By: Nelson S.B. No. 76
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to certain providers of subsidized child care.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subtitle B, Title 4, Labor Code, is amended by
adding Chapter 313 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 313. REQUIREMENTS FOR PROVIDERS OF RELATIVE CHILD CARE
Sec. 313.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Department" means the Department of Family and
Protective Services.
(2) "Relative child care" means child care that is:
(A) funded wholly or partly from money received
under the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42
U.S.C. Section 9858 et seq.); and
(B) provided by a provider who:
(i) is at least 18 years of age;
(ii) complies with any federal or state
requirements regarding subsidized child care that apply to the
provider;
(iii) provides child-care services for less
than 24 hours a day to a child who is, by marriage, blood
relationship, or court decree:
(a) the grandchild of the provider;
(b) the great-grandchild of the
provider;
(c) the sibling of the provider, and
the child resides in a separate residence from the provider; or
(d) the niece or nephew of the
provider; and
(iv) does not hold a license, listing, or
registration issued under Chapter 42, Human Resources Code, to
provide care for children not related to the provider for less than
24 hours a day.
(3) "Teen parent" means an individual 18 years of age
or younger, or 19 years of age and fully enrolled in a secondary
school in a program leading toward a high school diploma, who is the
parent of a child.
Sec. 313.002. LOCATION OF CARE. (a) Except as provided by
Subsections (b) and (c), relative child care must be provided in the
child-care provider's home.
(b) The commission shall allow relative child care in the
child's home:
(1) for a disabled child and the child's siblings;
(2) for a child under 18 months of age and the child's
siblings;
(3) for a child of a teen parent; and
(4) when the parent's work schedule necessitates
child–care services during the evening, overnight, or on the
weekend and taking the child outside of the child's home would be
disruptive to the child.
(c) The commission may allow relative child care in the
child's home if the commission determines that other child-care
provider arrangements are not available in the community.
Sec. 313.003. LISTING AS FAMILY HOME. A relative
child-care provider must list the provider's home with the
department as a family home.
Sec. 313.004. NOTICE OF BACKGROUND AND CRIMINAL HISTORY
CHECKS. The commission must provide notice of the background and
criminal history check requirement to the parent or guardian of the
child who will receive care through a relative child-care provider
before the parent or guardian selects the provider.
Sec. 313.005. MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING. The commission
and the department shall adopt a memorandum of understanding
regarding the administration and payment of costs of listing a
relative child-care provider as required by this chapter.
SECTION 2. Chapter 301, Labor Code, is amended by adding
Subchapter K to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER K. DETECTION AND PREVENTION OF CHILD-CARE FRAUD, WASTE,
AND ABUSE
Sec. 301.191. PREVENTION AND DETECTION OF CHILD-CARE FRAUD,
WASTE, AND ABUSE. (a) The commission shall develop risk
assessment protocols to identify and assess possible instances of
fraud, waste, and abuse in child-care programs, including:
(1) the use of unemployment insurance wage records to
identify:
(A) potential ineligible parents due to a change
in income or underreporting of income;
(B) relative child-care providers who are
engaged in other employment; and
(C) parents who do not have the required work
history; and
(2) the identification of parents who apply for or
receive child-care services in multiple workforce areas
simultaneously.
(b) The commission shall ensure that local workforce
development boards implement procedures to prevent and detect
fraud, waste, and abuse in child-care programs.
Sec. 301.192. CORRECTION OF CHILD-CARE FRAUD, WASTE, AND
ABUSE. (a) The commission shall ensure that corrective action is
initiated against a child-care provider who commits fraud,
including:
(1) temporarily or permanently withholding payments
to the provider for child-care services already delivered;
(2) recovering money paid for child care from the
child-care provider;
(3) stopping the provision of authorized child care at
the provider's facility or location; or
(4) taking any other action consistent with the intent
of the governing statutes or rules to investigate, prevent, or stop
suspected fraud.
(b) The commission shall ensure that corrective action is
initiated against a parent who commits fraud, including:
(1) recovering money paid for child care from the
parent;
(2) declaring the parent ineligible for future child
care under a commission program;
(3) limiting the enrollment of the parent's child to a
regulated child-care provider; or
(4) taking any other action consistent with the intent
of the governing statutes or rules to investigate, prevent, or stop
suspected fraud.
(c) If the commission proposes to take a corrective action
under Subsection (a) or (b), the provider or parent is entitled to
appeal the proposed corrective action in accordance with procedures
adopted by the commission by rule.
SECTION 3. Subchapter C, Chapter 42, Human Resources Code,
is amended by adding Section 42.0523 to read as follows:
Sec. 42.0523. LISTING OF RELATIVE CHILD-CARE PROVIDERS.
(a) A child-care provider who only provides child care under
Chapter 313, Labor Code, to children related to the provider may
list the provider's home as a family home.
(b) Before the department may list a child-care provider's
home under this section, in addition to conducting any other
background or criminal history check required for a family home
listing, the department must search the central database of sex
offender registration records maintained by the Department of
Public Safety under Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure, to
determine whether the provider is listed in the registry as a sex
offender.
(c) The address of a family home listed under this section
is the address of the child-care provider's home, regardless of
whether the child care is provided in the provider's home or in the
child's home.
(d) A relative child-care provider's home listed as a family
home under this section is exempt from the health and safety
requirements of 45 C.F.R. Section 98.41(a).
SECTION 4. Subchapter A, Chapter 302, Labor Code, is
amended by adding Section 302.0047 to read as follows:
Sec. 302.0047. ELECTRONIC VALIDATION OF CHILD-CARE
SERVICES AND ATTENDANCE. If feasible, the commission shall use an
electronic validation system to ensure that parents verify that a
provider of relative child care is providing care and that the child
for whom the care is provided is in attendance during the period for
which the child-care provider is being reimbursed for services.
SECTION 5. Subsection (g), Section 42.054, Human Resources
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(g) The provisions of Subsections (b) through (f) of this
section do not apply to:
(1) licensed foster homes and licensed foster group
homes;
(2) nonprofit facilities regulated under this chapter
that provided 24-hour care for children in the managing
conservatorship of the department during the 12-month period
immediately preceding the anniversary date of the facility's
license; [or]
(3) facilities operated by a nonprofit corporation or
foundation that provides 24-hour residential care and does not
charge for the care provided; or
(4) a family home listed under Section 42.0523 in
which the relative child-care provider cares for the child in the
child's own home.
SECTION 6. The Texas Workforce Commission and the
Department of Family and Protective Services shall adopt the
memorandum of understanding required by Section 313.005, Labor
Code, as added by this Act, not later than October 1, 2011.
SECTION 7. If before implementing any provision of this Act
a state agency determines that a waiver or authorization from a
federal agency is necessary for implementation of that provision,
the agency affected by the provision shall request the waiver or
authorization and may delay implementing that provision until the
waiver or authorization is granted.
SECTION 8. Notwithstanding Chapter 313, Labor Code, as
added by this Act, the Texas Workforce Commission shall ensure that
payments made on or after November 1, 2011, to providers of relative
child care, as defined by Section 313.001, Labor Code, as added by
this Act, are made only to providers with respect to whom a
background and criminal history check has been conducted as
required by that chapter.
SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.