an employee of, an applicant for employment
233	233	with, or a volunteer or an applicant volunteer with a nonprofit,
234	234	tax-exempt organization that provides any service that involves the
235	235	care of or access to children, elderly persons, or persons with a
236	236	disability; [or]
237	237	(L) an applicant for a child-care administrator
238	238	or child-placing agency administrator license under Chapter 43,
239	239	Human Resources Code; or
240	240	(M) a provider or prospective provider of
241	241	unregulated self-arranged child care, as defined by Section
242	242	312.001, Labor Code.
243	243	SECTION 3. If before implementing any provision of this Act
244	244	a state agency determines that a waiver or authorization from a
245	245	federal agency is necessary for implementation of that provision,
246	246	the agency affected by the provision shall request the waiver or
247	247	authorization and may delay implementing that provision until the
248	248	waiver or authorization is granted.
249	249	SECTION 4. The Texas Workforce Commission and the
250	250	Department of Family and Protective Services shall adopt the
251	251	memorandum of understanding required by Section 312.002, Labor
252	252	Code, as added by this Act, not later than October 1, 2009.
253	253	SECTION 5. Notwithstanding Chapter 312, Labor Code, as
254	254	added by this Act, the Texas Workforce Commission shall ensure that
255	255	payments made on or after November 1, 2009, to providers of
256	256	unregulated self-arranged child care, as defined by Section
257	257	312.001, Labor Code, as added by this Act, are made only to
258	258	providers with respect to whom a background and criminal history
259	259	check has been conducted as required by that chapter.
260	260	SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.